Syphoned

A big bottling session! The elderflower rosé, the elderflower, and hedgerow port have all been bottled: about half a dozen bottles of each, with some leftovers. The elderflower is good; the rosé and port need to mature a little, I think.


That leaves the dandelion wine fermenting in the airing cupboard, and the Demi-John That Must Not Be Named hidden elsewhere. In the next few weeks I'll get some more elderflower going: the trees aren't quite ready yet, though.

Sculptural

Alex and Hazel visited us for the weekend, and today we went to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (having spent a very wet Saturday inside, playing Risk and Settlers (a mammoth composite scenario that takes forever)).

The park is very large (500 acres), and contains a wide variety of sculptures, as well as four interior galleries with more sculptures and other art. We went round a fair bit of the park, and all of the galleries.

Multi-stemmed birch and ha-ha bridge at YSP (© Ian 2012)

We rather liked this multi-stemmed birch, which looks like it might be an over-grown coppicing stool. The bridge behind, as you might guess from the cut-out letters, spans a dry-stone walled ha-ha.

Jonathan Borofsky's 'Molecule Man' at YSP (photo © Ian 2012)

Cedar sculpture in the Camellia House, YSP (photo © Ian 2012)

Inside a rhododendron (© Ian 2012)

A bank of rhododendrons was outside the Camellia House; they're obviously rather old, and the stems and roots have become massive and entangled.

Waterfall (© Ian 2012)

Primarily, this photo's to remind me of the sort of waterfall we'd like to build above the pond.

Alec Finlay's 'The Bee Library' at YSP (photo © Ian 2012)

This is one of 24 bee-related books that have been converted into bee habitats and hung around the Lakeside section of the park.

I didn't take a photo, but outside the Bothy Gallery there's a curved south-facing wall, against which have been grown a series of cordon/fan trained apples. Some of them, by the tags, have been there over 200 years—and it shows. The trunks are 9" across, and they're big, vigorous, and covered in fruit. It's a shame we have no sheltered south-facing wall, as I'd love to grow some cordon fruit trees. Never mind: half standards it is.

Planting Up

We've had a very filled few days, finishing our week off from work. We've planted up the newly found bed outside the dining room (previously gorse, cotoneaster, conifer and laurel), having taken out the first three, and cut right back the laurel (which might, with some luck, re-sprout: apparently, they do). It's got a number of legume wigwams in it, chosen to be decorative as well as productive. We've had a hard time getting them to germinate, so it may be a bit disappointing.

The new bed before/after (© Ian 2012)

We finished digging the beds to either side of the septic tank, too. On the pond side, this is matched by a little extension of the bank, which forms a connection between the pond section, and the games lawn section. It'll eventually have a willow arch, which is at the moment just a pair of willow plants on either side, swaying in the wind. The bed on the pond side of the tank is wider (about a metre) than the games lawn (about half that: there's less space to play with, with the constraint of a badminton/short tennis court on the lawn). Both are now planted with more willow (a mix of red, gold, and osier): there aren't enough of these yet, but they'll form a living tunnel/arch over the tank cover. The pond side also has a run of edible hedging plants in front of this: myrobalan plums, cornelian cherries, and hazel.

The quince has finally been planted, between the seating corner, and the copse. That's now all of the fruit trees in the ground, and they're all doing well. The bare-rooted ones were dosed with mycorrhizal fungi when planted, which has hopefully helped them establish. I don't have a control group, though, so who knows.

The vegetable garden is now fully planted (that is, it's full), as the leeks, swedes, courgettes, brassicas, spinach, and celeriac have all gone out. There are more brassicas (PSB, other caulis, savoy cabbage) growing on in pots, ready to go out later (in the space vacated by pototoes), and we'll also be sowing some turnips. Of course, we'll sow more radishes, spinach, salad leaves, and things like that, as space arises.

I thought some before/during/after photos of The Chipping Heap would be fun:

The Chipping Heap (garage end) (© Ian 2011–12)

The Chipping Heap (kitchen end) (© Ian 2011–12)

Lastly, we replanted our hanging baskets for summer (replacing the winter-season scheme's white heathers with petunias and lobelias), and putting the remaining plants with pelargoniums, fuchsias and cineraria into other pots for the front garden. The tomatoes, peppers and chilis have been planted into larger pots, to continue growing on windowsills. We then retired, tired.

All Gone

The cotoneaster is gone! We finished the chipping this morning, and spent the afternoon starting to dig out the gorse outside the dining room window. That extended to this morning, as the gorse roots had formed a seemingly solid mass a foot in diameter. I eventually got it out, and we then spent some more time clearing up around the garden.

Shredding

We've been clearing the bank of cotoneaster for two years, on and off, culminating in the wonderful day at the end of May when the last (of the top-growth) came down.

In our defence, it was a lot of cotoneaster: a bank 18m long, and up to 4m wide. We put some through the chipper in March 2011, and what we've cut down since marking out the future pond has been piled on the pond - convenient as it's close to the original planting, and killing the grass there will make it easier to lift the turves later on. When we added the poplar branches, and then the cotoneaster from the last few weeks, it got rather large. As in, filling the pond (about 6 by 3m) and taller than me.

The piles of brushwood and branches (© Ian 2012)

Needless to say, we weren't sure our electric chipper would manage this, so we've hired a petrol machine to pitch in. We've spent since Saturday going at the heap (in all weather), and hope to be finished tomorrow, when the shredder goes back.

Surprise Brewing

Little does Liz know, but I have started a surreptitious batch of ginger wine. I don't like ginger wine (or various other ginger derivatives: my personal nightmare dish is melon with parma ham and ginger), but she's fond of it. Because of the asymmetry, we never buy any, so I thought I'd make her some for her birthday. It's safe for me to discuss it here, as she never visits. Touch wood.

It's a little more involved than some, but quite straightforward. Peel and roughly chop 200g of root ginger into a slow cooker, and add 600g of sugar and the zest of three lemons. Add about 2.5l of boiling water to the pot. 'Cook' overnight. Pour into a demijohn (a bucket would do), and allow to cool to 25–30°C. Add yeast (I used GV3, and added vitamin B tablets and yeast nutrient) and pectolase. Leave it for 24 hours, then add the juice of those three lemons.

Thereafter, stir (agitate) daily for a fortnight. At that point, I'll strain it into a clean demijohn, add 400g of sugar, 350g of chopped raisins, and another 50g of ginger (probably grated). That will ferment for a further ten days.

At this point, you need to bring the fermentation to a halt, while there's still some sugar. It'll need straining again, and this time a Campden tablet and a few grams of potassium sorbate get added. It should clear in a couple of weeks, when 150ml of brandy gets added, and I'll make it up to a gallon. I'll bottle it into 75cl quantities, and it'll then go in the cellar for a couple of months (or longer).

Hopefully, it'll be tasty—though I may not think so personally.

Less secretively, we also started a nettle cordial. This, by contrast, is shockingly simple. Collect nettle tops (the top 3 pairs of leaves), wash and spin dry, and put in a covered container. Add 1kg sugar, 500ml boiling water, and 40g citric acid. That's done: it now gets stirred daily for five days, at which point it will hopefully be delightful. It is, in fact, already smelling pretty good (hint of gooseberry, I think), and the liquid's going slightly pink. Results, as you'd expect, will follow.

Heucheras

We've spent the weekend in Ludlow, visiting Molly, which—as normal—has been a pleasant and relaxing break. She's just purchased a small plot of land adjoining the garden, which has made a significant difference to the house. The sitting room window is now not overshadowed by a boundary wall; the pond can double in size; she has space for a vegetable/fruit plot; and there's space for off-road parking. Of course, some of this is still theoretical. The wall needs its demolition completing; the pond must be dug (and relined); the paving slabs must make way for veg beds; the parking alone has actually been accomplished. That said, the difference it will make is clear, and we did a few bits to help get her there, as well as things around the rest of the garden that require greater height or strength: pruning a philadelphis that's outgrown its space (while avoiding a montana clematis growing through it!); pruning the apricot and plum trees; making and filling a small bed next to the parking space; emptying the compost bin; replanting a large tub of tomatoes; and the like. Needless to say, we were amply rewarded come meal-times.

New heucheras (© Ian 2012)

Ludlow has an excellent market, with several plant stalls, our favourite of which is in the Buttercross. True to form, we wandered out for a walk, and came back with bags full of plants. Three new heucheras, a Ninebark 'Lady in Red' (Physocarpus opulifolius), and a 'Black Lace' elder (Sambucus nigra). Combined with some fuchsia and pelagonium cuttings, a couple of silver birch seedlings, and a corkscrew willow, pilfered from the garden, it was quite a stocking-up visit.

Watering

Having (finally) had some warm weather, we had to water the pots tonight, and the fruit and vegetables. We took the irrigation system's sprinklers off last autumn (expecting a winter where there was snowfall and freezing temperatures!), so first I've had to reattach them. I only did the vegetable garden's, as the fruit ones are a bit more involved, and the bushes are less susceptible to drying out, as they have better established roots. The extension to the irrigation system, to cover the rhubarb and second strawberry bed, still needs completing, which is on the to-do list. The currants, gooseberries, and raspberries are all looking really good, and we'll hopefully have a large crop of them all. The fruit trees, old and new, are all now in leaf, and some of them are flowering. The quince, plums and cherries aren't, yet, but they're a bit later. They've all been watered, too, as trees need a bit of extra help in their first year.

Steam

It's Philip's birthday later this week, so we all went out for the day on Saturday, to Haworth. Coincidentally, and unknown to us until we arrived, it was a 1940's Vintage Day, which meant the streets of Haworth were filled with people dressed for the period, many in service uniforms from the War. Commonwealth, USA, and a couple of Axis, too. We walked through the village, stopping at the traditional sweetshop, and pausing briefly at the churchyard, before walking on to Oxenhope and back for a picnic lunch. We then went on to Oakworth on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway steam service, before walking back to Haworth.

KWVR Steam train arriving at Oakworth; waiting at Oakworth station; and between Haworth and Oxenhope (© Ian 2012)

Sunday was spent in the garden, mostly clearing and pruning. The last of the cotoneaster is finally out of the top bank (as in, cut to ground level: there are still roots I'd like to pull up); we also decided that the conifer in that bank wasn't worth saving. It was dead and bare where the cotoneaster had engulfed it, and its location wasn't good, blocking the view from the dining room quite badly. Down it came, and it's much better without it. There's also a laurel/bay that has a bare back from where the cotoneaster was behind it. However, it's otherwise quite an attractive bush, so we're going to leave it to see if it re-sprouts. If it does, I'll try digging it up and moving it to a better spot, as it's not in the right location.

A scraggy conifer next to the vegetable garden was next to come down, along with a sorry excuse for a conifer that's struggled along in the copse, and two sad looking pines near the fence. I also took the opportunity to trim back the leylandii along the bottom fence, and tie them into a more up-right pose.

Finally, we pruned the two flowering currants (one of them rather hard, continuing the rejuvenation program we started last summer), and other shrubs in the lower bank that have finished flowering. Our pile of brush-to-be-chipped is now enormous: fortunately, we've got a larger, petrol-driven shredder booked for the upcoming bank holiday weekend, and hope to get it turned into mulch then.

Dandelion Wine

A relatively uneventful weekend, but I did start a batch of dandelion wine. This meant cutting 450g of dandelion heads (this is lots, I now know), and pouring 4.5l of boiling water over them. That was Saturday: today, I've poured the juice into the preserving pan, added the peel of four oranges, and boiled for ten minutes, before straining the liquid over 1.5kg of sugar in a demijohn. I'll add the yeast when it's cooled, and it should clear in the autumn, ready to drink around Christmas.

Dandelion flowers for brewing (© Ian 2012)

I also planted forty anemones (de Caen and St Brigid) into pots. The anemones we planted straight into the ground around the trees in autumn 2009 never came up, but this year some of those in the front wall did: they went in in 2010, so it took two winters for them to show up. By doing these into pots, I'm hoping to keep track of them more readily, and hope that they will be quicker. Instead of soaking them for a day, which is the advice, I actually soaked them for four. They seemed a lot plumper and happier (and it was possible to tell which way up they belong!), which may also have helped.

I used some of the leaf mould we collected in 2010, and it is lovely. The 2011 leaves are still in bin liners, waiting to go in the wire cages, and the 2010 leaves have broken down into a wonderful compost. It's really light, rich, and nice to work. Excited about compost? Ah, well.

Dicentra and Hazel

Back from a pleasant stay with my parents (including a trip to the Leyburn-based food fair, which was excellent), we had three new dicentra to plant. They have darker flowers than the common pink-and-white form; more magenta-like, and I think they're prettier than the pink-and-white variety. They also go nicely with the white-flowered D. spectabilis 'Alba' we already have. Anyway; all four are now planted in the corner of what will be the 'woodland' area of the garden.

We also finished digging the holes for the Pearsons' Prolific hazel, and half the willow arch that will lead from water garden to games lawn. The number of stones in this area has made it a time-consuming job! The bed that will lie between the pond and the septic tank cover is just as slow. Still; at least these three plants are in. We also planted a few patches of alliums, a pot of sparaxis, and five cactus dahlia that we were sent with another order, and put plastic-bottle cloches over half the beetroot, which are struggling to get going in the chilly weather. No, it's not a controlled experiment, we only had enough bottles for half of them.

Swallow Returns

A swallow has arrived and taken up residence in the nest in the porch. I'm hoping it's the male of the same pair who built the nest last year, but I don't think I can check! It's almost certain to be a male (they arrive first), and I've been hoping to see him for the last week or two. On Monday evening I spotted a couple of swallows on the drive home, for the first time, so presumably the birds are arriving in the area.

With a little luck, his mate will get back soon, and they'll get a clutch of eggs laid soon. Last year they seemed to be a bit late, and we never saw any fledglings.

Newly arrived male barn swallow (© Ian 2012)

New Mowing Season

A month later than last year, due to no coincidences of me being available and the weather cooperating, I have managed to mow (most of) the lawn. Only the top lawn, around the bottom of the ramp, down to the kitchen garden, and around the 'pond'. The top corner is covered in wood, patio slabs, and generally too wet, still; the games lawn is too long, too large, and too daunting. I'll do it when I can.

Nevertheless, good to get started, and it looks much neater. The compost bins will now start filling up again!

Yesterday evening we pricked out the celeriac seedlings. We only want about 30-35 plants, and the seed germinated really well, again. They've grown on nicely, and the strongest looking sixty have been potted on. Given how wet and cold it still is, I doubt we'll be planting them out next week, which is the time they went out last year. I hope it warms up soon!

Another Visitor

Nothing of note or interest this weekend, sadly (more firewood stacking!), so only a photo of the last deer we spotted on the hillside. We saw another on Sunday afternoon, coming past the garden.

Another deer on the hillside (© Ian 2012)

Flowers and Fruit

Although Friday afternoon and yesterday were spent on firewood, we had a break on Friday morning (and, actually, early afternoon) and today. Friday was flowers: pricking out petunias, rudbeckia, and cineraria; sowing some herbs and miscellaneous seeds; and planting gladioli. As well as the gladioli we lifted last autumn, we also had fifty new dwarf gladioli, which are now in pots and three patches of the old cotoneaster bed. We've also put a wig-wam (bamboo and string) in that bed, with our peas/mangetout growing up it (no space in the veg beds!).

Today was even more exciting: we've laid out the location of the paths through the copse, and planted all the fruit trees we ordered last autumn. Only the quince remains. Around the (future) pond, there's our 'old' Cox, 'Stella' cherry, and plum (can't remember the variety!), and now a second cherry (Summer Sun) and pear (William Bon Chretian). An apple (Egremont Russet) is on the other side of the entrance/arch to the pond. Another pear (Beth), plum (Victoria) and two apples (James Grieve and Falstaff) are in the copse, near the front. A plan will follow, when I can digitise something...

We also finished the potato planting, by putting in the maincrop Cara and Bounty; this meant taking up the Frostie spring cabbages, and the rest of the leeks, and also means that the veg beds are now fairly full!

Vegetables Planted

Tuesday's tree felling went well. The driveway pine is down, the poplars along the road are shorn (the trunks are still standing about 3m tall), and the pines on the far side of the games lawn are down. Most of the wood still needs cutting into rings, and the trunks need dropping, but they'll pop in next week to finish that. The thinner branches and twigs have all gone through the chipper, and we now have a heap (about 6m³, at a guess) of mulch.

The view across the games lawn is much better, now: the side of the little stand was bare, where a tree had previously been felled. That's the big disadvantage of conifers, really—once they're bare, they stay bare. The borrowed view out of the garden and into the valley is good, and the birches in the field beyond break the view of the neighbours' house.

Losing the pine on the driveway has opened up the track from the front garden, and from the kitchen window; and lightened that corner of the garden. It's also functionally been necessary to remove the tree: the driveway is now more accessible, and it was only a matter of time before the track was encroached by the tree. Finally, the retaining wall under the tree is bowing, and cracking—the expanding roots of the fir have caused it to bulge rather. I'll have to repoint, but I think rebuilding it would be more work than I fancy.

Yesterday and this afternoon have been spent, predictably, splitting, sawing and stacking firewood! However, this morning we had a pleasant session in the kitchen garden, planting things out. The onions and early potatoes were already in, and some rows of radishes (Zlata, and French Breakfast), parsnips (Tender & True), and carrots (Autumn King, and Amsterdam Forcing); we've now added some more carrot rows, and planted out the beetroot. They were about 60 of each of Cylindra and Boltardy.

The over-wintered alliums are all looking good. More onions survived than I thought would—probably because it's been a particularly mild winter, admittedly—and the garlics are looking strong. The elephant garlic are definitely large!

I didn't mention: the damage to the fruit cages was repaired last Friday, with polypropylene cord and a bit of weaving. Not as bad as I feared: some of the wires need tensioning, though.

Lastly: the front garden is looking good, and photo-worthy! The red tulips (praestans; red, in pots in background below) are out, and the daffodils continue; the Pinocchio tulips (bicolour, in foreground below) are almost over. The hellebores are still flowering, and the acer is coming into leaf. The pine and poplar in the background are the ones that were felled on Tuesday.

Front garden (© Ian 2012)

Easter Weekend

We're had a busy but productive Easter weekend, with some respite from the firewood, more of which has been sawn, split, and stacked. The stack on the side of the garage has been adorned with spare roofing slates, to keep off the worst of the rain; more has been moved down to the store next to the kitchen garden; and the ramp into the garden has been cleared of logs and branches, ready for the tree surgeons' visit tomorrow (the last of the poplars, and some firs, are coming down, which will probably be the last of the tree felling in the garden).

The respite is/was more interesting.

The usual Easter activities took place, with Jenny and Philip's recently arrived (and permanent) foster children: painting and finding eggs, and a pleasant walk around Stainland deer park. We managed, for the first time in several years, to get around to baking a Simnel cake (a personal favourite), which will be a treat for the next week.

Part of preparing for tomorrow's tree felling involved clearing a load of roof slates out of a corner under the pine at the top of the ramp. We'd hoped there would be sufficient to use as paving slabs for the seating area in the same corner of the garden, so we spent a couple of hours laying them out in a rough configuration, to determine their coverage (they're not uniform sizes!). Having done so, we thought we'd also mark out the surrounding beds—the design of which we've long envisioned, but not actually tried out. The idea is a round seating area in the corner (which is the most tranquil part of the garden, as it's sheltered by the trees and raised bank from wind, rain, and noise), where the arbour stands, augmented by other seats and with space for table and chiminea at times. Radiating from that are a several flower beds, including one with a water feature (I'm planning a mill-stone based pool, I think, with a small bubbling fountain). A larger bed then extends down the side of the garden towards the copse in the lower corner of the garden.

Seating area and surround beds marked out (© Ian 2012)

Seating area and beds viewed from lane (© Ian 2012)

Snow Damage

Last night saw heavy snow, and it kept snowing all morning. We've had about 8-9 inches, and there are drifts up to three feet deep. We've worked from home, as the roads aren't safe, and it's been a bit cold!

Sadly, the daffodils are all looking rather sad: time will tell, but I think those that had flowers will probably be squashed, and wasted. We might be able to cut some and bring them in, but on the whole I think the display will be sadly diminished this year. Worse, the weight of snow has caused the bird netting on the fruit cages to tear over the posts, so we'll have a lot of repair work ahead of us in the next few weeks.

A weather blip we could have really done without!

Potatoes and Onions

It was time to plant the potatoes and onions, as the last of the onion sets arrived, and the start of April is when we do the 'tatoes (it was the 2nd, last year). The onions are going in a little later than last year, but only by a week.

The onions:

• Autumn Gold Improved (harvest August/September) are meant to store well.
• Red Baron have similar qualities, but red. I like growing some red ones, as they make a nice change.
• New Fen Globe are heat treated, and can get very big. They're meant to store through to May, which is a little longer than the other two, and should justify the slightly higher price.

Last year we had Hyred, but didn't have any bolting problems, so we thought we'd have the cheaper Red Baron. Because of some quality issues, we wound up with twice as many Autumn Gold and Red Baron as planned. We've double-planted them, and will pull up half for pickling while they're still small. Kudos for Marshalls, though; good customer service.

Potatoes:

• Lady Christl (extra early) which we really liked. High yield, very quick, and really tasty. Also stores remarkably well—there are still half a dozen in the workshop. Bit wrinkled, but taste good.
• Red Duke of York (early), which we've not grown before. We like to have a red-skinned tuber for variety.
• Pentland Javelin (early), which is also new to us. Both are meant to be good yielders/storers, which are important, and tasty.
• Bounty (early maincrop); ten of these were a freebie with the other (~20 of each). We'll see!
• Cara (late maincrop); a parent of Druid, which we got on well with last year (excellent yield, and strong plants). Druid's only available from one supplier, though, and so we thought we'd see if Cara was as good.

We've planted the early potatoes about 18" apart. The maincrop aren't in yet, as the spring cabbages and leeks are still in the ground, but they'll go 30" apart. The higher spacing seemed to make a big difference to the maincrop yield, but not to earlies. We used leaf mould to fertilize the ground; it's meant to help combat scab, which we suffered with last year.

Moon & Venus

The moon, Venus, and Jupiter have been in excellent alignment over the last few weeks, culminating in their closest positions on 15th March. I saw that, but only got the camera out on 26th. Really, I need a longer lens to capture the moon at a decent size (something 750mm or longer, for frame-filling splendour), and my longest lens is only 125mm (and I don't have a tele-adaptor). I hanker after Sigma's 150-500 OS lens, and occasionally borrow Philip's 100-400 Canon (which is beautiful, but shorter and more expensive than the Sigma). I'd also love a proper telescope with camera adapter, admittedly.

Never mind: cropped, a shot of Moon and Venus (Jupiter's now sunk down towards the horizon):

Silence

We've had a couple of difficult weeks, and so I've not been posting. Partly malaise, partly nothing to say.

The biomass installation, which was basically complete by 3rd March, hasn't been a success. The installation had a number of pitfalls, which we managed, but the system isn't working as expected. The log boiler's fuel consumption is much, much higher than expected: although I'd got figures for efficiency in advance, and worked on the basis of a figure reduced from this (which seemed wise!), the actual in-use efficiency has so far been about 55%, instead of an expectation of at least 80%.

This poses a real problem: it means that our per year wood use rockets up by 50%, which takes it out of the realm of straightforward, and into logistical nightmare. It also hits the cash saving per year quite hard, and also makes the day-to-day operation difficult (physically larger volume of wood each day requiring loading, and we're not in the house all day to keep topping it up).

Secondly, the delivery side seems less effective than the oil system. That is, where the oil system burnt, say, 100kWh worth of oil for a day's heating, the biomass is using, say, 110kWh on a comparable day. This is after the heat's been produced (measured by a proper, Class 2, heat meter). So, in all, we're looking at a system that's about 50% efficient compared to about 90% for the oil. Not good.

The only saving grace, at this point, is that we haven't paid the full invoice, only the deposit, so we still have a lever when dealing with the installer. However, at the moment, we simply can't process, season, and store enough wood for a winter, so the whole system's not fit for purpose: we may well have to rely on an oil backup, which we didn't want.

In brighter news, when we haven't been madly cutting, splitting, and stacking firewood, we have managed to sow plenty of seeds, and now have a lot of baby beetroot, leeks, peas, celeriac, salad leaves and radishes. The kale, sprouts, parsnips, and carrots aren't up, yet, but there you go.

The over-winter alliums (onions, garlic, elephant garlic, and spring onions) are all still doing well, and look they're starting to bulk up. That's pleasing, as we're going to start running low on last year's autumn-harvest onions soon.

The spring bulbs are doing nicely, with lots of scilla and puschkinia up now. The daffodils are starting to come out in force: there are just about enough to start cutting some to bring inside. The 'winterized' front garden's looking great; we're very pleased with it. The dogwoods, hellebores, primroses, and the winter hanging baskets (heathers, sedge and cineraria) have really made it look good. The clematis outside the kitchen door is coming back up, too, and the buddleja is sprouting. Some of the early tulips ('Pinocchio') are up, too, though the Cheerfulness daffodils aren't.

Deer on the Hillside

This morning's visitors (© Ian 2012)

Wood and Seeds

We spent Friday splitting and stacking wood, with medium efficacy; Jenny and Philip's current foster children also left, so we spent some time with them. Saturday and today has been more wood; stacking some pre-prepared wood, and sawing/splitting/stacking fresh wood. We're getting the hang of it: today's work was quite effective. We've planted more seeds—so far we've got plenty of leeks, beetroot, beans, peas, and now some celeriac and tomatoes in.

We had a brief interlude mopping up after a leak in the airing cupboard, which came through the kitchen ceiling, too...

Back to work tomorrow!

Gorse

Another day in the garden; this time clearing a gorse that's outside the dining room window. We cut it down a while ago (September '09, I think), but never finished the job. We have, now, though it took an effort to get the three sets of roots out. While I struggled with those, Liz has started ploughing through the neighbouring cotoneaster, and we've made good progress.

Before/during clearing the gorse and cotoneaster (© Ian 2012)

Outside the workshop door, there are a couple of tiny beds (mostly gravel, it has to be said), which have some thorny horrors in them. Unattractive, and irritating. We have, therefore, removed them. I'm not actually certain what they were, and don't really mind. I'm going, at some stage, to build the walls of the beds up a bit, so there's more depth, and then we can plant some blackberry cultivars we ordered. For now, they're in pots in the space.

In the newly found space, we've planted some oriental lilies and three hemerocallis ('Calico Jack', 'Destined to See', and 'Tigger').

Mushrooms

We've had a day in the garden, while the biomass system continues to be installed.

The remaining green manure in the kitchen garden has been chopped and dug in, in preparation for planting the beds over the next month or so. We moved a few more bags of leaf-mould, which I collected at the weekend, down to the 'compost area': we were donated several plastic composters by a neighbour, which we'll use to store the leafmould, when we get round to siting them and transferring the leaves.

Next to the coal-bunker outside the back door, there's a small triangular bed (with sides of about 3 foot) which has had a sorry looking holly growing in it since we arrived. It's never looked attractive: stunted, poorly leafed, and dismal. I dug it out this morning, and wasn't surprised to find that it's been struggling from a shallow bed: probably only a foot deep, with loads of gravel in it. We've topped up the soil with some compost, planted a red-stemmed bamboo: Fargesia scabrida 'Asian Wonder'. It's meant to like a sheltered spot, part shade or sun, so hopefully it'll thrive. It should, when it gets to its mature height, be more attractive than the holly—and productive, too.

We also took one of the poplar logs, which I'd had cut to a two-foot length, and implanted it with oyster mushroom impregnated dowels. In about six months, it should yield a crop of tasty mushrooms, and then continue doing so every six months for a few years. A medium-term project, but hopefully a successful addition to the food we grow.

Delivery

The biomass installation started today: the oil boiler is now offline (and partly disconnected); the old hot water cylinder is out; the new accumulator tank (enormous) is roughly in position, and the boiler itself is on a pallet in the garage.

We've had nothing to do with this, admittedly, and have, instead, cleaned the house, and switched the beds around, so that the spare divan in the garage (which has drawers built into it) has replaced the one in the guest room (which doesn't). This has been something we've been planning for ages, and means we have much more storage space for things like second duvets—unfortunately, I think it's immediately filled.

Long-Standing Task

Finally, after sixteen months, I have put the divider on the floor join between the kitchen and utility room. In my defence, the strip was slightly too thick, which (when I looked into it) was mainly because the door's hinges are so worn that the door was hanging about a quarter-inch too low. I have now replaced the worn hinges (adding a third, in fact), and the divider has gone down effortlessly. We've also sorted out the garage, ready for the installation of the biomass boiler, which starts tomorrow.

Squills

I've spent most of the day, and yesterday, splitting poplar, ready to season. It's going reasonably well, and I've cut a couple of trugs-worth into kindling, too. While I was outside, I noticed that the first of the squills (Scilla siberica) are about to flower. The daffs, puschkinia, and tulips are all also up and getting buds; the crocuses are flowering too.

Spring's almost upon us!

Stove

We've had the new stove installed on Friday. It's a Dunsley Yorkshire woodburner, and we hope it's going to mean the sitting room can be made nice and toasty, without having to turn up the whole house's heating. Some before/during/after photos!

The open fire (© Ian 2012)

With fire basket, accessories, and canopy removed (© Ian 2012)

With stove installed! (© Ian 2012)

We've since put the bits and pieces back, and stacked some wood in the inglenook, and tonight lit the first fire in it. The first few are meant to be on the small side, as the paint cures, the firebricks dry out, and the seals firm up. The fire cement also needed 48 hours to dry, but fortunately we've had the weekend at Alan and Ann's, in Newmarket, so we were away and couldn't be tempted to light a fire.

It was a really enjoyable weekend, too: plenty of board games (Cities & Knights, and Alhambra), a good film (Inception), and good food. It's been a while since we've seen them (October, I think), and it was good to catch up. We called in on Rachel and Philip for lunch on the way home, which was a nice opportunity to see their new house again (we called in briefly a fortnight ago). They've adopted a couple of old rugs, and a garden table, from us: it's good to see them in use.

Also on Friday, we had the partition wall that separates the boiler room from the garage taken down. Having decided on a biomass boiler, we needed to make access to fit the accumulator tank (2000l, and 150cm in diameter, 220cm tall) into the boiler room: it wouldn't go through the existing doorway. I attempted to take the breeze-block wall down, but it wasn't happening (the mortar was much stronger than needed). Builder's cut-off saw made short work of it (his more muscular frame probably helped, too). I need to make a 'hatch' in the garage ceiling, because the access between joists is limited to about 40cm, and an expansion tank will be going in the loft space. My plan is to make a 80cm square opening, which will only entail cutting one joist, but that's for later this week.

More stove reports when we've had a chance to try it out properly...

Cider Press

We've had a really good weekend, with a visit to my parents', time with Liz's, and some sorting at home. Being my birthday, there was also plenty of lovely food, and a few presents. My sister gave me some Nerines (Nerine bowdenii), my parents gave me a foraging book ("The Thrifty Forager" by Alys Fowler) and a bee hotel (which will go up in the copse soon). Liz and her parents joined forces to find me an apple press, which I've wanted for some time. It'll be a useful way of dealing with the apple glut, either as cider, or a bottled and pasteurized juice.

New 12l cider/apple press (© Ian 2012)

A couple of bags of cheap apples were ready for a first try-out: ten apples yielded about 500ml of juice, and very easily. It would actually be easier with more fruit—the pressing plate had to have a lot of spacers on top of it, because ten apples is a very small proportion of the press capacity. That said, the juice itself was delicious. It browned quickly (we hadn't added citric/ascorbic acid to the bucket), but that doesn't affect the flavour.

Roll on autumn!

Sous Vide Venison

On Friday/Saturday, we were visiting Katherine in Cambridge, who took us to eat at High Table at Pembroke College. I've not eaten so well in years. It was a fantastic menu, in a beautiful setting, and we had a great time.

The menu:

Pea and Coconut Velouté with a Coconut Foam

Smoked Salmon & Mozzarella Terrine

Venison with Caramelized Red Cabbage, Château Potatoes, and a Game Jus

Chocolate Fondant with Peanut Butter Ice-cream and Cumin Caramel

And we then retired to the fellows' parlour for artisan cheese and biscuits (a phenomenally good blue brie-type cheese, a really strong cheddar, something like a parmigiana, and a goat's cheese I didn't try), fruit, and chocolates, with a good port, a lovely Riesling, and a claret.

Pembroke's chef maintains a blog, Under Pressure at Pembroke, which depicts some of these lovely dishes. The sous vide cooked venison was the best venison I've had. I'm still revelling in it all.

We also, inevitably, had a wander: the Backs outside Trinity are looking good, although the crocuses aren't quite out yet.

Aconites outside Trinity College Cambridge (© Ian 2012) 

The Backs and Trinity College (© Ian 2012)

Back home on Saturday, and we've spent today cutting and sawing a load of wood Calderdale council dropped off. We already have too much wood to process, you might say. I'd agree: but we wanted to check this as a possible supply of biomass for wood central heating. Not bad, but not brilliant, in fact; quite a lot of softwood, and some stuff that was a real pain to split.

Poplars Down

On Friday, we had five of the over-grown poplars felled. Before, the garden looked like this:

Before felling (© Ian 2012)

And by Saturday morning, it looked like a timber yard.

And after (© Ian 2012)

We spent most of Saturday and today getting it tidied. The brush wood is now almost all on the existing heap of material for chipping (where the pond, one day, will be), and most of the wood is in four heaps: lots of uncut stuff on the garden drive, and three other heaps where the trees landed.
Poplar isn't fantastic woodfuel, but this is free, so I can't complain. We're seriously looking at getting a biomass boiler, and this would provide some starting firewood. If we don't, it's years' worth of stove fuel!

The three smaller trees were taken down sectionally, but the big two were straight drops (with a guide rope). Watching the biggest come down was quite a sight!

New Potato Varieties

New to us, that is. Our potatoes for 2012 have arrived, and are now sitting in egg boxes in the study, chitting.

We ordered 1.5kg of each of:

• Lady Christl: extra early. We really liked this, last year, and it yielded very well.
• Red Duke of York: early. New to us, but the yield is meant to be good, and I like having at least one red variety.
• Pentland Javelin: early. Not tried it before, but, again, meant to be a good yielder.
• Cara: maincrop. Druid, which we were impressed by last year, we couldn't get, but Cara's very similar.

We're going to maintain the spacings from last year for the earlies, but use the bigger spacing we trialled with Druid for the maincrop Cara. With Druid, doubling the space more than doubled the yield, which we were very happy with, so hopefully the same will apply.

Garage and Shed

A couple of days of sorting around the house. I've started building a store in the back porch, to help tidily store recycling and bin-related things. Almost there, but not quite. We've also had a major tidy up of the garage, sorting and 're-filing' my store of DIY wood, sifting through the odds and ends, and contemplating the shed.

The shed has been leaking all year, and is clearly starting to rot. We don't wish to replace it this moment (not clear what we want!), but it's in danger of letting its contents get damaged (lawnmowers, strimmers, and chainsaws don't like getting wet). So, we've moved a load of 'rubbish' and things that don't mind getting wet into the shed, and put the shed contents in the garage. We've also moved about a cubic metre of firewood out of the old coal cellar, in the garage: it needs splitting, but is seasoned. The divan that was in the garage is now in the study, ready to go into the guest room to replace the bed in there (which doesn't have drawers), and the large supply of rocksalt is now in the coal cellar.

The tree surgeon we've settled on is coming in a fortnight to drop the poplars, whereupon I will have a huge pile of wood to split and stack to dry. I think a new splitting maul might be required!

It's been a really cold weekend, with freezing fog today. For all that, the activity (lifting, carrying, sorting) has at least kept us warm.

Frosty spider's web (© Ian 2012)

Quilting

We managed to spend most of today on our leafy quilt, which will eventually go in our bedroom. I'll find a photo, but it's been nice to make progress. Sadly, it's the last day of our holiday, so part of the day was getting ready to return to work: lunch boxes, work bags, and bikes ready. Ah, well. It's been the longest break we've had in several years—since our honeymoon, we reckon—as a result of taking Friday 23rd off as well as our 'normal' Christmas break of a fortnight.

Roll on 2012...

To-Do List

Several days of working on a to-do list that we'd 'saved' until our holiday...

• The workshop's been tidied up, and I've installed the replacement bolts on the workshop and garage doors.
• We've made another batch of marmalade. This time we used two lemons and four oranges, which came to just under 0.75 pints of juice. You're meant to add 0.75pt of water (and 6lb sugar) to the Marmade tin; I reckon you should make at least two-thirds of this juice (half a pint), and potentially all of it. With this extra pectin, the boiling time was only about 12 minutes (not the 15 the tin calls for). I looks like another good batch!
• Another tree surgeon's been to look at the poplars.
• Our attempt to purchase the hill-side opposite the house has, sadly, come to naught. No great surprise, but we thought we'd enquire!
• It's been raining for about 48 hours, so we've had to put out buckets to catch the drips in Jenny and Philip's conservatory (they're away for another week).
• I've put a ceiling light in the middle of the dining room.
• I've replaced the light switch in the cellar with a waterproof one, as the wall often gets lots of condensation, which didn't feel safe.
• Liz has, with heavy heart, taken down the Christmas decorations.
• We've sorted out the Christmas fabrics (windowsill runners, tablecloths, etc), and finished hemming the tablecloth for the kitchen.
• Crushed and stored a big bunch of applemint that's been drying, ready for making tea.
• Found the divider for the floor between kitchen and utility room, and started thinning it down to fit.

Seed Bed

A number of vegetables need to be sown in one place and allowed to grow a bit, before being planted in their final location. Cauliflowers are one, along with leeks. However, some of them don't mind being outside for this stage of their life, and there are others (like early carrots) which can be sown under cover (but still outside) for an early crop. To do this, we've dug a pair of small beds (about 60cm by 2m) where the shed/greenhouse will one day go, built little brick/stone walls around them, and put glass on top of them. Coldframes or seed beds, whatever you call them, they'll now start drying out and warming up, ready for us to put plants in them over the coming months.

That took a fair bit of the morning, as it's been horrible weather (hail, rain, and wind), but this afternoon we managed to rack the three wines that are brewing: hedgerow, elder, and elderflower. They'll need another month or two, and then they can be bottled.

New Year Tasks

We've spent the last couple of days in Thirsk with my parents, for New Year's Eve and dad's birthday. Lovely and relaxing. On the way home, we found a new Christmas tree at Thirsk garden centre: ours is looking very sad, and has done for months. Despite potting it on, watering and feeding it, and keeping it watered and away from radiators while inside, it's totally failed to thrive. The new one, post-Christmas, was only £15, so even if it only makes it through Christmas 2012, it'll be cheaper than a cut tree.

Having got home, we've got a number of bits and pieces sorted out: I've replaced the wheels on the bikes, and cleaned the garden tools (including, this time, remembering to remove the blade from the lawnmower, so it doesn't get stuck like it did last winter).

We also did a spot of baking, as Cath and Jason are visiting tomorrow, and we wanted some goodies to toast on the fire. More muffins, teabread, and a mincemeat tart (not for toasting...).

Seeds

We've now placed our seed orders for next year: five, in total. I shan't list them here, but I'll put the plans on the kitchen garden page at some point, along with variety details. We've also got some way with the activity plan for the year—as normal, March and April are hectic, with lots and lots to sow and plant. We think there's enough space on windowsills, but I always worry.

The Daft Cat (Domino) managed to hurt his leg (probably a fight), and has been, reluctantly (read: with claws) allowing us to examine him. I think it'll heal soundly, having been caught early, cleaned, and dressed. He still seems happy to eat cream, though.

Domino with Cream (© Ian 2011)

Kitchen Garden Planting Planning

We've spent a lot of the last few days finalizing the vegetables we'll grow this year, and how they fit into the beds. It's a complex operation, but one we'll only have to do—hopefully—a few times, before being able to recycle previous plans.

We think we're there, and just need to translate the physical plan into an action plan (that is, what needs doing each month (sowing, planting, harvesting, feeding...), and order the necessary seeds. As part of this, we've also been out to the garden centre, and picked up a few bits in their sale, including a second cake platter, and a candle set.

Out in the garden, I've turned the compost heaps, and also lifted a couple of square metres of turf to go to Liz's grandmother in Ludlow (I managed to find a non-mossy patch!). I also had a tree surgeon out to look at some of the poplars on the edge of the garden. They're getting a bit awkward, and risk losing major branches in high winds. They're also not especially attractive, and might be shading the solar panels (slightly)—and I could use the firewood. We plan to have five of them taken down in the New Year, to give some space to the smaller trees amongst them.

Lastly, the foster-children have left: it's been in the pipeline for the last couple of months, and they've moved back to live with their grandmother. Jenny and Philip are now taking a couple of weeks off, before the matching process for their long-term placement children begins.

Of Stoves and Shopping

A number of Liz's Christmas presents to me were virtual—ideas for things that I had some choice on, and which needed me to decide and order. These are quite typical, as I like having a say, and can normally find a good deal. I've been bemoaning my baking sheets for some time: originally non-stick, their coating has gradually worn and peeled, and they're decidedly unhappy. At worst, one gets scraps of coating on the bottom of one's bread roll. We've found some possibly replacements: solid silicone sheets (which, by design, will not lose coating) that go on top of metal sheets (for solidity). Also now on order is a nutcracker (a fun mushroom design: you screw a wooden plunger down into a cup, which crushes the nut: I never get on with plier designs); and a pair of welly liners (Liz loves hers).

We also spent a lot of time looking at our options for installing a stove in the sitting room. The open fire, while quite attractive burning, looks rather dull when not lit. Open fires are also hideously inefficient at putting heat into the room (20%, by some accounts, with the rest going up the chimney), and the open chimney lets cold air in, and warm air out, the entire time.

We live in a smoke-control area, which limits our choices, but we've seen a few that we like. One option is to get a back-boiler stove, and hook it into the central heating, so that we reduce our oil use and warm the whole house when the stove is lit, rather than predominantly the sitting room. No decision yet, though...

Two Christmas Days

Yesterday, obviously, was Christmas Day. However, we and Jenny and Philip decided to make it a children-oriented day, and today, while the foster-children were with their grandmother, have a grown-up Christmas Day.

Christmas Tree (© Ian 2011)

Christmas Day Part I, therefore, was predictable. The children excitedly opened their presents from Father Christmas before breakfast (when we arrived). While Liz and I cooked lunch, the five of them (and the dog) went out for a walk (cooking lunch wasn't so selfless!), and we ate when they got back. As for the last couple of years, I dismembered the turkey (an enormous 15lb bird), and we only roast the stuffed breast—the rest will be used up over the coming weeks, having been frozen. As normal (apologies for the immodesty) it was very tasty; it's much better cooked this way, as the time/temperature can be designed for the breast, without worrying about getting a balance for the whole bird. After lunch, tree presents (the children's) were opened, admired, and played with, and we watched both the Gruffalo's Child and the Snowman (a staple). We'd gone round yesterday evening to sing carols, and previously watched the Gruffalo, so we've had a good number of child-friendly activities.

Today, Part II. Jenny and Philip came over for brunch, after the children had gone (the stollen we cooked on Christmas Eve). We tried a pork recipe for lunch, roast in cider with pears, and with a very good chestnut stuffing, which may become a regular recipe. Otherwise, presents were opened, mince pies consumed, and hot berry cordial quaffed. I think the cordial is a great success, and very enjoyable. We'll have to make at least as much next autumn, once we see how far this batch goes. It's very frugal in mixing, as you only need a small amount per mug, and we do have about 3 litres.

The decorated fireplace (© Ian 2011)

Preparatory Baking

We spent most of today baking, having spent yesterday, the first day of our holiday, cleaning and tidying. I managed to break my bike (blown out rear wheel), so I've had to order a new wheel, but there you go. Today has been an extravaganza of cooking; stollen for breakfast on Boxing Day, gingerbread houses (presents), bread, mince pies, and muffins (as in breakfast muffins). The mince pies use mincemeat made on New Year's Eve last year, and is delicious.

Gingerbread Village (© Ian 2011)

The village is for the foster-children, hence there being three houses, and three figures (I'm particularly pleased with the reindeer, though I say so myself). Royal icing does make surprisingly good mortar...