Harvesting a little, making a little

After a very late, very snowy start, spring has finally arrived here.  The daffodils have only just finished their show, the tulips bask in the sun, and my garden bounces into action.  For the past two weeks or so, purple sprouting broccoli's on the menu two or three times a week, and fresh herbs (marjoram, mint, and chives) most days.  I think next week we'll start eating (small) fresh salads, and I'm crossing my fingers for my cherry tree;  though still tiny, it's covered in blossoms--if they all become cherries I could make a pie!  Also blooming:  my two new apple trees and my strawberries.

Partner cut down another tree at the back (southern) edge of our garden which was shading part of the veg beds, and the whole area is so light and bright now;  and let's face it, we need all the sun we can get round these parts!  I've planted it up with both veg and flowers, and it has my two baby blackcurrant bushes starting to leaf up.  The wood from the tree is in two piles at the moment:  the big branches and logs are on the patio and the small, trimmed branches and twigs are in a huge pile on the lawn, soon to move onto the site of the old pond.  If you recall, we emptied the pond when the fish all died (for safety reasons--small children and ponds do not mix) and have mostly filled it in with garden trimmings and some topsoil;  in fact, I even have a few seedlings growing in it, but it's not completely filled yet.  Hopefully this'll bring it level with the surrounding area.

Today I planted out some seedling cosmo and kale in the front garden (which I sheet mulched last winter), and moved my small lavender from its planter into the ground near the driveway.  All available planters have been appropriated this year into tomato duty;  now the garage has a transparent roof, it's very like a greenhouse:  light and warm.  Every year I say I'm giving up on tomatoes, as they have always performed terribly outdoors here;  my mother in law, on the other hand, gets fantastic yields in her greenhouse, so I'm begrudgingly giving them another chance this year, in the garage.  To prepare the planters, I first put in a layer of sticks and/or small logs, then a layer of shredded newspaper, and then filled the rest with a mixture of potting compost and topsoil.  I anticipate needing to fertilize over the growing season, and plan on using chicken manure and DIY compost tea. 

My knitting has slowed a bit, now that gardening's in full swing, but I've completed the body and sleeves of the blue alpaca cardigan;  it now only needs a collar--so close!  But I don't think I'll be wearing it until autumn;  it's too warm now.  Once it's finished, however, my next project is a braided rag rug, which I've actually begun already.  And some more sewing.  I sewed another pair of jammies for Franklin out of an old t shirt of Partner's, and I have another five or so t shirts to transform.  I have a Very Large Sewing Pile (VLSP) in the corner of my bedroom, threatening to take over the rest of the house.  Time to turn it into a Reasonably Sized Sewing Pile (RSSP).

My pink cardigan! Rambling about the garden, as usual

My new knitted pink cardigan (and a photo for once, thank you Partner)!  I haven't taken it off since I finished it (except briefly for bathing).  I knitted it with a silk/merino blend yarn which I dyed myself;  it feels wonderful.  I'm now knitting another cardigan for myself, glutton for punishment that I am.  The new one is pale blue in alpaca yarn.  I've never knitted or worn alpaca till now, but I look forward to wearing it.

I took a few rosemary cuttings, sowed another load of seeds outside, and discovered the first batch have begun sprouting--always a thrill.  No idea what they are, as I just kind of scattered everything everywhere.  I wanted to try something new:  polyculture.  And I will not be weeding as such;  I'll only cut down large weeds and leave the cut tops to compost in situ, rather than in a traditional pile.  Less work, and hopefully it'll enrich the soil nicely.  I used to throw out all my weeds;  then I started composting them in a pile;  last year I began just "chopping and dropping" them which seemed to work well.

Though to tell the truth, I don't have quite so many weeds as in past years, thanks to the chickens.  Their top three foods:  dandelions, slugs, and grass.  Oh, and my cabbages when they can get them, which probably come in at number one ahead of dandelions.  Right now the chickens are hard at work making me some extra potent fertilizer, which will be distributed to piles for growing vegetables in.  Have I mentioned how much help chickens are when it comes to gardening?  I love those funny little birds. 

Last year I mentioned the possibility of raising meat ducks, but now the idea has come back to raising meat chickens from pullets.  If we can make a separate enclosure for keeping them until large enough to integrate with our egg layers;  and if the cost of pullets isn't too prohibitive, I'm very open to the idea.  I'm almost sure I could kill a chicken to eat.  Almost.

This past weekend Partner very kindly split some old fenceboards for me and I screwed together a rather rickety looking trellis, which he then assisted me to hang on the southern garage wall.  I hope to build another one this weekend;  my plan is to grow vertically up every wall and fence in the back garden:  beans, cucumber, melon, squash, peas, nasturtiums, and anything else I can manage.

Gardening at last, new cardigan

Sorry no pictures again;  I'm fed up with my camera situation. I'll have to pressure Partner into taking some photos for me (or nick his camera to do it myself).

It warmed up a bit from last month though it's still colder than usual.  There are still a few snow drifts lingering on the edges of the village, but there's no snow in our garden or on our street, and the past week has been sunny--albeit with a very cold northern breeze.  But regardless, I scattered seeds with abandon out back last week.  I also put up some very disreputable-looking DIY trellises and planted out my early cabbages and mallow in various places (to grow into tasty treats for chickens).  Seed trays have been shifting from house to garage to patio, to harden off the seedlings, and new seeds have been sown.  I'd say about half of the seed sowing is done.  I can only hope they sprout and grow.  And that the weather cooperates, unlike last year...

I've taken cuttings from my old raggedy sage plant and from my little potted lavender recently, and will take some from my new rosemary (which was a replacement for my last, which was also a replacement--had bad luck with  rosemary!) and my potted geraniums.  Last summer I bought two blackcurrants, one of which appears not to have survived the winter.  Hopefully the other will grow a bit and I'll be able to take cuttings from it too.  I took a couple cuttings from my favorite rose last autumn but only one's still there, and like Schroedinger's cat, I'm not entirely sure it's alive or dead.  However, at the same time I also planted some willow wands (sneakily harvested from the local park) which seem to be not dead. 

Partner and I (though mostly he) tore off the old leaky roof from the garage last month and put up a new transparent roof;  now it's very like a greenhouse.  A greenhouse full of junk and roofing scraps.  I am now considering possibilities for growing in there:  potted citrus, peach, and grape vines are on my mind.  Though not till we clear it out.  For the moment it has seed trays on any free-ish surface. 

Though I need to purchase buttons for it--none in my button stash quite work--I finished knitting my new pink cardigan.  It took me not quite a month to complete and I like it very much.  I'm still in a knitting mood but not quite sure what I'd like to work on next.  I promised myself not to start a new project until I'd finished this one, giving me incentive to complete it. 

Blame the weather!

I read through my journal entries of last March, all about how sunny and warm it was, and how much gardening I did.  Not so this March.  We still have snow on the ground from a 4 inch fall a week ago.  I'm so sad.  As are my seedling trays, languishing full of leggy plant starts.  Partner says it's meant to be cold for the foreseeable future;  I think he meant April snow showers.  If this is the case, I don't think I'll be growing much food this year...

Instead of waking up this month, I've gone back into hibernation:  staying indoors mostly, doing things like knitting and sewing and reading, wrapped up in many layers.  I put my long johns away for a total of one day before getting them out again!

I'm about 3/4 done knitting a pink spring cardigan for myself.  I don't know if I'll get to wear it, though!  It's a sweet lacy pattern, made of a silk/merino blend yarn which I dyed last year.  I'm also working on a simple new slipper design for Franklin, with the prototype looking good--it'll either be fully wool, or (if I can find some) soft leather soled.  I've never worked with leather before, but I often see cheap-ish leather jackets at charity shops, so might as well try it out sometime.  I have a small stash of felt scraps just the right size for child slippers.

Franklin is now the colossal age of 3;  his birthday fell on a Saturday this year, which we spent at the National Railway Museum in York, looking at all the trains, big and small.  He got a lot of fun new things, including his favorite new maroon cardigan, which he calls his "birthday jumper" (jumpers are sweaters over here, as I'm sure you deduced) that I knitted and he wants to wear every day--I hope there never comes a time when he rejects my knits;  he brings me his socks to darn when he finds a hole, and waits for me to finish so he can put them back on;  melts my heart♥.

At the moment, I'm in bed with a virus, which I think Franklin's had this last week--I hope he didn't feel like I do now, poor little boy.  His dad took him to his play group today, and apparently he told one of the ladies that "Mummy's yucky."  It's true.

Hen house, snow

We built a permanent-ish chicken house of stacked straw bales.  It's bigger than the old one, and is much better insulated.  It's tall enough for a perch, unlike the first house.  However, I don't think our chickens actually roost on the perch--I don't think they know how;  they sleep on the floor in a big pile.

 

 

 My new window box is weatherproofed and ready for planting.  Like the big brick planter on the patio, it's got a layer of sticks at the bottom to improve drainage and add fertility.   Partner built it for me for Christmas;  I've got plans to put in herbs, flowers, and cherry tomatoes. 

 In case you didn't notice, we've had some snow around here!  I made a total of two snowmen but they didn't last long, sadly. 

Our last snowfall was four days ago, and it's dried and warmed up since then;  today I sat on that very bench above and knitted in the sun without a coat or hat on. 

Last week I optimistically sowed a bunch of trays of seeds, some of which are now sprouting in my kitchen.  I can't remember all I planted, but in a rare instance of foresight I actually labeled the trays as I sowed them;  I know I've got cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli sprouting.  Oh, and speaking of broccoli, my purple sprouting broccoli out back is thinking about it.  I let the chickens have access to it for a few weeks in winter and they stripped all the lower leaves, but the tops are still intact and beginning to form little buds.  My rhubarb's also making a comeback, and I borrowed a rhubarb cookbook from the library to investigate.  Since we don't eat much sugar any more (did I mention Partner's diabetic?) I'll see if I can find a savoury use for rhubarb. 

Christmas, New Year, image

Maybe part of my lack of blogging has been my lack of photo uploading.  I can't upload directly onto my laptop, and the desktop has been very touchy lately.  I've got photos on the camera.  They're stuck there for now.


With it being winter, and the subsequent darkness and rain, I've not been so active the past six or eight weeks.  We don't have a morning walk every day.  I get up (as does Franklin) when the sun comes up, usually 8 to 9ish.  If it's sunny, I might work in the garden for an hour or two, laying paths or shifting topsoil.  Usually it's not sunny.  If it's rainy I'll tidy around the house, knit, and play with Franklin.  One of his best toys is a wooden train set;  it's great to set up the tracks and then race the little wooden trains around--even for me.

We had a nice quiet Christmas and New Year, just the three of us.  For Christmas dinner we had turkey, ham, bacon-wrapped sausages, and five different vegetables, and then homemade Christmas pudding to follow.  For breakfast we saved up our eggs to make eggs Benedict (minus the bread). It was all lovely, or in Franklin's words, "lishus!" 

Since having a child, I personally haven't been so very excited about Christmas presents for myself or Partner;  in previous years we packed in as many things for each other under the tree as would fit;  but this year, we each made each other one thing, and the rest was for Franklin.  I'm also less materialistic these days anyway, and I don't do "stuff."  I think if people want to give me something, I'd rather have something useful, like money!  Partner made me a fantastic window box to hang outside my kitchen window and I made him a pair of wool socks.  They are very similar to the socks I made Franklin and the socks I'm currently making for myself;  I hope we can tell them all apart in the laundry...

Partner played a gig on New Year's Eve as a stand-in and got crazy money for it (well, ok, not that crazy, but we bought our garage roof panels with it).  He was in a band last year but they broke up due to scheduling reasons (I think?) and has been auditioning with many other bands in the months since.  I think his main requirement for joining a band is that they gig regularly.  So far no one has met this high standard! 

I have written down a few things I want to accomplish this year.  When I make a fully coherent list, I will share.  For now, I will share a goal I set myself last year, in private:  I set myself the goal of losing two inches in both my waist and hips, and I succeeded.  In fact, I lost two inches in my waist and three in my hips.  I have set myself the goal to lose another two inches in my waist and a further one inch in my hips for this year.  In addition, I also lost about 15 pounds, attaining a weight I have not been since before marriage.  I feel great, and I keep thinking how strangely skinny my wrists look!  Don't get me wrong, I am not "fat" nor have I ever considered myself that way.  My previous weight was healthy for my height, albeit at the top of the healthy spectrum.  My current weight is also healthy--but I rather like having a slimmer waist and less of a muffin top.

Raised bed, newest path, digging, and chickens

Here's my new brick raised bed, topped by a glass shower door, aka "cold frame." Nobody is planted in it yet, but I plan on sowing some seeds in February.  It will be my I-don't-have-a-greenhouse-so-this'll-have-to-do bed.  For tomatoes, peppers, basil, and lettuces, I think.  I may totally change my mind, though.

Lately I've been darning socks.  A lot.  Mostly my own socks, but I've done Franklin's and Partner's, too.  How many darns can a sock have before it's all darned out?  I have a sock with about 7 different darns--though its mate has only 2.  It started out as black, but now it's multicolored.  I think maybe I'll darn in red from now on, and one day I'll have a red pair!

Excitingly, I had my first sale in my shop!  It was a pair of black toddler long johns which I designed and sewed myself.  I hope the little girl who wears them stays nice and warm this winter.

Though it's not easy to tell from the photo, I've been carting the dirt out from this area between our garage and next door's property.  It used to be covered in rubbish, then I planted runner beans along the wall, and now I'm slowly leveling it.  I've taken out about a third of the soil so far.  See those exposed roots under the elder stumps?  I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with those stumps, but hopefully I'll be able to get them out somehow.  Eerily, the big main trunk, detached from the stump since May, is still sending out leaves:   it's still alive!  I had planned on burying it, a la hugelculture, but I'm not doing any such thing till I know it's good and dead.

As far as Christmas goes, we're buying a chest freezer, but probably not till January, and Franklin's only getting a few hand-me-downs.  I think the only thing we've bought new for him is a set of magnets.  We also agreed not to buy anything for each other, though I suspect Partner has made me something (which I earlier requested) and it's possible I've made him something small, too (can neither confirm nor deny, so don't tell him).  We'll mostly celebrate by having a small feast and spending time as a family. 

My newest path leads to the back vegetable beds, and on the left is a low dry-stone retaining wall, surrounding the blackcurrants.  And right in the center is a DIY rainproof chicken feeder.  My design:  an upturned bucket with two arches cut out.  The chickens have had the run of the vegetable patch for a week now;  I hope they're aerating and fertilizing it well--they've absolutely demolished the last of the chard.  I went out there today only to see some sad, straggly stems, albeit in beautiful jewel tones. 

We're considering building the chickens a permanent coop, while still continuing moving them through sections of the property.  We have six sections back there, and they generally stay in a section for one to two weeks before moving to the next.  It allows each section to rest and regrow between visits, so they don't completely kill the grass and plants.  I like our little moveable coop because it's easy to move and clean, but it's not big enough for a roosting perch, which I think they'd appreciate.