Sunday 22 November 2020

Inspiration, we all love a bit of that!

Hello there. How is everybody? 💖 Not wishing to sound like a broken record but we are just keeping on keeping on here, except for the fact that my youngest was sent home on Monday. A classmate tested positive and he has to isolate but is returning to school on Wednesday, something he is VERY pleased about as he is not a big fan of online learning!

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Saturday.

I'm in the living room, no woodburner lit yet so have an extra layer on, but having some ish-quiet time with a brew and a biscuit. The weather outside is miserable as sin, the dog is asleep in the kitchen, Jon has popped to Aber for dog food (missed off my shopping list yesterday) the boys are upstairs putting up Christmas lights and Aled Jones' dulcets are wafting down the stairs, don't ask, as I sit here and write my blog post.

This morning I came across a note scribbled in my Household Notebook about sowing some tomatoes which can be grown outside. I've never been brave enough to do this because my efforts growing toms have never come to much with those IN doors, although this last year I did have better results in the poly tunnel. So this coming growing season after feeling inspired by my good friend Tracy of Our Smallholding Adventure, as usual, I've decided to give it a go. She's always very enthusiastic when it comes to growing tomatoes, most things really, and tries so hard sowing early, different varieties etc. So as well as trying some outside I'll be sowing a good variety of this very useful fruit - yes I think we all know tomatoes are a fruit not a vegetable!😄

So here are the sowing choices I've made for next year.

IDI F1: Quite a tasty variety I found this year and great to add some different colour to a plate. They are small, yellow and pear shaped, an indeterminate, vining variety and produced by the RHS and Mr Fothergill's.

Tomato F1Tumbling Tom Red : Next year will be the first time I've grown tumbling tomatoes, these seeds are from Simply Seed, and thought I would have them in a hanging basket in the poly tunnel as this variety is not frost hardy.

Maskota : This is a cherry variety by Mr Fothergill's, the seeds of which I was given by a neighbour. Now these were not a real success last year however I'm trying with them again which gives me the chance to grow at least one variety outside. These are also a bush type and ideal for pots, tall ones as they can tumble.

Big Mama F1 : I so do want to grow some big plum tomatoes to make sauce, my dream is to have jars of them in my cellar store room. These are said to be good for sauces, soups and salsa and they skin easily after par-boiing; wish me luck with these seeds from D T Brown.

Maghrebi : These are from the Heritage Seed Library and originate in Morocco They are said to be blight resistant and work well fresh, cooked or pureed. 

Marmande : From Kings Seeds these seeds produce large, attractive fruits which mature slightly later so you can hopefully extend your growing season. They are bushy and don't require side shooting. I hope to do better with these next year.

I'd be interested to know if you're growing anything different or special next year - inside or out.

Inspiration also struck after watching  on Homesteading Family on YouTube who are based in North Idaho in the States- I was put onto them by Tracy! In one of their many videos Carolyn the lady of the house talks about home management including about turning from consumers to producers. Now I think this is pretty much the main idea of those who own or wish to own a smallholding or homestead depending on your description of choice, see my blog post wth some of my thougts about that here.

Obviously we'll still be trying in what will be, amazingly, our 6th growing season to provide as much food as we can; with the advent of my poly tunnel I hope to improve on my harvests as we will have 4 extra months at the beginning of the year compared to last. I'm constantly learning when it comes to sowing and growing and I know those who have been doing it much much longer than me are also still learning and I think that's just great. When it comes to indoors and providing food I think next year I'll try having a couple of days a month to batch bake and make in the kitchen. This will cut down on buying certain things like snack biscuits but also to have meals and dishes to just take out of the freezer when at times we need to make things easy for ourselves or we are busy. We plan on getting a bigger downstairs freezer for the cellar room next year so I'll surely have space. 

Inspiration also came from Hugh and Fiona over at English Country Life on their latest YouTube video. Suggestions were given for books as Christmas presents for those who wish to learn about or gain more information about smallholding and all it can bring. I will now be asking Santa for a copy of this: 


I really want to up my game next year and I think this could be the book for me. Funnily enough Tracy has this on her list, too. You get the feeling we are a couple of peas in a pod!

....Life continually gets in the way so I'm now finishing my little ramblings on Sunday morning at the kitchen table. I've already fed the chooks, lit the Rayburn, put a wash load on, put another load to dry and had my first coffee. Jon took Belle out first thing and I can hear the kettle boiling for a second cup as we've now had breakfast and he and the boys are on a shed clearing out day.

I'm continutally inspired, like lots of people, by lots of people and I'm sure you are, too. 

Please leave a comment if you have time as I'd love to hear about how you are inspired along with any plans you have for the coming growing season.

Bye for now, 
Lou.xx





Wednesday 11 November 2020

Poly House, Crafting and Christmas.

 Hello.

I'd hoped to get this post published on Monday when here in Wales we came out of our circuit breaker. I'm hoping people will not see this as a time to celebrate the end of restrictions but to instead keep asking themselves what they can do to keep the virus at bay and from spreading.

Also in the news this week there has been real progress with vaccines. It is said there is a chance of maybe two being available by the Spring; this is wonderful but in the meantime we need to keep up with the rules:

                                                HANDS                  FACE                SPACE                                              
Moving on. Here on our little homestead we're been cracking on with jobs and the most exciting one is the re-covering of the poly house. I'm not sure how long it had been in such disarray but it is months. 

The job was started last week, in the wind and rain.




Because of the weather this last week we had to wait until Satruday morning to start again so Jon fetched new battens and he and the boys set to work et voila!! 

I am absolutely chuffed to bits that it is useable again and in the afternoon I set about tidying up, putting all the pots above the door where they belong and gave it a good sweep out. 








I'm sooooo looking forward to getting back to doing inside outside jobs again, but also to just spending some me time in there with a brew, thinking about the sowing and growing I'll be able to do in there in the coming months.

I didn't actually wait that long to get in there to do something as on Sunday I planted 62 red onion sets in individual pots! 


I had ordered variety Electric but I was sent a replacement vairiety called Roelin which I'm asured is a suitable substitute. They are Autumn planting ones but I just thought I would experiment and plant them like this and then put them out later, just because....

I received a fairly big order of seeds last month which I talked about on my last post and I'm hoping for that my last order, I think, will arrive in the next couple of days. (Post man has just been so won't be today!) I'm waiting for the following:

courgette Gold F1
tomato Big Mama F1 
cucumber Diamant (gherkins)
Nasturtium Alaska
sweetcorn Swift F1

I've been getting back to a little more crafting after taking a break after finishing my mammoth project of my festive journal. You can see a flip through of it here on my YouTube channel. This shadow box is something I've been working on for a while until I had the special lights. You can see how it makes such a difference to the effect.



We're really looking forward to celebrating Christmas this year, even though it will be a little different. We normally love having friends and neighbours round on Boxing Day, kitchen table heaving with food, treats and a few glasses of bubbly but we won't be doing that this year. It won't stop us having a lovely family time, though, as we always do and a part of this is me decorating in my own, special way which I can't WAIT to do. 

With the cake already sitting in the cupboard waiting to be fed, which is normal at this time of the year, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.


I know some people don't like to think about  Cristmas too early but I'm just thinking what the heck. The turkey is ordered, there is mincemeat in the cellar store room from last year waiting for the first lot of mince pies and even a box of crackers we didn't get round to pullng and our youngest has got his music playlist sorted. Doesn't seem to be a way of stopping the festive juggernaut and frankly I'm not too concerned in doing so, but I do draw the line at Christmas songs being played before December 1st. 

And to that, in the words of the fabulous Matthew McConaughey, I say "alright, alright, alright"!

Ok well, enough of my ramblings. Today is Jon's birthday so better get that cake iced.

Take care of yourself and each other.

Bye for now,

Lou.xx