What a Sow and Sow - February.

Hello there, before I begin here is my usual greeting at the start of all my posts, just incase this is your first visit, so best wishes to everybody as we are once again in lockdown and hope you are coping well physically and mentally.

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Right it's January 18th today and, as is the norm, I'm not getting up to much outside in the garden. Having said that I have begun some work in the polytunnel which is adding fresh compost in a couple of places. I also gave my compost 'daleks' a bit of a turning but if you have seen my recent super professional, 🤣 ,YouTube video you'll know I explained my plan of making two compost bays out of pallets. I really would like to get these made as soon as possible; Jon has access to as many pallets as we need so we can hopefully get this done by the beginning of next month.

Ok, seeds. These are the things we like to eat and that I hope to grow this year!

I may sow some Early Nantes carrots in the polytunnel in a container this month. However next month will begin the main sowing dates. As I said in my last post I'll be following advice from Charles Dowding and my polytunnel book; I've decided to keep sowing, keep sowing this year to make sure I have no gaps in the polytunnel or outside in the beds. I'm sometimes worried about wasting seeds but I often put things outside the front door in our egg house for people to help themselves to and hopefully I'll still be able to do that again should I still have some spare seedlings. During the first lockdown I enjoyed swapping lots of things, including plants, via our community Facebook page. 

Right February will begin with the following: (MS stands for multi-sow)

Turnips (MS) Purple Top Milan, the classic variety.

Spring Onions (MS) Ishikura, a mild flavoured bunching variety.

Khol Rabi Delicacy Purple tasting similar to stems of broccoli which I love in soups or stir fry.

Cabbage Greyhound, an early variety with pointy heads to harvest  from June/July.

Cauliflower All The Year Round, such a versatile seed.

Broccoli Matsuri F1 which is a compact variety, may be easier to protect from pests.

Aubergines Black Beauty which I'm trying really hard with as never been successful and so want my own ratatouille!

Salad leaves of various sorts, whatever takes my fancy really and these will go direct into the polytunnel near the door again so they don't get to hot.

Peppers including a Romano red one and one called Etiuda Orange, possibly a third that I may have ordered - more of that later.

Basil Red Leaved which is so very tasty and Sweet Green as it never fails.

I have some herbs in pots in the polytunnel ready to plant out when the weather is right.

Tomatoes are something I'm determined to keep improving on after last year's better efforts - 

Maskotka a bush variety to grow in pots, some outside and in the polytunnel.

ILDI F1 a lovely, small yellow plum type needing some support.

Marmande which are a large, fleshy, late maturing bush variety.

Big Mama Plum Large are good for soups, sauce and salsa - these I hope to have a go at bottling if I get enough!

Tumbling Toms which are not frost hardy so will be in hanging containers in the polytunnel.

Maghrebi are a fleshy, blight resistant variety.

Should be something to suit everybody out of that little lot.

In pots, not sure of the name but red, I have 60 sets in the poly house. Of those 20 are looking good but not so sure about the others. Here comes the order issues, I received an email the other day saying my order of Vulcan Spring planting onions are on their way! I don't remember ordering them but they may be a replacement as I've had a few issues with orders recently! Some space will have to be found for them along with something else. My seed spud order came but only half of it was right. I expected a 1st and 2nd early order but got the first and then some maincrop ones. I'd decided not to grow the latter as I just don't have room for the plants when they get to the full size and they are the only things I really like to rotate and that doesn't work well for me - where they'll go I don't know, probably growing bags as I do luckily have some of those in the poly house.

The MS items are the only things I will have tried this method with so far along with the leeks I'm still harvesting and we're really enjoying those in soups and pies just now.

Still on the subject of orders, I have coming in the next month or two Rhubarb crowns of  Temperley, an early harvesting variety and I'm also very excited about establishing an asparagus bed so have three crowns of Mondeo variety arriving in March - work to be done on the bed for those.

Flower wise I'll sow some marigolds to pop in between the tomatoes plus they look pretty. I have annuals outside the poly house and various perenials and others in the planters outside the Airbnb rooms.(Funny describing them as such seeing as we're not intending to take any guests throughout 2021.)

So that is my plan for February so far, quite a lot of work but I'm really looking forward to it. The weather here in Wales is quite wet and miz right now and I'm only inclined to get outside if the sun is shining a little bit, guilting me to get my wellies on and so something! I love it when I get out there, though, and here's why.

I'll keep you up to date when I get started but would also love to know if you are growing something for the first time and how you get on with it.

Bye for now, 

Lou.xx

 

My Little Patch Of Paradise.

Hello there. I'm here and we're back in lockdown, again! For fear of sounding like an old record I hope you are staying safe and keeping sane. I'll leave it at that.

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As is my want with my posts I start I rarely finish them without some sort of interruption, like a day or two. My husband quite often tells me I try to do too many things at once, the same as when I try to carry too much if tidying up or putting away the pots - I do drop things! We're currently on day two!

Anyhow, I'm here thinking about the outside of our little homestead, my little patch of paradise althoug it isn't looking much like right now! We have had our polytunnel since April 28 2020 so I didn't have time to make the best of it but I was however quite pleased with some of the results; amongst others we had salad leaves all Summer into Autumn, a fabulous amount of kale even though only I eat it but hope to change that. My point is that I want to get it up and running as early as possible to maximise the space over this year.

Currently it is home to the following:

-    20 or so dwarf peas Meteor

-    spring onions

-    a variety of salad leaves

-    a small amount of garlic and onions left over from the ones planted outside

-    10 or so khol rabi

-    three small broccoli with teeny tiny heads

-    2 small kale 

-    pots of parsley, oregano and lemon balm 

-    sweet peas

Some of these are seemingly in suspended animation but look fairly healthy. I hope that once the weather starts to warm up a little next month they'll kick back into life. Something which has come back inside are the strawberry plants; these are about seven or eight I think which were runners off those I cleared out at the end of summer. I gave them a tidy up and have hopes they will develop nicely -  they are called Delizz which are a late fruiting variety.

So looking towards sowing and growing for 2021 I'm not keen on starting many things too early in the year, but I may put some Nante carrots in later this month as these will possibly give us a small crop before those outside. Mainly I'll begin next month when I'll be doing my best to follow Charles Dowding and his sowing schedule with more multi-sowing than I tried last year. My polytunnel book by Joyce Russell says peppers and chillis do well in an unheated polytunnel so I'm crossing my fingers for those to crop this year as I've never done well with either; the latter will have to be a mild variety with more flavour than kick! Any suggestions?

A job for in the polytunnel before much else is to clear some un-successful turnips out; shame about those as I love cooking with them. (Since beginning this I've had another look and there may be a couple growing better. Anyhow, they'll eventually come out and all along the back wall I'll add fresh compost and that is where the tomatoes will be this year. I think they will get more light there due to the way the polytunnel is positioned  to the rising and setting of the sun. I have compost I bought some time ago, which is great seeing as we are in lockdown and cannot get any unless buying feed or bit and pieces for the sheep or chickens.

I'm aiming to do a post by the end of the month about my sowing plans for at least the next two or three months, wiggle room allowed obviously, but I've also set myself a little challenge; check out my freind Tracy over at Our Smallholding Adventure, along with her YouTube channel, as she absolutely loves a challenge. Mine is simply to make a YouTube video where I speak as I'm not keen on my voice when it is recorded but I'll do my best; I want to show the growing area, polytunnel and poly house, oh prepare for some work in progress shots! No point not being honest, real life is what you get in my garden. I'm not good outside in the bad weather but I really am looking forward to sharing my plans for when I'm up and at it when a little of the warm Welsh weather returns.

Aaaah, I knew I'd sneak some in-house stuff in! I have some Seville oranges and will next week be turning them into marmalade to add to the stores of preserves I have in the cellar, some made by me and others gifts. My first time of making it so wish me luck; I'm a nervous preserver but very keen to have a go at things. 

NEWSFLASH - In my last post I showed photos of inside the polytunnel and poly house but I have just uploaded that video I talked about and you can find it here.. I watch a lot of YouTube and people are soo good at it, like Tracy and also Hugh and Fiona over at English Country Life. Me I managed to film the whole 11 minutes in portrait only realising at the end. Duh! Hope you still like what you see!

Bye for now,

Lou.xx

Projects, plants and progress.

Hello!

Before I start I hope everybody is still staying safe. Thing seem to be changing quite rapidly in the outside world just now - not really affecting us to the point that I sometimes don't know what the new rules are as I don't intend to do anything much changed since lockdown began. However, thinking of everybody as people start to get used to the new normal in whatever part of the country you find yourself and in whatever form it is found.

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Today is Sunday. It's blowing a bit of a hooley out there just now but this is the view that greeted me at the cellar back door this morning.

I have a list of things to do but a lot of them are outside jobs and that is why I'm ducking out of most of them today, to do with what I'm posting about just now. I have however planted out the two dahlias which came as my fab swap for a bag of unwanted brown rice and my first time multi-sown leeks a la Charles Dowding but I am done with the wind now.

First thing yesterday I took a look in the veg beds and came inside with some Arran Pilot first early spuds which we had for lunch with mint from the garden, some herbs, salad leaves and radish, Pinks flowers and a couple of eggs. As it was Saturday I fetched one of my loaves up from the cellar freezer; we tend to use my bread as the family prefer sliced bread in the week with mine delish with our own eggs and butties for brekky on the weekend!

My handy hubby completed a job we've been talking about for a while. It got done because he'd already started an improvement job on our septic tank soakaway and, because he needed materials for that, he brought home what was needed for the other job more close to my heart. Have to say chuffed with our two boys as they have helped with the job by doing some digging of the trench during the week - not fun for them but definitely went towards some well earned pocket money.

Job number two was finishing the path in the poly tunnel and making the outside a little more presentable, along with stopping it getting swamped due to being at the bottom of the garden on an ever so slight slope!

I won't provide you with photos of the septic tank job😁... but here is the poly tunnel before and after.

I can't WAIT to pitch my pink and blue stool outside and enjoy my little patch of paradise, check on jobs to be done, feel chuffed with myself when things go well or commiserate with when they don't quite come off as I had expected! - pretty much a reflection of life in general. I do hope gardening is still helping you keep mentally healthy and giving you the chance to get outside in the fresh air, between the rain showers.

As we looked around the garden yesterday we talked about other projects and plans we have. We don't plan on having any Airbnb guests staying with us until 2021 so will take the time to get stuff done! Our calendar is blocked off and we don't anticipate welcoming any new guests before next February. I recieved this from a previous guest just this week in the form of a post card via Airbnb - 

Hi Louise,

I was really looking forward to coming back to Ystrad Meurig to stay with you again (during the Eisteddfod) but hopefully we can do so next year. I spent the wet winter recalling my daily cycle rides during the hottest week of July. Fantastic! I hope you’ve all be managing during the lockdown and have stayed well. Let’s hope some kind of normality returns soon! Best wishes, Neil.

So very, very kind. Apparently guests have asked for ways to send support to their favourite hosts.

Now please don't be offended by the next photo. This is the frame of my beloved poly house built by my husband not long after we moved here. It has been through two covering projects but the last one we decided was THE last one as far as polythene goes. So here is the poly house as is now....😒

We have a separate job to be done first, this summer with all things crossed for its completion, which will allow us to do this one pretty much for free - always good! That job is a new roof on the conservatory. I am not a fan of conservatories in general, however on wet days I can dry clothes, dry herbs, garlic as I am just now, there is a pool table in there, it works as a boot room and we have the door we use to come into the house - anybody else not use their front door apart from for some guests, the post and other deliveries?

This is the conservatory, taken from the garden.

So, the process will be to clad up the sides of the poly house to a total of about three feet then take the Perspex - like material off the roof of the conservatory to add to the roof and sides. This will be fantastic as right now I don't have a potting shed/ building in the garden to do bits and pieces in and have to wait for good weather to use my outside bench.

Regarding the conservatory, once the Perspex roof is off it will have boarding and waterproofing etc topped off with some FREE tiles we have had "in stock" for a good while; the sides will also be clad with room left for a window on each side, too; this will make the room more usable all year round.

As we wandered around the garden yesterday I took a look at a few things and some photos. The sweetcorn is now just over 2ft tall. It's doing better than a couple of years ago because of me planting it in the same spot as the very first year I grew it - outside the poly house where it gets great sunshine.

I did a plant swap a while ago and one thing I was given was a pumpkin; not sure of the variety but I do know it is white! I've been thinking where I can plant it so it has enough space. I've decided to put it toward the back left as you look at the poly tunnel. 

I took a quick look in one of my compost bins and I hate the sight which greeted me. Rather stupidly I put some rogue spuds out of the veg beds in there and look what happened?!! I could really kick myself as I am going to have to pull them all out when I give the bin a turning over.😖 REALLY mad with myself.

Whilst meandering we talked about the trees in the garden. The previous owners planted a LOT of trees during their time at the house, but as we've gone on to do different things with the outside space they need taking back and even removing.

This tree is just enormous and will need some work as it worries us at time when we have had some really windy weather that it made head toward the house!

Then this collection, including a couple on the left of the photo, over shadow the poly tunnel a little so will need some work.

So onto today, I went to feed the chooks and had a look at any wind damage from over night - not too bad; I had to re-stake the broccoli netting and saw that the maincrop spuds in the tyres had taken a bit of a battering but I'm sure they'll survive. 

These next photos show one of my cucumber plants, teeny tiny cucumber just now?! plus some I've sown to grow outside which I might need if the ones in the poly tunnel don't buck up their ideas!

Here are the PSB which I've potted on until their final resting place is ready. The caulis in the bed behind the poly house are looking very healthy. Keeping an eye on them in case they need to be netted.

These are a very welcome sight, my dwarf beans in the poly tunnel. Earlier in the week I was having a bit of a panic as some of the beans seemed to be going mouldy; this I am certain was due to me not ventilating the poly tunnel enough - rookie mistake with being a first time poly tunnel owner. Things seem to be improving which is great.

These two photos are of opposite sides of the poly tunnel, gaps which I really need to do something about. On the left is a solitary aubergine, next to the fig tree, which I think is really struggling. On the right to the right of the planter housing a butternut squash Butterbush are three pepper plants which, again, are struggling. I did use the plastic bottles as mini greenhouses and they seemed to help a bit; I think we need a bit more warm weather to help these plants along a bit. 

So, I think that covers everything for now. Please do accept my apologies for the ever changing colours and typeface, just getting used to a faitly new laptop... 😒

#Staysafe, look after yoursleves and bye for now.

Lou.xx

How Are You All Diddling?

Hi!

Its been just over two weeks since my last confession blog post! A lot has happened at home and in the outside world, too.

Here in Wales the schools have said they will open on June 29; my boys may not be going back until later in the proceedings or at all; we just don't know which children are going to go back in first. I think it would make more sense for the vulnerable ones to go and catch up with their teachers along with those choosing options and the ones who were expected to take their exams this year. Fortunately, neither of our boys fit into any of those categories and a lot can change from now until then as shown by the English primary schools no longer opening before the summer holidays.

Ooh, just have to say I am typing this post on my new laptop as the other one went caput at the weekend. It is lovely!!

Anyhow, where was I? 

Yes, changes in the outside world. With restrictions being lifted in England, which is all the 
P M talks about and pretty much ignores the rest of the UK, Wales has had some unwelcome visitors in various locations, there have been openings of certain places for the public to visit and some rules have been put in place for seeing family and friends. 

To be honest, we are not changing any of our habits really; I'm still happy to stay close to home generally. I remember thinking that when we get back to a sort of new normal people will have to be different, live their lives in a changed way with an altered mindset because of how we have been forced to live. However it doesn't seem to me that people are willing to "pause the system" as it is sometimes described. Seeing the queues a mile long and more  just for people to get a McDonald's takeaway does not fill me with hope that people have considered what they can or cannot really do without in the grand scheme of things.

Aaaaanyway, onto here at home and our little patch of paradise.

We've had a mixed bag of weather over the last couple of weeks - sunshine, showers, wind, hail! - which in the most part for our sowing and growing has helped bring on things which have been planted outside as well as those in the poly tunnel. I can't believe how different it looks. The first photo is me planting up the dwarf beans on May 9th and then today which is just about five weeks after that!

There are still trays and pots of things waiting to be potted on and planted inside and out.

These include more dwarf beans and peas, cabbages, PSB and peppers.

In the outside beds and tyres edibles including the courgettes, sweetcorn and broccoli are all coming along nicely, as are most of the potatoes.  

I've chosen not to make public the Heath Robinson-esque netted frame I have over the broccoli! 

We've been eating lots of salad leaves and had our first radishes this week. 

The carrots are looking healthy although Wednesday was meant to be the June day for last sowing but the weather was not too clever then, or for the rest of the week it seems, but hope to get those in by the weekend. (Not bothering with a photo as not too clear.) Recent new sowings have included radishes, khol rabi, marigolds, chives and garlic chives, parlsey plus two varieties of basil. I've planted out caulis, an established khol rabi I was given and potted on peppers.

In the poly tunnel I've been pinching out the tomatoes in the mornings, supposed to be the best time to do it, and there are flowers on the four biggest plants; I have some nettle feed soaking so when I sieve that next week I'll feed them with it, will need a mask for that! 

The peas, even though they're a dwarf variety, need supporting so held them up with some hazel sticks. The third and final kale plant has been put in as well as an aubergine; the whole of the poly tunnel is coming on really well and I just can't wait to see how it looks at the end of this month.

The onions are so close to coming up; 

needed to use one the other day, the top of which had completely fallen over. Can't wait to get the cabbage in here but need to sort our some netting to keep off the retched cabbage whites!

At the weekend we unfortunately lost the smallest of the orphan lambs we've been looking after. To be honest it was not right or well from the start, struggled to take any milk, had an issue with its back and front legs, seemed to have a couple of fits towards the end and we even think it may have been brain damaged. He spent his last hours, luckily, laying in the sun with the sound of the chooks in the back ground and drifted off to somewhere without pain we hope.

Today a lovely thing happened. I met a friend who lives about 20 minutes away from me; she was going to Tregaron to fetch a prescription so we socially distanced and had a lovely chat! She brought me some PSB and perpetual spinach - love that - which is now in the bed with the cauli,

and I swapped with a Jerusalem artichoke! 

I just HAVE to show you the fig tree now it has been in the poly tunnel a few weeks. I'm sooo chuffed it's doing this well!

So, I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings, but more importantly that you are all keeping well and safe but seeing family and friends when it is safe to do so. 

Bye for now, Lou.xx

CHANGE, NOW AND IN THE FUTURE - A positive post.

When I look out of my top kitchen window over our little homestead and beyond, where we live, I am eternally grateful for many reasons  However I am even more thankful because, to be honest, just now I can forget about what it going on elsewhere for a little while. 

This doesn't mean I am not considering those wonderful people doing amazing things for us all, but it does my health good just to stop and enjoy what me and mine have now and then. Since my last post, which was just 10 days ago, many things have changed a great deal and we are all dealing with and experiencing a very different way of life. 

The boys have now been off school for 2 weeks, I am coping quite well with their home schooling as the eldest just gets on with stuff but the youngest needs a little more encouragement when it comes to focus. However they have also been making the best of the good weather, as I tell them at any time when we get sun, by going on their bikes but they are careful and keep a VERY good distance because social isolation is not top of everyone's list! Plus they are doing outside chores in between school work like collecting the eggs, feeding the hens and orphan lambs - the three amigos - which we now have in the garden, and they've fixed my wonky main veg bed ready for the growing season. 

Jon is still going to work but practising social distancing which is quite easy when he works in an outside sawmill. Apparently he is classed as a key worker because the company provides important help regarding animal/stock management through timber products. He feels they may close at some point because of the number of deliveries/orders they have coming in and out at times but we will see.

I was very flattered the other day when Tracy of Our Smallholding Adventure suggested I write a post about how I organise my kitchen. (By the way she has a fab new post there; we are two peas in a pod when it comes to this sort of thing.) Some people are comparing life now to how it was in the war years and I agree, but at the same time not trying to tell people who did live through WW1 or WW2 how it was for them. However, I was going to write something a little different but right now I think we're all having to be more adaptable in these challenging times, but I think it CAN be character building, so my post has been adapted, too. When you have to change your life it gives you the chance to realise what you REALLY can do without, how you can substitute items for things you are used to and that in the end it just doesn't matter most of the time. This doesn't just apply to what goes on in the kitchen, I think people will decide what really matters to them once things begin getting back to normal and I frankly can't wait! We can already see pollution has been affected by people not travelling so much, water in the canals of Venice is clearer and maybe the thinking of people will not be so tainted when we come out the other side. 

Back to the kitchen. I'm constantly checking the things we've made and put in the freezer or the supplies of things we have in stock that are fresh or in cupboards etc. Variety in our meals is something we are still achieving; we don't have to eat boring meals as long as we concentrate on flavour and the way we use the ingredients we have.

So, I've mentioned in a previous post that we were lucky enough to get to our local wholesalers before things became really serious regarding #stayhomestaysafe. We stocked up on some great staples which has been a total bonus and along side these as I said before, there are things we haven't/can't get for love nor money, namely plain/bread flour so the self raising flour we bought - 16kg of it..

is being used for everything from bread without yeast, pizza bases, sweet bakes, cakes and makes. I've now used up any bread or plain flour I did have and this loaf was made yesterday with the last of it, half and half of plain and SR - came out well, just with there was more!

Bread products in general are a real issue so I am resigned to making fresh Piadina, which I've been harping on about on social media a bit, but it is fantastic and so easy. 
It comes from one of Jamie Oliver's books which I love and is well used; it is a great book to use at this time showing us how to Shop Smart Cook Clever and Waste Less - full of use it up ideas!

This can be used for both savoury and sweet meals. I'm also going to dig out a recipe I have for biscuits instead of buying more cream crackers when the current supply runs out to go with soups and for snacks. I used to make soda bread a lot but SR flour doesn't come out as well as even regular plain flour... But, if you have curry you can make simple flat bread and those can also be used for sandwiches or with meat fillings for main meals.

I had to fetch a prescription on Wednesday so went to our local farmers co-op and the fruit and veg shop along side which I have used in the past. This was before I had a panic attack at another shop, just getting to my car before I fell into floods of tears after an old man wanted to hold the door open for me. I then broke down again at the fruit and veg shop about which the people were lovely. It was a surreal experience as I'd not been into Aber since March 12 or to anywhere else beyond the village shop and things outside the house had changed a lot at that point. I feel the anxiety came on as it was a shock to me, even though we live within village life that doesn't have lots of hustle and bustle, that things were so eerily quiet. I'm very happy that we must not go out unless absolutely necessary because when I DO need to go out I know I'll feel safe because I don't have to go to a big town and I know the set up of the shops. We're also getting a weekly delivery of fantastic, local meat from the butcher in the same place so very pleased with that, too, for example these chops. It is great to support local businesses just now.

Therefore from my recent shopping trip I bought items to go along side frozen items and dried goods we already have. For example I can always make crumbles and cakes so have bought lemons for a bit of flavour when I don't have fruit to include in a recipe and apples to make a big pudding which will last a couple of days. Shortbread is interesting when made with SR flour as turns out slightly cakey but very tasty topped with jam!

Nothing is going to waste in the kitchen. Veg odds and ends go into a pot to be made into soup; the huge leek I bought had the tops removed to go with potato, some carrots of which we have tonnes! as this is another thing be bought at the wholesalers, a couple of spuds and some seasoning and voila, lunch today was said soup with some additions from the fridge.

Jon is chief pie maker and this beauty was a mince monster he made last week. Due to the meat, veg and spuds in it, a slice doesn't need too much extra veg on the side - a slice each and four in the freezer.

Now to sowing and growing, are you still with me? I've started as normal, no panic here as we have to watch out for that last cold snap of the year but the conservatory is doing a great job helping things germinate - tomatoes, peppers, dwarf beans, annual flowers, marigolds, 2 varieties of beetroot. In the garden the first early spuds are in along with some hardy red and green lettuce and spring onions. The exciting news is that I have today ordered a poly tunnel from feel good uk; this is just fab as I've always wanted one. Jon and I have come to the conclusion, perhaps as a big number of people, that should anything else happen as we are currently experiencing we want to be able to take care of ourselves as MUCH as possible. So I am busy making sure I know what will go inside and out of the tunnel to maximise what we have and what we can produce. The other thing we have had plans for, forever, is pigs; we're lucky enough to have a field which is just over three acres in size and only ten minutes down the road. With getting the Airbnb listings off the ground effort and funds have not been available but we think next year is the perfect time to have them.

So that is where we are up to right now and our ideas to get through the next few months. Then how our plans will hopefully pan out later. It is a difficult time but we WILL come out the other side with renewed vigour, hope and a future changed for many of us.

Take care, stay safe and I would love to hear about how you are living through now and your plans for then.

Bye for now,

Lou.xx