Ooh, here I am! Preparing, Budgetting, Getting Your House in Order.

It has been soooo long since I wrote here, therefore expect a bit of a ramble!

To be totally honest I have taken to Instagram like I never thought I would, to the point that I have to have a little break here and there, but that is the only social media I use so I guess that's ok, or that it what I'm telling myself.

I have time to write this blog post just now as the boys are on an inset day and, obviously, still in bed at 8am!

So, I read a post of IG this morning about how a person came to cook, preserve and in turn prepare for life's situations and it made me think about why I do what I do now.

When we moved to Wales nearly 8 years ago I definitely wanted a garden to grow our own and we have one. I dreamed about a polytunnel/hoop greenhouse after seeing the landscape around us peppered with them - and we finally got ours in May 2020 after the first lockdown. 

Whilst at home with my parents I learned to make random things like bread sauce from scratch but really can't remember being in the kitchen with my mother teaching me to make or bake much, for various reasons.

Then when I was living in my first flat I started baking and cooking more. Flash forward a good few years to when I married Jon and we had our boys. I use to bake still and enjoyed making the baby food, I rarely bought it.

When we came to Wales life just required me to live my kitchen life differently; that may sound really daft but I came to the house with expectations of cooking and baking on the Rayburn we were lucky enough to have in the house, a country style, open kitchen demanded, yes, demanded I changed the way I cooked, made and baked!

My mum always made chutney but I never saw her water bath it to make it shelf stable; I now make that recipe, with a few tweaks, in the Autumn months.

I can remember always loving seeing pantrys full of lovely edibles but had no concept of how they got onto the shelves. I even remember seeing an episode of A Woman of Substance YEARS ago where there was a scene in a shop which sold fresh baked and made things, a vision I love to this day! 

I wanted a pantry like that and gradually I practised the technique of water bathing to get some things on my shelves. In the back of my mind I sort of knew about pressure canning and then learned more after I had read about it during WW2 and found wonderful #womenwhoprep on IG with all the skills I wish I had.

With the onset of the pandemic I began being more prepared for life situations that might occur and in October 2020 I started to keep extra things in at home, not just food but toiletries, day to day stuff. It is normally the woman of the house who is the #keeperofthefood and #keeperofthehome so do this for your family but get everybody else on board. When my husband and I started talking about this I didn't realise he was on the same page already! Around this time I began thinking about pressure canning myself as with water bathing you can't can meat or many vegetables. IG is full of glorious photos of lovely stocked pantries of home grown or preserved food and I SO wanted to be a member of the canning club.

I finally bought my Presto 23 pressure canner in April of this year and I 💓💓💓 it. After folowing YouTube videos asking for advice etc, including my bestie Tracy over at Our Smallholding Adventure , I am finally getting very comfortable with it and have canned meat and complete meals; I still water bath food such as some rhubarb I acquired with apples for pie filling; I just LOVE going down to the cellar and looking, sometimes stroking, my jars - I know!

All this is part of the being #preparednotscared scenario, which I have talked about before, but with the end of the pandemic came the economic crisis we are now experiencing. Food security is something which is very important just now, but also the war in Ukraine has brought issues with food supplies AND energy prices and along with the cap, of course, things are very difficult for a lot of people.

We are lucky that our energy tarrif is fixed until August next year but I will put some money aside for when it changes as it is likely to be quite high. We are lucky that with the Rayburn we spend less on warming the house and heating water in the winter as it does both things for us - an emersion can apparently cost approx. £300 a year - and we have two log burners. We are currently re stocking the woodpile for when the fires are lit in around October.

In the garden and polytunnel we grow vegetables and some fruit and i'm really trying to use things from there and not buy where I can. I don't have anywhere near as much space at Tracy, check out her set up, but I'm not buying potatoes, onoins or salad at the moment. We have tomatoes coming along with peas, beans and some other things as well as crops that won't be ready for a few months yet. My IG account - livingthegoodlifeinwales will show you MY set up!

We hope to start raising some of our own meat soon with turkeys on the agenda, and hopefully pork and lamb, as these are the most expensive part of our food budget but we recently lost our chickens to a fox attack so I am unfortunately buying eggs just now,😡 something Tracy is DEFINTELY not doing just now.😂

So, people often ask is it too late to start preparing, stocking up, changing habits whatever you want to call it and the answer is no. Start making small changes now, buy one extra of things you and your family eat when you go shopping - and that it is something you eat is the important thing to remember, if you don't eat tinned tuna DON'T stock up on it. Try to think about unnecesary spending, we can waste money on lots of weekend coffees and snacks when we need to go to town, so we try and go early before lunch or after so we are not tempted.

There are so many people out there doing their best for their families and sometimes it is the little things that help. I have my banking on my phone, wish I had done it earlier but never thought I would do, but it tells me my bank balance when all the expected bills have gone out so then you can budget with the remaining funds, I find it is starting to help me. Check out Tracy's stories for ideas other people are sharing on this subject.

There are loads of other things I could have included here but would hate to bore, get in touch if you want to chat. 

So remember, be #preparednotscared, #getyourhouseinorder and #tightenyourapronstrings and if you've stayed to the end of this, 👊, well done!

Lou. x

This And That - Outdoors and In.

 Hello, I'm celebrating! 

This is because my laptop is now my own again as my youngest has bought himself a new device and therefore no longer needs to use mine for his homelearning, hurrah! This celebration comes in the form of a new blog post.

This is a little ramble about what's happening here on our little homestead, also know as #mylittlepatchofparadise, from the end of last month and into February. February! How did that happen? Also I'm talking about jobs and this 'n' that around the garden in the coming weeks.

February is a wonderful month really. Even though we are still having some wet and chilly days, with it comes the promise that Spring is just around the corner. It's also the time to be chitting seed spuds, if that is your thing. Not everybody bothers as you can see in February's issue of Grow Your Own magazine; Blake and Laura debate whether it's a necessary job to do. I always chit mine, I'm still waiting for my Charlottes to be delivered, as I think those early shoots give them a little kick up the garden path to a good start and a hopefully healthy harvest! 

As for existing plants/edibles and in garden, the frosts in the coming months need to be prepared for so make sure you have your closhes, fleece etc ready; our last frost should be in April, fingers crossed.

In February you may be able to spot Wild Garlic underneath hedgerows and in woodland and be lucky as English Country Life to have been to pick some already. (You can find them on YouTube, Twitter and Instagram plus their YouTube channel here with oodles of help and advice for the smallholder, budding or experienced.) If you are forraging for it always be careful to only take a small amount; we're lucky enough to have a good clump growing in the garden. 

However, last year we lost most of it to the chickens and orphan lambs nibbling away at it. This year I think I will take up and re-locate it to somewhere safer!

Whilst out forraging you may be lucky enough to spot the odd primrose or catkins on the Hazel branches and of course snowdrops are for a lot of people one of the first signs of Spring not being far away - their nick name is flower of hope as they bring that hope of lighter and brighter days to come.

Each month no-dig guru Charles Dowding - find him on Twitter, Instagram and here, too - has a column in Grow Your Own magazine dispensing help and advice so here are a few snippets ready for next month. At this time of the year he says it is too early to start tomatoes and best to sow them in the 3rd week of March to be kept on a warm windowsill then be planted out under cover in May. It is worth remembering that seeds need more heat when germinating than seedlings need for growing; windowsills are a great place for the first 7-14 days after you've sown your seeds.

Lambing is not far off now. We had the lambs scanned and we hope for 26 singles and 17 twins, no empty ones. 

In January Jon refurbished a trailer incase we need to transport ewes from the fields down to the barn should they be in trouble.

We have medecine, injections, tube feeders etc. ready if we have any mums or their lambs needing help. All set but fingers crossed for not too many problems.

Indoors now. I've never made Seville marmalade before - I normally go for a much easier 

all-in-one method which I took from I don't know where! I decided to give it a go and used the recipe, complete with this YouTube video, from Pam The Jam Corbin. I'm going to be honest and tell you I needed to do the dreaded "re-boil" as it didn't set the frist time! Consequently my batch is a good thick preserve but I'm very pleased with myself as we have a jar in the fridge and five more to add to the cellar stores. (An embarrasingly small store but you have to start somewhere.)

I was determined to start the year off with a bang and I will, hopfeully, continue to make and store as much as I can from things I've grown.

My new blog, Put That Light Out, is so much fun. I'm reading my books for research but also enjoy watching some TV programmes, often on the Yesterday channel, plus YouTube videos

to give me more detail for my posts but also just to extend my interest I have in the 1939 - 45 period.

To finish up, the weather here today, Friday, is damp and miserable. We've had snow this month

and the forecast says we can expect more this weekend....It won't make much difference as in Wales we are now into another three weeks of lockdown. We just continue our usual routine; I shopped on January 22 so I won't be going again for a week of more except our local fruit and veg cabin and meat deliveries from the butcher in the same town if we need them.

I hope you are all excited about the sowing and growing season being around the corner. By tomorrow it will be 5pm when the sun is setting so the days are defintely getting longer; before we know it we will be in our gardens, poly tunnels and greenhouses until all hours! My last post was about my own plans for next month and I'd really love to hear about what you have planned for the coming weeks and months. You can find me on Twitter @Goodlifeinwlaes and Instagram @livingthegoodlifeinwales.

Take care everybody and stay safe.

Bye, 

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

2021 - A Fresh Start.

 Hello! 

This is my first post since December 7! We enjoyed our quiet Christmas the same as we always do, so no change for us really. New Year's Eve, too, was quiet as normal - just the Hootenanny with a glass or two of bubbly then to bed.

To hope the coming year of 2021 will be an improvement on the last is an understatement for most people and for those I feel so sorry for all the loss, heartache, difficult times and challenges they have had to face. However I am and will forever be full of gratitude for our being safe on our little homestead, Jon still being able to go to work, our boys carrying on with their schooling at home (though challenging at times, too) not missing going abroad and just happy to be where we are on my little patch of paradise.

I wish everyone a healthy 2021 and look forward to sharing all your, and my, doings in the coming year, be it your sowing n growing, baking n making in the kitchen or craft projects.xx

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Anyway, onwards.This is the view which greeted me at the back door this morning. We had a good covering of snow yesterday and a little more over night but the brightness of the day had already begun to melt it; beautiful sky anyhow.

Yesterday and today I took a few photos inside and out, in the poly tunnel, the garden and the poly house. However, the first photo is of the man who came to scan the pregnant ewes on the 30th. We had a fantastic result as out of  43 ewes we had 26 singles and 17 twins! Fantastic.

Back to sowing and growing. I have very little growing but here goes!

These are my leeks; I haven't harvested any from these tyres but plan to do so soon. I did take up a few from one of the other beds as they were the only thing in it and I wanted to cover it with some mulch; I'm going to try those this evening; they;re more like baby leeks but...

The onions are still coming along nicely...

and in the top of the toilet I have some annual flowers peeping through...trying to grow quite a few flowers this year for a change. Ooh, that reminds me I must make sure I've Marigolds on the list to go with the tomatoes...

plus the bulbs I planted last year appear to be coming to life once more.

Talking of coming back to life the Stellata Magnolia is showing some buds and ...

on the ground beneath it I think are the beginnings of the daffodils!

I don't have much going on the poly house but these are the red onion sets I planted a good while ago and so far 20 or so of them are springing into life;I intend to plant these out in February.

In the poly tunnel the sweet peas are doing ok, need to check when and where I'll plant those out. I was just way too late last year and I had none so fingers crossed I'll get a much better result this year.

I have a few pots of herbs just pootling along which are two pots of  Champion Parsley, some Oregano and then there is Lemon Balm. I'm still hoping to make a good herb 'garden' in the tall planters outside this year.

I'm very pleased that the three broccoli plants seem to be in suspended animation along with the dwarf peas and salad leaves. Apologies for the green algae stuff on the surface; need to clear that off.

So, that was the show now for the tell! 

I've made my list for seed sowing and I've been really thorough, I think, to really try and not have empty beds outside from about July/August time which is what usually happens.😖 Going to keep sowing and keep planting out to try and avoid that hungry gap.

I'm going to do my best to make the most of the poly tunnel as we were already getting on for half way through the year when we bought it in 2020, sounds weird saying that already. I have plans for starting things in there are well as seeds for germination then to be planted in the beds and areas outside.

As we're not intending to take any Airbnb guests for the whole of 2021, this gives us the chance to do some projects in the garden when we don't need to worry about there being some mess and upheaval. A lot of clearance needs sorting around the beds and tyres as I'd eventually like to have membrane and pea gravel down to make the area a lot more tidy.

I'm really quite envious of people with big compost bins so that's something I have room for and Jon has access to any number of pallets we need for the job. 👍

I'm sure there are lots of things I want to do, would like to do, need to do but we'll get to that at some point.

That is about it for me. I can't wait to hear about your plans for inside and out over the coming months so why not drop me a line in the comments? 😊

Bye for now, 

Lou.xx

Simply Sowing And Growing.

Hello all.

Here is the usual opening to my post. Things are constantly changing all over the UK with the pandemic so with best wishes all I can say is I hope you're staying safe and doing what you need to in order to continue as best you can under the circimstances. 

I was trolled on my Twitter feed the other day; accused of being selfish and middle-class, hiding away from the virus just because I said I was extremely grateful I had somewhere I could keep safe with me and mine, soooooo I'm just keeping on keeping on. 

Today I've had a couple of exciting deliveries. The first thing was my order of seeds from the online company Simply Seed, the postage for just seeds is a flat rate of £1.39 and the prices of the seeds is very reasonable.

The seeds I have ready for next year are:

Carrot Autumn King 2

Leek Mussleburgh

Leek Tornado

Beetroot Bolthardy

Radish French Breakfast

Cucumber Femspot

Tomato Tumbing Tom Red

French Bean Montano

Turnip Purple Top Milan

Khol Rabi Delicacy Purple

Salad Leaves Musclun Mixed

Butternut Squash Butterbush

Courgette Sure Thing

There are a couple that I still want but will hopefull get them soon.

Only issue is that I got a little excited and ended up ordering three packets of Bolthardy Beetroot, two types of leek and two packets of Radish French Breakfast!😂 Never mind!

The other delivery was the polythene covering for the poly house and my boys have been removing the batons for us to, hopefully, get it on over the weekend weather depending. 

Woop woop!

And then yesterday I took a little look around the poly tunnel.

I have a few flowers on my Meteor dwarf peas which is great. No idea when I might get pods on them; the things in the poly tunnel are a bit experimental - Tracy over at Our Smallholding Adventure knows all about that.

The carrots I have sown, two lots, are germinating and I may get some through in who knows! 

Very pleased that my sweet peas have popped up.

I also wanted to share some photos of the delicious Cawl we had for tea last night. It was made from the left overs from our Sunday roast. 

The meat was from a lamb Jon butchered; a long time since he used his chef training to that degree. It was delicious, served in wooden bowls as dictated by tradition, along with some of my homebaked bread and Welsh cheese.

Well, that is all my ramblings for now I think. The weather is blustery but bright here today so not unpleasant, especially with the Rayburn warm on my back.

Take care,

bye for now.

Lou.xx

 

Switcheroo In The Poly Tunnel - Times They Are A Changing.

Afternoon!

How are you?

I'm ok although had a little bit of a wobble recently and today I'm not much better here and there. I'm concerned we're surely heading toward a second wave as infection rates are up everywhere- because of this I am having problems with conflicting feelings. 

I'm really happy our boys are back at school as I think they need to be, especially when they were off for so long and also the youngest is settling in so well to his new surroundings. However, I am tentatively preparing for when I really don't want to go out for a while which makes me feel guilty.... We will see how things develop but it doesn't harm to be ready. I don't want there to be another lockdown as the people who will suffer the most are those who are already in financial trouble. 

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The weather here is glorious for September and set to be so for the next few days.

I've dragged myself outside, yes I know I should have more enthusiasm for my little patch of paradise, over the last couple of days to do some jobs in the poly tunnel before its been getting too hot and things are changing in there. (Sorry this is a bit dark.)

I've been meaning to cut back the cucumber and tomato plants to let in the sun and today I finally got the job done. I ended up with a lot of garden waste after these jobs which will find its way down to the field when Jon is having a fire. I was really pleased to spend time doing this even though, as is my want, I was thinking I should be getting jobs done indoors!😖 

(This is my new little trolley Jon got for me from a well known social media platform.)👏👏👏

Another job I've done is to make the fridge pickles out of some cucumbers we were given so this will hopefully encourage me to eat more of our salad along with it!

The runner beans are getting close to flowering, below on the left, and the cucumbers have properly come on in the last few days! Bit late but very pleased. 

I've brought in a few tomatoes now, I can see through the leaves, which were close to ripening but left others to hopefully come on this week.🤞

I have something quite exciting - the first squash I've ever managed to grow!

It weighs 4.8lbs, the one vegetable spaghetti from my triffid of a plant given to me by a friend! Thanks again Karen, this will make some soup for sure! Never mind, I'm curing it in the conservatory and then will store it in the cellar to have in the winter, hopefully.

This is the space I have now cleared, for what I'm not sure.

I sowed Meteor peas some time back and today I put 15 of the plants in, still have some left, and to make the best of the space I've also planted some multi-sown spring onions.

I've planted some Autumn Corvina broccoli where some of the tomatoes were including two which I moved from the bed on the other side so I made the best of the space. I should sow/plant something else here to make the best of the room but I think I've got enough lettuce!

Today the weather is gorgeous and I tried to get outside. I needed to give the usual Friday whip round with the vacuum, I like everything to be lovely on Friday night when we are all having a cosy night together, clothes put out of the way and this blog post finished of course. I also decided I needed two bread loaves for the weekend, biscuits for the tin, dough for the boys' pizza tea and an apple crumble for puddings. I also had a zoom chat with a friend so it was a bit a bit of a busy day.

Biscuits and crumble-  ✅  (Crumble is in the fridge ready to pop in the oven when we need it.)

Dough is in the fridge, too, so I can make the pizzas fresh later ✅ and the bread loaves are cooling. 

Didn't manage to get outside, apart from to feed the chooks and collect the eggs. Never mind, the weather is forecast to be good over the weekend so I'll get stuff done then.

Hope you have a wonderful, and safe, weekend.

Take care.

Bye for now,

Lou.xx

 

John Lennon Had It Right.

Ok, usual opening.

(Sorry about typeface issues.)

Good morning, I hope you're safe and well? Things regarding the pandemic seem to be changing quite rapidly here in Wales. We've now been instructed to wear masks on all public transport and if we collect food from a takeaway establishment. My delivery of facemasks came this week so I'm now wearing at all times when I go shopping; I intend to keep them by both doors to ensure I always have one with me.

As more people are out and about I feel they are not always observing social distancing. I now feel safer when I have on a mask whilst still taking care myself to stick to the 2 meter rule. This applies especially in the supermarkets as this is really the only one place I go to. I find it quite difficult at times, though, when customers appear to be browsing in the stores and not concentrating on getting their shopping done and getting home again; the masks do help to cut down on my anxiety.

Stay safe, and stay home, where you can.

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Right, onto sowing and growing.

I checked back in my diary for this time last year and was rather pleased to read that progress wasn't much further forward in 2019 than just now.

JUST WANTED TO POIINT OUT THAT THIS POST FAILRY ACCURATELY ILLUSTRATES HOW LIFE GETS IN THE WAY OF EVERYTHING AT TIMES - AS JOHN LENNON SAID - 

"LIFE IS WHAT HAPPENS WHILE YOU ARE BUSY MAKING OTHER PLANS" 

I started this post about a week ago so better get to it!

Today is Tuesday, as I type this the time is 9.15am, but obvs I'm not getting it done quickly!😂Chooks have been fed, there's no washing or bed changing to do today and I've taken a chocolate brownie out of the oven. The weather is a little overcast and chilly, compared to the last couple of which was very pleasant - need to close the poly tunnel door a little. This means we've got some jobs done outside but I'm having an indoor day today - need those now and again.

Yesterday Jon finished refurbishing his trailer so it is better equipped for fetching feed for the sheep in Winter;

he has treated himself to a new Milwaukee impact drill so was giving that a proper outing with the boys dying to have a go, too. In the good weather he's also mended the large lime spreader so that job could be done on the farm.

**I feel at this point I should clarify that we do not ourselves own a farm. However, our sheep farming neighbour is 81, fairly agile but age has its limits, obvs, so Jon is basically the one taking care of the sheep, helping along with our boys at lambing and shearing time and making sure all the maintenance is done around the place. He works full time at the moment, is currently in his second week of two weeks off though, and in the future may become the caretaker of the farm. Right now he is more than happy to be there to help and our neighbour is very appreciative. **

In line with this we have a new member to the household...

Belle arrived a week ago last Sunday and was eight weeks old yesterday. She is already getting to enjoy the garden and the big outdoors.

He will shortly begin the tiling of the bathroom in the last Airbnb listing after making the shelves for the walk in wardrobe yesterday. We have out listings 'snoozed' at the moment so people are unable to contact us until we are ready after refurbishments, new photos and obviously Christmas. I'm more than happy not to have guests staying with us just now; we were looking forward to welcoming old and new guests for the Eisteddfod but that will come again next year and well worth the wait for participants and visitors alike.

Ok, lets get onto other things.

I have some flowers growing in the garden; not my usual thing but I love Nigella so very pleased these are now out.

I planted dahlias for the first time last year outside the Studio but this year only one has come back, still lovely though.

I took delivery yesterday of this hydrangea, the variety which I saw on Gardeners' World when the lovely Adam Frost was hosting - hope he gets to do that a bit more.

A member of our Facebook Community page which was set up at the beginning of lockdown swapped a fairly big bag of brown rice for a couple of different dahlias and one of them is flowering. I love the colour and can see it from the top kitchen window.....

... along with these.

I just nipped out to take a few photos of the veg beds and a video of the poly tunnel. Sorry there is no sound but I really don't like speaking so do hope the visual is sufficient.

There might just be enough beetroot to pickle along with some I still have in the freezer. I still have trays and pots of seedlings - salad leaves, parlsey, khol rabi, dwarf beans. Highlights are all the flowers on the tomatoes but none ripening yet.... The dwarf beans have all but finished, in part due to some aphids which I seem to have under control now with a spray of diluted washing up liquid. The one huge squash continues to grow. Finally have some small cucumbers, kale is amazing. More seedlings of cauli, basil, a few spring onions plus wallflowers and broccoli pricked out and potted on yesterday. Runner beans? more kale? I moved the blueberries into the tunnel as seem to have lost some ripening ones to the birds for the first time. Still lots of salad Mazur and herbs including coriander, lemon balm and oregano.

Outside the courgettes are doing really quite well, both varieties here and I also have Goldena and Zucchini, not the dodgy ones, in containers, too.

The broccoli is doing really well, so happy that I netted it. Need to keep an eye on this as I don't want it to blot whilst I'm hoping it will get bigger as happened with my cauli last year.

(Talking of netting, I have lost almost all of my cabbages because I DIDN'T net them but plan in sowing Spring cabbage shortly.)

The carrot patch is looking very healthy and we plan on using some of those really soon.

I have dwarf peas in the poly tunnel but it seems, as with last year, for me they do better outside.

The Charlotte spuds are really very good this year; dying back so pulling those up every couple of days and eating pretty much daily.

Oooh, nearly forgot, on Saturday I planted all of my Christmas spuds, 12 tubers.

Well, I think that's it for me just now. In between starting and finishing life stuff has happened again, I've washed up, we've had lunch together and now it's time to get on with my other jobs then I can go and do my crafting, which DOES involve the festive season, soooooory!😂

Hope you enjoyed my latest ramblings.

Take care

Bye for now, Lou.xx