A Smallholder's Diary

Goodbye 2011..... Hello 2012!

2012-01-08T21:08:00.002Z

Well, 2012 already! How did that happen? Much to look forward to in the coming year, not to mention the Olympics - no I didn't get any tickets in case you were wondering, so I will be watching it from the comfort of the sofa.

As is the tradition on A Smallholder's Diary it is time to review how I have done over the previous year and set myself some targets for the year ahead. Having looked again at what I set myself to do last year I'm not sure I want to do this as it doesn't feel that I have done very well.Anyway, best face up to it then and check out how I did:

To make sure that the veg plot is as productive as it can possibly be. I didn't do too badly on the veg plot. Plenty of potatoes, broccoli, parsnips, shallots, leeks and pumpkins. However, sweetcorn, peas and garlic did not do very well at all.
To make sure that we have as little waste as possible from the veg and fruit that we grow. This was about making sure that we use our crops effectively and making sure we freeze, pickle, jam or otherwise preserve everything we don't use immediately. We have done quite well with this with various jams and pickles made and the freezer is well stocked with fruit and veg.
Clear the plot intended for the herb plot. No, I didn't manage this. I made a start, but other things took over, so it is nearly as overgrown as it was at the beginning of last year.
Clear the plot intending for the dyeing plants. No - same as above.
Make soap. Kind of achieved this - we bought some pre-made soap for melting down into bars for selling. It turned out that making soap for selling is a bit of a legal minefield - all soap needs to be certified by a chemist before you can sell and this costs money.
Plant more trees for firewood. I didn't manage to do this due primarily to the particularly bad winter meaning that the ground was frozen until early spring, by which time I wasn't able to get any.
Replace the fencing around the front area. I didn't manage to do this. I did start to clear some of the old fencing but didn't get any further as the cost was prohibitive.
Replenish our stock of chickens. We didn't do this in the end, but wished that we did. We now only have one chicken left.

So, what about plans for the coming year? Well, I think it is the same as last year and maybe I might achieve them this time. The extra thing I need to do is to cut back the remaining hedges which have grown way out of control.

That's my work cut out for the coming year then!

I've Started A New Blog

2011-12-16T22:10:00.006Z

Yes, that's right I have started a new blog! It is again on the theme of self-sufficiency and I have called it Self-Sufficiency Life. Let me answer a few questions you may have.

What's the point of starting a new blog on self-sufficiency? Well I have learned a lot from this blog. But the main thing that I have learned is that the posts that people really want to read and get the most traffic are those that provide useful information. The emphasis of A Smallholder's Diary has tended to be around talking about what I have been doing. I did consider changing the emphasis of this blog to more useful stuff, but concluded that I would rather start afresh, especially as the title of the blog does not really reflect the direction that I want to go in. The intention is that Self-Sufficiency Life will provide (hopefully) useful information on self-sufficiency and eco-living.

What will the new blog cover? All aspects of self-sufficiency really. So growing vegetables and fruit, keeping chickens, recipes, pickling, preserving, green energy, crafty bits, recycling, and more.... I am intending that it will include useful information as well as news relevant to self-sufficiency and some posts designed to spark some debate.

What's with the clunky title? Well that in the end was down to the availability of domain names. I had originally bought practicalselfsufficiency.net, but then found that Dick Strawbridge has recently written a book by the name of Practical Self-Sufficiency, so I thought there was potential to land myself in some hot water. Self-Sufficiency Life was one of the few available alternatives.

What does this mean for A Smallholder's Diary? I am hoping to keep A Smallholder's Diary going alongside Self-Sufficiency Life, although I confess that my posting has been very erratic recently. In order to keep the two identities separate I will be focusing primarily on describing what I have been up to.

Self-Sufficiency is still in its early stages (at the time of writing I have published only two posts, although you will find a few guides published on static pages) but I am intending to grow it into a successful blog with a large regular readership. Why not pay it a visit and let me know what you think so far. Visit Self-Sufficiency Life here.

Recipe for Sun Dried Tomato Risotto

2011-10-27T23:07:00.002+01:00

My favourite type of cooking has to be the spontaneous type where you look in the cupboard and create something with whatever you have available. Usually it works, although sometimes it doesn't. Yesterday we had very little in at all so creating something was a bit more of a challenge that usual. We did have some risotto rice in the cupboard though so I thought I would try some sun-dried tomato risotto.

There are a couple of rules that I usually follow with risotto which have stood me in good stead. The first is that you can't rush it adding the stock a little at a time and stirring regularly to ensure that it does not burn. The second is that simple is best - using too many ingredients means that you have too many competing flavours. If you want some variation in taste and texture then eat with a crisp green salad.

Here is my recipe anyway. I'm afraid the quantities and timings are a bit vague as I didn't take too much notice at the time. I used what we had in, but you can adjust it if you like. This serves 2/3 people, or more if you have a salad and bread on the side.

Ingredients:

Seven or Eight sun-dried tomatoes (the sort that need soaking rather than those in a jar with oil are better)
One mug full (I said quantities were vague) of risotto rice - any variety of risotto rice is fine, don't try and use normal long grain rice as it just doesn't work!
One pint of hot vegetable stock (of course home made stock is better, but I used a stock cube)
One medium to large onion (shallots are better if you have them)
One garlic clove
One generous teaspoon of dried oregano (fresh is better if you have it)
Olive oil
Pinch of salt and black pepper to season
Grated cheese - enough to cover the rice in the saucepan. Italian hard cheese such as Parmasan or Grana Padano is best, but I actually used Double Gloucester and it worked just fine.

Method

First soak the sun-dried tomatoes in warm (not hot) water for about 20 minutes.
Finely chop the onion (or shallots) and fry very gently in a little olive oil in a fairly large saucepan. Stir frequently making sure that the onion does not brown.
Finely chop the garlic clove and add to the onion. Continue to cook until the onion is soft.
Drain off the water from the sun-dried tomatoes into the stock. Put the stock in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.
Thinly slice the sun-dried tomatoes and add to the onion and garlic. Stir through and heat through for a couple of minutes.
Add the rice to the onion, garlic and tomato mixture and stir through for a minute or so.
Add the oregano (if you are using fresh then add it towards the end)
Now add two or three ladles full of stock to the rice mixture. Stir well. Continue to cook on a low heat stirring frequently, making sure that it does not stick to the pan or burn.
When most of the liquid has been absorbed add another one or two ladles of stock. Continue to cook on a low heat, stirring frequently. Keep repeating until the rice is cooked. If you are finding that you rice is refusing to cook and become soft, then put the lid on the pan for a few minutes to maintain the moisture. But make that you keep stirring.
Once the rice is cooked, add the cheese and stir well. Season to taste. If you like you can add a dash of extra virgin oil - not too much though.

Now, serve and enjoy. As I said above, you can have it with salad if you like and/or Italian bread. We had it by itself and it was fab!

Battling with Leylandii

2011-10-18T22:42:00.002+01:00

Our plot is bordered on three sides by long leylandii hedges. On the plus side, they give us privacy and shelter our garden from the winds that can whip across the fens. On the downside, they do require a certain amount of maintenance. What we used to do was to "get a man in" to do trim them back and keep them under control, but this has become increasingly expensive so we have put it off. Of course now they are very tall and are spreading out. So much so that the farmer who owns the field next door has complained that two of our hedges are encroaching onto his land and are shading his brussels sprouts.

It is a huge job, but I figured that I have to start somewhere so I took last week off work and spent the time tackling the back hedge (which was by far the worst). My week of "rest" from work then was spent at the top of a ladder toiling away with a bow saw or, in the case of the biggest trunks, lugging my heavy chainsaw up the ladder.

By the end of the week I had successfully taken the top of the hedge (all 63 trees!) and trimmed it back under control. It now looks it bit brown and sad - I have read that you are not really supposed to cut back to the brown, but I didn't really have a choice. We have had one of our hedges cut back that severely before and it recovered, so I am hoping this one will do the same. The top is somewhat.... well, undulating shall we say. But it's done at least and the neighbouring farmer is duly appeased for now. Apart from that I have aches all over, scratches over my hands and arms and a new found respect for tree surgeons.

I have not yet moved all that I have chopped off yet and this in itself is a big job, but I am hoping that I shall finish this off this weekend. Then I have to get rid of it of course. The bigger bits I shall keep for firewood - leylandii makes for pretty rubbish firewood, but if we mix it with some hardwood it should be fine. It won't be usable until next winter at the earliest. Here is the first batch I have collected:

At some point I need to move on to the next hedges and then once they are all done it will just a case of keeping on top of them.

This is one of the hedges I need to cut back - some 80 trees!!!!

20 De-cluttering Tips for your Home

2011-09-26T22:32:00.000+01:00

This is a guest post from Marina from 1001ArtificialPlants.com

Is your home filled with clutter? Do you walk into a room in your house during the day only to wish you had a solution to the “clutter” problem that you see at hand? Being guilty of having too much stuff, can make your home feel small and closed in. De-cluttering can give you peace of mind by helping you get your home back in order and under control. Read the following tips for how you can get rid of the clutter.

Tip #1 – Take back your space. The first step in de-cluttering is getting the mindset that you want to take back your space. Realize that a cluttered space can have a negative impact on your life. It can leave you feeling stressed and longing for a clean space.
Tip #2 – Realize that you can’t be a pack rat. Admit that you have a problem. Pack rats are people who feel that they need to “keep” everything. As with anything, the first step is realizing that you have a problem.
Tip #3 – Get rid of stuff that you do not need. If you do not NEED it, get rid of it. Too many times people feel the need to keep stuff they do not need. Part with items that you really do not want or need.
Tip #4- Find a storage solution. Lack of storage is one of the number one reasons why homes get cluttered. Search for storage solution. Buy binds, tubs, or cabinets that you can organize the clutter in.
Tip #5 – Less is more. Realize that less is more when it comes to your home. If you want your home to feel cleaner and more spacious, you need to have LESS.
Tip #6- Minimize the paper trail. Paper is another culprit of clutter. From mail to magazines, make an effort to minimize the paper trial. Do this by throwing paper in the garbage can. When you receive junk mail, throw it in the trash!
Tip #7 – Get your kids to pick up after themselves. Untidy kids can contribute greatly to clutter. Give your children daily chores that involve cleaning their own spaces. If they drag something out, make them pick it up.
Tip #8 – Do a quick daily “clean-up” before you go to bed. Getting rid of clutter daily will help you maintain your space. Set a time before you go to bed to do a quick clean up. Make sure things are where they should be. You will feel better when you wake up to a clutter free home in the morning.
Tip#9 – Fold those clothes! Are you guilty of having mountains of clothes waiting to be folded? This can contribute greatly to the clutter problem. Fold clothes as they come out of the dryer.
Tip #10 – Clean out the dresser drawers. Dresser drawers should be neat and clean. Once you fold the clothes, put them neatly in drawers to help minimize the mess. You will actually be able to find clothes you’ve been looking for when you do this.
Tip #11 – Organize your shoes. Unorganized shoes can lead to a messy closet. Make sure that your shoes are in pairs and placed neatly in a specific location.
Tip #12- Throw out unused medication. Medicine cabinets are often magnets for clutter. Throw away outdated medications.
Tip #13- Clear off the countertops. Countertops are often a great place to start the de-cluttering process. Don’t allow your countertops to be filled with “stuff” such as papers, keys, coffee cups, etc.
Tip #14- Parting with the knick knacks. Too many knick knacks is not only an interior design no, no, they can also lead to cluttered chaos. You want your home to look clean, not overfilled and cluttered.
Tip #15- Open shelves are not storage spaces. If you have visible shelves in your home, do not fill them with junk. Place a few important pieces on the shelves and allow them to be displayed. Do not allow them to be covered with junk.
Tip #16- Re-gifting old books. Too many books can never be a good thing. If you have already read it, consider giving it away as a gift rather than storing it on a shelf.
Tip #17 – If you don’t wear it, donate it. Get rid of clothes that you haven’t worn in a while. Do this often to minimize the clutter.
Tip #18- Organize pots and pans. Just because they are hidden, doesn’t mean they can be unorganized. Organize your pots and pans so that you know where to find them when you need them.
Tip #19 – Make sure toys have a home. Toys can be small and mean a lot of clutter. Toy boxes are a great solution this problem.
Tip #20 – Keep a positive attitude about de-cluttering. Once you have de-cluttered, maintain the space so that you don’t find yourself in the same situation twice.

As you can see, there are countless tips that can have you space free of clutter in no time. Set a day to begin the process. You can do it! Create a space that you and your family can enjoy – without all the clutter! Marina is on online entrepreneur and co-owner of artificial flowers and plants website located at 1001ArtificialPlants.com

Unexpected Free Pumpkins

2011-09-25T22:26:00.002+01:00

This pumpkin plant has self-seeded in one of my compost bins. I didn't really expect it to come to anything, but as you can see I have two large ripe pumpkins. There are also two smaller ones just out of the picture which are yet to ripen. This plant has actually done better than the ones I have planted and carefully tended!

You may notice that they are a somewhat odd shape. This is, I presume, as a result of my accidental cross-breeding last year between a pumpkin plant and a butternut squash plant, so it must has sprouted from some seeds from those fruit that found their way into the compost.

This has started me thinking about saving some seeds for next year. This is not something that I have done before, even though it is quite an obvious thing to do. I need to research how to do it properly - I suspect that just throwing the seeds onto the compost heap is really the proper way to do it. Even though it did work this year!

12 Inexpensive Ways You can Use to Decorate your Home

2011-09-23T22:22:00.000+01:00

This is a guest post by Marina from 1001ArtificialPlants.com

Decorating a room in your home can quickly become expensive. If you are like many others out there, you want to redecorate your space for the least amount of money as possible. Getting the most bang for your buck when it comes to decorating is not as hard as it may seem. The following are a few frugal home décor ideas that will leave your friends raving about your space and the money you saved while decorating it!

Buying second hand. Financial times can be hard for everyone. You may not be able to afford to go out and purchase the brand new pieces that you want for your space. Going with second hand pieces is a great solution. Don’t be afraid to visit thrift shops, garage sales, and estate sales to find pieces to make your space beautiful. Rummage sales are a great way to get nice pieces at exceptionally low prices. Look in your local newspaper for locations of the garage sales in your areas.
Searching for defected décor. This tip can really save you money. Visit your local home décor store with a mission for finding defected pieces. Merchants are often willing to give heavy discounts for pieces that may have a defect. Look for art work with scratched frames or accent pieces that may be slightly broken. Many times, these items are easily fixed and can add a beautiful, inexpensive touch to your space.
Get crafty. If you want to save some money, get creative. There are at home projects that you can tackle yourself. Create your own art work and make your own curtains or pillows. Doing it yourself can save tons of money.
Dumpster diving. Okay, okay! This one sounds a bit crazy, not to mention dirty! Another man’s trash can be your treasure. Visit dumpsters around your area and look for items that can be cleaned and restored. These items will be FREE! You may be surprised at the treasures you will find. • Visiting the clearance section of your favorite stores often. Make a weekly trip to your favorite stores and see what they have on clearance. Store clerks can often give you an idea of when they are going to do markdowns. Be the first to get pick from the selection.
Utilizing the internet. There are countless websites that you can buy home décor on. Many of these websites offer exceptionally low prices which allow you to get a good deal for your money. The internet is a very useful tool in saving money on home décor.
Trading with friends. If you have a friend with similar taste and interests, considering doing a swap. There may be something that she would like of yours and something of hers that will work perfectly in your space.
Purchasing floor samples. Furniture galleries will run sales on floors samples periodically throughout the year. You can’t get great deals on furniture, pillows, wall art, etc. by visiting floors sample sales. Call furniture galleries near you and ask when they will be holding their next sale. • Furniture store “secrets.” Most furniture stores have defected furniture or clearance items placed in the back of their store. This is a secret that many customers do not know about. Ask the salesman to lead you to the clearance section of the store. He will quickly direct you to the right location. Visit the “secret place” often for the best deals. They go very quickly!
Taking advantage of sales. Search the sale papers for good sales on home décor. Collect coupons and pay close attention to sale dates. To get the best selection, shop on the first day of the sale. Many good sales will go quickly.
Chain discount stores. Discount stores often have a wide selection of home décor for you to choose from. You can find great deals on many items in these stores. Some of the discount stores even promise low prices on brand name items. Check a store near you to see if they have your taste in décor.
Reusing what you have….in a different way. Don’t be afraid to spice up things that you already have. Give a couch a face lift by reupholstering it. Spray paint picture frames and paint old wooden pieces. Décor that you already have can be used in many different ways. Take items from one room and place them in another. Find ways to interchange your favorite pieces.

If you are on a tight budget, don’t be dismayed! There are several ways that you can get the most from your money when redecorating your home. Use the tips above to save you time and money when giving your house a much needed face lift. Where will you begin when saving money on home décor?

Marina is on online entrepreneur and co-owner of artificial flowers and plants website located at 1001ArtificialPlants.com

Elderberry and Apple Jelly Recipe

2011-09-19T23:07:00.001+01:00

Here is a simple recipe sent to me by Smallholder's Diary reader, Andrea Philbin. Have a go and let me know what you think.

Elderberry and Apple Jelly (all ripe in the garden right now....free food is the best!)

Ingredients:
425g elderberries - washed and bugs removed! (it's easier to get them off the bunch by running a fork through the small berry clusters)
225g chopped apples - any variety but cooking apples are best (no need to peel and core)
675g Jam sugar (the sort with added pectin)
150ml water
Juice of 2 lemons

Method
Put all ingredients into large pan. boil for about 5 mins. strain through a sieve into sterile jars...it's that simple! you can do a set test by putting a teaspoon of the jelly onto a cold saucer and see if it wrinkles up when you push it with your finger after a minute or so. If not setting, boil again and reduce the liquid amount slightly.

Thanks for that Andrea. I will definitely give this a go, but it will have to wait until next year as my wife has nabbed all the elderberries for her natural dyeing experiments! Unless I can find some more elderberries from somewhere else that is.

Baskets Change Ordinary to Extraordinary

2011-09-17T22:39:00.002+01:00

This is a guest post by Marina Chernyak of DecorativeMirrorsBoutique.com

Baskets have a way of looking festive and special; giving ordinary things an extraordinary flair. Take these dollar store items for example, and by the way the basket came from the dollar store also.

Baskets make our bathroom look classier.

There are many toiletries that can be had for a dollar and placing them in a decorated basket gives them that extra eye appeal. Take time to find the wanted items in colors that match the bathroom décor. A ribbon or flowers used to decorate the basket will make it look more unique. Be creative. You could weave the ribbon through the openings of the basket and then tie with a bow or you could weave the flowers through the openings or hot glue them in place.

Decorate your basket.

Once you have finished decorating the basket place your items neatly inside and the gift is ready for giving, or placing in its desired place; if you created this for yourself. An inexpensive basket creates an impressive display of ordinary toiletry items or any other type of items anywhere in the home.

Showcase your kitchen finery in a basket.

Take these dishes for example. You could stash them in the cupboard and no one would see your lovely china or crystal or you could showcase your items in a basket and place them out in the open.

Should the basket be round or square?

Round probably works best for glasses.

But dishes can go either way

But other times square or rectangular is the best.

For example square or rectangular is best, when placing baskets in cubbies. This is a good way to stash items from sight, have all of one particular type item in one handy place or personalize the space. It works similar to school lockers. Each locker is assigned to one or perhaps two students and they are given this particular space to keep their items, such as text books and homework. The same thing can be accomplished at home without the academic appearance simply by using baskets.

Baskets restore order instantly.

It has a softer more informal appearance but removes the look of clutter. Homework can be neatly put away and retrieved by the child in the morning as they get ready for school. The empty basket holds their space until they return.

Mom can have a basket for mending or the crossword puzzle book she likes so much. There are so many things that can be neatly tucked inside a basket that one may wonder what they did without them.

Baskets add eye appeal to healthy eating

Place a fruit basket on the dining table or foyer inviting the family to eat healthier.

Baskets are versatile.

Baskets come in all shapes and sizes. There are laundry baskets, Easter baskets, picnic baskets; sewing baskets…Some are lidded, some not and some have handles and some do not… Baby Moses was left in a basket to be rescued. Baskets have been used for thousands of years.

Baskets are attractive and functional.

Plastic or wire mesh ones are placed under the sink with cleaning products in them. They are attractive and functional and many can be had for a dollar or less. Transporting and storing items is made so much easier by using baskets.

Baskets are loaded with possibilities!

So next time you receive a basket of goodies appreciate the limitless possibilities the basket presents and not just the contents within it.

Marina Chernyak is freelance writer and co-owner of decorative mirrors website located at DecorativeMirrorsBoutique.com

Pickling and Freezing

2011-08-30T22:35:00.000+01:00

As we reach the end of the summer, during the season of glut when we are knee deep in some crops, particularly at the moment courgettes, apples, damsons and pears, the focus is on finding ways of preserving it all. I have been freezing some of the smaller courgettes which will be fine for roasting, but not much use for anything else. I tend to find that the taste and texture of courgettes is significantly altered for the worse by freezing, but if you roast them this overcomes this.

I also have some large marrow size courgettes which I did not pick in time. Last weekend I used one of the monster courgettes to make courgette chutney. It took me a little while to find a recipe that I liked the look of. Despite the fact that I have three pickle/chutney recipe books, none of them have a courgette chutney recipe. In the end I settled for this one here. The end result tastes fantastic and hopefully after a few weeks maturing it should taste even better.

Also last weekend I pickled some of my shallots. I don't think I dried them off enough as some of them were starting to go mouldy. So I decided to use them quickly before they all went. It will be a few weeks before I can try them.

The damson tree is simply heaving under the weight of fruit. I have already frozen 14lbs and there are still loads more on the tree. We will never be able to use them all; we will give some away but inevitably some will go to waste. I have found a recipe for picked damsons which I think I will give a go.

This afternoon I have been processing cooking apples for freezing - simply add 2 tablespoons (more or less to taste)of caster sugar to 800g (weight before peeling and de-coring) of apple, add a couple of tablespoons of water and cook over on a low heat for about 20 minutes. Pack in bags or containers when cool and freeze. Or add straight to apple pie or apple crumble, or whatever other apple recipe you choose.

The question now is what I do with all the dessert apples and pears we have. However, we store them inevitably many will go to waste as we simply have so many of them. Then, ironically, in a few months time we will find that we have to buy them again.

A Quick Update from the Veg Plot

2011-08-11T13:53:00.001+01:00

I have been extraordinarily bad at posting here recently - too many things to do and not enough time. I thought it was about time for a quick roundup of how things have been going. I haven't got any pictures as my wife is away at a quilting show for a few days and has taken the camera with her.

I will work my way around the plot and provide an update as I go. Starting with spring onions; these have done very well with a much better crop than previous years. The red onions have been OK, although many are smaller than I would like these have all been harvested now and have been drying off for storage. The shallots have done spectacularly well - I seem to have loads. Again these are all harvested and drying off for storage. In contrast, the garlic has been quite disappointing with most of it rather small. However, I still have some left from last year which still seems to be fine to use.

I have been growing the same variety of sweetcorn as I did last year as it was quite successful. However, this year the plants seem to be rather stunted. I planted them out in good time so I don't know why this is. I suspect that the resulting cobs will be rather small also. Next to the sweetcorn I am growing squash of some sort, but I can't remember what as I lost the label. These plants are looking rather small and sad. However, there are some fruit emerging.

I then have a row of French beans - well I call it a row, most of the plants didn't grow. I don't know what I do wrong with French beans as they never seem to grow for me. Next to these I am growing some sugar snap peas. Not as many of these plants have grown as I would have liked, despite plugging the gaps with new sowings on a regular basis. The plants that have grown are doing well though and producing a decent amount of peas. In this part of the plot I have a problem with bindweed and as these are both climbing plants it is difficult to keep it clear. While we were away on holiday the bindweed has really taken hold so I have pretty much given up trying to keep the peas clear at this point.

At the back of this area of the plot are the potatoes. I have grown two varieties; one was international kidney, but I can't remember what the other was. I still harvesting these and I seem to have produced a large crop of good sized potatoes. I love harvesting potatoes as you never quite know how many you are going to get, so it is always a surprise (usually a good one) when you dig them up. Often when I dig over the plot afterwards I find a few more.

The leeks seem to be doing OK, although perhaps a little on the small size. It is still quite early for these though. I am having another fairly disappointing year with carrots - some are growing, although most are rather on the small size.

This is the first year that I have successfully grown broccoli. I tried last year, but they were completely destroyed by caterpillars. I had good intentions of covering with netting this year, but I didn't manage to find any cheap enough. Fortunately, I seem to have got away without it and quite a large crop. I have had to freeze most of it as much of was ready all at the same time. While we were away some of it went over - I had no idea that broccoli starts producing little yellow flowers if left long enough.

The beetroot and lettuce have done very well. The parsnips are looking good, although I won't really know until I start harvesting later in the year. I used the toilet roll method again this year and this seems to have been very successful.

The courgettes are doing well with usual glut under way, some of which have turned into huge marrows if I have missed them while harvesting. I have frozen the smaller ones. Finally, the pumpkins are looking good, although, it is still a little early to tell.

In the greenhouse, the tomatoes are doing well and are producing good quantities of fruit. The cucumber plants are looking promising. Two of my three aubergine plants have been eaten by slugs and are looking rather sad. It remains to been seen whether the other plant will produce anything. It is too early to tell whether the pepper plants and chili plants will produce anything.

In terms of fruit, the blackcurrants, redcurrants, and gooseberries have all been very successful, although I wonder if I will have a still larger crop if I prune these bushes back a little. The blackberries are looking hopeful, although not ready yet.

In terms of the fruit trees, the apple trees look to be producing a large crop, certainly much better than last year. I have heard that it has been a good year for apples across the country. I have also heard that it is not a good year for pears, however, that does not seem to be case here as our tree is well laden with fruit. Finally, the damson tree is absolutely laden with fruit - so much that the tree seems to struggling under the weight.

So there you go. Pretty good all in all, although a few crops have stayed stubbornly unproductive.

I'm a Lumberjack and I'm OK!

2011-07-09T17:15:00.003+01:00

Well I have finally bought myself a chainsaw. This one I bought on Preloved for the bargain price of just £40. Before I bought it my wife extensively Googled chainsaw accidents and found lots of grizzly tales. So as a result I have also bought some safety equipment as well - as I have managed to make a bit of extra money recently I had some money in my Paypal account so bought these on Ebay. The chainsaw looks quite old, but seems to work just fine and will be good enough for I want to do - it's not like I have a woodland to manage. Having said that I do have a couple of trees to fell that are starting to overhang the road a little. So far I am starting small and just chopping up the various branches etc. that I cut back with the bow saw earlier in the year.

I am hoping that with all that I have to cut up we will have nearly enough wood to see us through the winter, although having said that I am not sure that all I am cutting will be seasoned in time. The hardwood seasons considerably quicker than conifers which can take up to two year to be any good for burning for fuel.

I have only had a couple of goes so far, but I am feeling more confident with it already. The main problem I am having at the moment is that the chainsaw trousers are so thick that in this hot weather I am dripping with sweat in a matter of minutes. As a result the time I have spent has been much shorter than it would have been otherwise.

Anyway, the woodstore is building up nicely, and anything that needs to be left out to season will stack at the end of the garden and will be haven for wildlife.

Time to Bring the Garden Shed Back Into Use

2011-06-12T20:25:00.002+01:00

My garden shed has fallen into disrepair recently. I say recently, it actually started last year when roof fell in. What had happened was that the felting had come away and the roof rotted through and gradually fell to bits. So last summer I replaced the whole roof. Somehow I never managed to get around to clearing out the debris that remained on the floor and there is certain amount of repair required to one of the walls; the back wall forms part of the goat pen and they have managed to make a large hole in it.

Here it is, and as you can see it is looking a little sad and neglected. You can also see that the shed also forms a part of the walls of the greenhouse.

Anyway, I have decided that I need to get it sorted, after all, garden sheds are useful for storage if only I can get it organized. At the moment what was in the shed, such as various tools, lawnmower, hedge trimmer, etc. are currently in the garage and the greenhouse. So repair is required to the back wall, clearing out the debris, perhaps I could put up some shelves, that kind of thing. Then, who knows, I might actually be able to find the things that I currently spend ages looking for. I have learned not to keep seeds in there though as mice tend to get in there in and eat them! The other thing I need to do is repaint the walls with some sort of wood preservative before we head into autumn.

Well that was the plan anyway for this Sunday. But it rained all day, so I found things to do in the house instead. Maybe next weekend.

Actually, I have two garden sheds, but the other one is used for rather less conventional purposes.........

Yes, a goat shed!

Beating the Weeds: My New Favourite Tool

2011-06-07T22:31:00.000+01:00

Keeping on top of weeds has never been my strong point. However, in trying to keep them down my best friend has been my hoe. The difficulty with this though is that it can be difficult to get into small spaces and there have been a number of times when I have accidentally chopped off the tops the plants that I am trying to grow. I have been looking for something smaller that would do a similar job for ages - a hand hoe of sorts so I could get into those crowded areas with less chance of killing off what I am actually trying to grow. Finally, I came across this at my local garden centre:

It is an onion hoe - why it has this name I have no idea as it no more use for onions than it does for anything else. This is a Spear and Jackson one, but there are a number of different brands available. It was only cheap and I have to say it is the best thing I have bought in ages and is exactly what I have been looking for. I am not going to suggest that my veg plot is weed free, but I am more on top of weeds than I have been at this point in previous years, not entirely down to the purchase of the onion hoe, but it has certainly helped.

It works on a similar principle to a standard hoe, except of course that it is much smaller and its design means that you pull it towards you as you work. I think this makes it easier to control and less likely that you will chop down the things you actually want to grow.

I wouldn't say that I look forward to weeding, but feels much less onerous now and the onion hoe bridges the gap between hoeing with a standard hoe and trying to dig up weeds between plants.

Onion hoes are available on Amazon here in the UK or here in the US.

What? Rain on a Bank Holiday?!

2011-06-01T22:54:00.000+01:00

I have been a very bad blogger recently! I don't think I have ever gone so long without posting anything. I'm not quite sure why this - I think I just lost some momentum somewhere. So this week I thought, with it being a bank holiday, I would spend lots of time in the garden and then write something about it here. But then, I forgot the bank holiday curse on the weather.

When I got out of bed it was raining. Never mind I thought, it will stop soon. It didn't! In fact it didn't stop all day, not even briefly. Not that we don't need it of course. With so little rain recently the garden was becoming a bit of dustbowl. But why did it have to rain on Monday??

I did manage to get into the greenhouse though and transplant my aubergine plants to a growbag and the chili plants into larger pots. I also tied up the tomato plants as they were starting to droop.

I did brave the rain for a short while and sowed some more carrot seeds in the gaps between those that have sprouted. Actually there are more gaps than carrot plants which is very irritating - why don't carrots grow for me?! Also I found a few radish seeds left so I chucked these between some of the parsnips. Also I put in some more beetroot seeds in the gaps.

Just a quick update on how things are going - the potatoes are looking good (on top anyway - hopefully the potatoes themselves match up to how they look on top) and the leeks have finally started come up. The onions, shallots and garlic seem to be doing well. The sweetcorn and various squash plants seem to growing rather slowly. I am having trouble with the peas - not many are coming up at all.

We have starting harvesting from the salad leaves - I can't remember what variety they are, just a packet I found left over from last year.

Anyway, the weather forecast is looking better this weekend so hopefully I might get more done. I desperately need to do some weeding!

Trying to Tidy up the Garden

2011-05-06T15:44:00.000+01:00

I will confess that growing attractive flowers and shrubs is not really my thing. I am much more into productive gardening. I enjoy looking at attractive flowers of course, but I am not particularly motivated to grow them. Personally I particularly like the blossom on my fruit trees, not only because it is attractive, but also because I know that I will be picking fruit from them later in the year.

At the front of our house, directly in front of the road we have a load of rose bushes. I have no idea what sort they are but the stems are very spiky, they have small attractive flowers (some are white and others are pink). When they have finished flowering they produce lots of red hips (which I always think I should try and do something with but never get around to it). Of course I am fully aware of the benefits of pruning roses, but I am not always very good at keeping on top these things. As result the rose bushes have really just got out of hand and become very unruly looking. As a result I decided that they needed radically cutting back, so out come the secateurs and gloves and I got on with some serious pruning. I have cut them back quite severely so it now looks like there has been a bit of a massacre, but at least we can see out across the fields again.

They will grow back of course, although I have done this far later in the year than I should have done so I don't know if we will get any flowers this year. As a consequence we won't have any rose hips either. I remember as a child being given rose hip syrup as it is high in vitamin C. I have also read that you can make them into a tea. Of course, generally tea and water are good for digestion, but I am not really sure what rose hip tea does for you. In any event, it looks like such experiments will have to wait to next year anyway!

Planting Out the First of the Seedlings

2011-04-26T23:19:00.000+01:00

I have not been very good at posting here recently, but this does not mean I have been idle. Quite the opposite in fact. The recent warm weather has allowed me get on with getting the veg plot into shape with planting out some seedlings. This is the first batch that I had out hardening off ready for planting out:

I am trying starting off my parsnips in toilet roll tubes again, but this year I am trying planting them out earlier. What I found last year was that even though the seedlings may be small on top, the roots develop quickly, so it is important to get them in before the roots are too well developed.

Planting out can be an anxious time as it is inevitable that not all of them will survive the transition. From experience I found that it is better to plant out your strongest seedlings while continuing to look after whichever ones are left. That way you have some seedlings on the subs bench if any of your first team don't perform as expected.

Elsewhere on the plot some of the crops are coming along nicely, such as the shallots.....

.....and potatoes.

Unfortunately the weeds are also growing. In particular some bindweed (which caused me major problems last year) has started to appear.

So, plenty to do then! With the lighter evenings I am hoping to do more planting out during this week so that most of the plot will already be in use. My main problem is that I am rapidly running out of space and I don't think that I am going to have space for everything I want to grow!

The Sowing Season Starts in Earnest

2011-04-04T22:49:00.000+01:00

Now that April is here I decided this weekend that I really need to get on with serious seed sowing. We are going away for a few days later this week so I debated with myself whether I should really sow too many in the greenhouse, but decided in the end that I really need to get some going and hope that the lady who comes in to feed the animals will remember to water the seedlings this time! I had already sown some tomatoes, some lettuce, peppers, basil and coriander, so in the greenhouse I added two different types of pumpkin, butternut squash, courgettes, sweetcorn and parsnips (which I have decided to try starting off in toilet roll tubes again). Unfortunately, I forgot to label one lot of pumpkins and the courgettes and now can't remember which is which, and as the seedlings look exactly the same I have no way of telling until they start producing fruit!

Out in the plot I planted the second batch of potatoes (the earlies are in already), the first batch of peas and some leeks. I decided to sow the leeks directly into the ground this year - started them in pots last year, but this wasn't very successful. Whilst sowing the leeks I was somewhat disappointed how few seeds were in the packet - when buying seeds I always look at the price, but not at how many seeds they give you forgetting that they often keep prices of some varieties down by giving you less seeds.

All in all, not a bad start. I won't sow any more until after we are back.

Earlier in the week I thought I had better get around to replacing the gate to the veg plot which finally fell to pieces over the winter. If you have ever looked at the prices of gates you will know how expensive they are, so I have made my own.

I was quite impressed with the result and being as it is higher than the last one maybe it will help to keep the chickens out the veg plot.

My Top Ten Tips for Growing in the Greenhouse

2011-03-21T22:50:00.004Z

As we are entering the growing season I thought now would be a good time to take a look at some tips for growing in the greenhouse. Greenhouses are great for starting off many crops, for giving some crops an early start and for some crops really the only way grow them effectively in more temperate climates. So, here are my top tips:

Whilst your greenhouse provides a controlled climate for your plants, it can also provide a haven for pests and diseases. In order to prevent this make sure that you start the season with a clean greenhouse. Get rid of any weeds growing and clear out any rotting plant debris.
If you have a soil border in your greenhouse, make sure that you rotate your crops as you would do in your vegetable plot in order to minimise the chance of your crops getting diseases.
Give the windows a good clean with soapy water at the start of the season in order to maximise light. You may find that you will need to do this again towards the end of the growing season as the amount of daylight shortens.
Whilst your seed packets will tell you to sow certain seeds directly outside, you may find that some benefit from starting in the greenhouse. For example, I usually start lettuce and other salad leaves in the greenhouse. It is worth experimenting to see what works for you.
Use a propagator lid, a piece of glass or clear plastic placed over your newly sown seeds to provide them with a warm and humid environment to help them germinate.
Be aware that during the summer your greenhouse will get very hot, so ventilation is vital. If you do not ventilate then your plants will wither and die. Also, weakened plants will be more susceptible to spider mite and other pests. Watering the ground can also help to provide moisture in the air and bring the temperature down.
Water your plants! OK, this should be obvious, but it is easy to forget just how quickly your plants will dry out, particularly during the summer. The best times to water are early in the morning or into the evening when it is cooler. If you water in the middle of the day then you may find that the drops of water act as little magnifying glasses and cause the sun to burn your plants.
For those plants that you are starting off in the greenhouse before planting out in the vegetable plot, make sure you harden them off before you plant them out. This means simply to put the plants in their pots outside during the day and returning them to the greenhouse over night. There are various schools of thought as to how long you should do this for, but I usually find four days works for me. Some people use a coldframe as a "half-way house" as they gradually ease their plants outside.
Plants that are to stay in your greenhouse throughout the growing season will need feeding for maximum yield. As they stay in the same compost for several months there will come a point where there is the risk that can become starved of nutrients as the season progresses. The time to start feeding is as the fruits appear.
Use your greenhouse to maximise the length of the growing season. It is a relatively controlled environment so use it to its maximum advantage - there will be some crops that you will be able to continue to grow inside even when the growing season is coming to an end outside. Salad leaves are a particular example.

Well that's my top ten anyway. I would be keen to hear if you have any more and perhaps you could share them here.

The Slow March to Spring

2011-03-14T23:24:00.000Z

Whilst parts of the UK (some parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland) have been suffering from a return to snowy conditions, here in Lincolnshire we have been having some beautiful sunny spring days. It has not been particularly warm, but the sun has been chasing away the grey of winter for a while and has been slowly, but surely breathing colour and life back into everything. It seems that there are little patches of snowdrops everywhere you look from verges at the side of roads, the banks of drainage ditches, gardens and other grassy areas. And then of course there are daffodils, which for me is a sure sign that spring is upon us.

This ought to signal the start of frantic seed sowing, but I have been a little concerned that it is still a little too cold and as my greenhouse is a little more ventilated than most I have decided to be more cautious than usual. In fact we have had a few sharp frosts over the last couple of nights, as if winter has crept back under the cover of darkness.

Not that I am stuck for anything else to do of course. I have continued to tackle the hedge. This is going to take me forever I think as I have a lot of hedge to do and it has not been touched in quite a while. As I am cutting back the height it will provide us with some firewood as a side benefit. Coniferous trees generally make for pretty poor firewood and takes a long time to be seasoned enough for burning, so it may not be ready until winter 2012. Still, no harm in planning ahead.

After an hour or so of hacking away at the hedge I decided to call it a day and spend some time generally tidying up the veg plot, before then before moving on to starting to clear a plot which will eventually become a herb garden - another big job which will take quite some time to complete.

At this time of year the only time I have available for the garden is at the weekend, the only alternative being to rig up some huge floodlights so I can get out there in the evenings! And of course I never achieve as much as I would like to as there is the small matter of children and a multitude of household tasks to be done. With each day though the hours of daylight get longer, and within a couple of weeks BST will be upon us and with it the opportunity to get out in the evening.

All we need now is for winter to be truly banished until later in the year and for the warmth and optimism of spring to take over for growing season to truly get under way.

The Growing Season Gets Under Way

2011-03-10T23:42:00.000Z

Spring seems to be slow in getting going this year. It certainly looks like spring with bright sunshine and with a few early flowers bursting into life, but it doesn't really feel like it. I had hoped to make an early start with sowing this year, but I have been a little anxious about this as my greenhouse is not exactly well insulated so is rather on the chilly side still. Ventilation is certainly helpful in the summer, but not in early spring.

Nevertheless, I have made a tentative start. Here you can see that I have sown some herbs (basil and coriander), peppers and tomatoes. Out in the veg plot I also sowed some onion and shallot sets. I have decided to leave it at that for the time being as it is still rather cold with some frosts.

The condition of the greenhouse has not been helped by one of the goats escaping who then proceeded to chew on some plastic sheeting that I have just put up on the greenhouse to replace the missing window panes. I have no idea why she chose to chew on plastic when she had all of the greenery in the garden to choose from!

Also last weekend I brought out my rotavator to go over the veg plot - it started on the just the second attempt this time which is much better than usual. So I am all set and ready for more sowing. We just need it to get a little warmer!

Greenhouse Repairs, Hedge Trimming, Potato Chitting and Lots of Rain

2011-03-02T22:38:00.000Z

This weekend just gone I had good intentions of doing loads of useful things in the garden. The main thing I really had to make a start on was cutting back the hedges. We have several hedges all of which are getting very overgrown and the farmer who owns the field next door is starting to complain as it is starting to impede access for his tractors onto the field. The last time it was done we paid someone to do it for us. However, it is getting much too expensive, so I have bought a hedge trimmer attachment with the intention of doing myself. Unfortunately funds won't stretch to a chainsaw at the moment so I am stuck with cutting back the height by hand. This is a job that is going to take a very long time, so I will just have to do a bit at a time. The field was a bit of swamp with the recent rain so it was difficult to trudge my way through the mud to get to the back of the hedge. After dragging round a wheelbarrow, a couple of saws, the hedgetrimmer and a ladder round to the back I started on the hedge and it immediately started to rain. I persevered for a while and managed to cut it back a bit before the heavens opened and I had to admit defeat for the day.

On Sunday, I decided to leave the hedge and to make a start on repairing our improvised greenhouse. First I cleared it all out and put the spent compost in pots and growbags onto the compost heap. Then onto the repairs. This involved nailing up lots of plastic sheeting where panes of glass have fallen out. I don't want to replace the glass, partly because of the expense and partly because the greenhouse overall is quite rickety and I think I risk losing the glass as soon as I put it in. I just about managed to finish the greenhouse repairs before the heavens opened again with torrential rain and hailstones.

With no chance of doing anything outside the only useful thing I could do was to put out my seed potatoes out in egg trays to start chitting. I usually put them in the greenhouse, but because it is still pretty cold and damp out there I have decided to start them off in the porch. This year the potatoes I have bought International Kidney (otherwise known as Jersey Royal if grown in Jersey) and Majestic, neither of which I have tried growing before.

A bit of a frustrating weekend overall, but at least I got a few bits done.

An Eventful Couple of Days

2011-02-18T23:34:00.001Z

The last few days have proven to be somewhat eventful and indeed, well how can I put this...... messy! Things started on Wednesday evening when I came to shut up the chickens, goats and geese. No problems with the chickens and goats, but no sign of the geese anywhere. I searched the garden and could not see them anywhere, and neither could I find bits of goose from being eaten by a fox (sorry to raise that but that has to be the first thought when you can't find your geese). So by this time we were assuming that either they must have got out and wandered off, or they have been stolen. However, we eventually found them in the field at the back of amongst the brussels sprouts. There has been some harvesting in this field so it was very muddy and rounding them up was slippery and messy.

Later that evening I decided (for some reason) to tackle the fact that the downstairs toilet seems to be permanently blocked (apologies again for bringing this up, but it is all part of what has been happening in our life the last couple of days). So I lifted up the drain covers outside and found that the various waste was just not flowing anywhere. Now picture me trying to unblock the pipes with drain rods by torchlight. Very smelly and unpleasant. After a while of just not getting anywhere it suddenly dawned on me that we have not had the septic tank emptied in ages which explained the lack of flow. The following day we made a frantic call to the waste disposal company and fortunately they were able to come and sort us out today. A rather unpleasant crisis averted!

Last night my wife went out to see a friend and one of the tyres on her car blew out. No nasty accident fortunately. She called out the breakdown company to get her back on the road. The man arrived after half an hour and of course he asked for the wheel lock key. My wife had no idea what he was talking about until he described what it looked like. At this point it dawned on her that she had taken it out of the car after finding it and not knowing what it was thought it was a nice shape for doing some printing!!! Fortunately, I found it quickly in the porch and had to drive it down to her at speed before the breakdown man was called away to another job.

After settling down for the night and heading off for bed reflecting on the traumas of earlier, the quiet of the night was broken by the sound of our eldest son retching in the bathroom. It seemed that he had come down with a sickness bug. He then spent much of the rest of night vomiting!

Things can only get better!

First Signs of Spring?

2011-02-07T00:00:00.000Z

The last couple of weekends I had good intentions of doing loads in the garden. However, with various other things going on it didn't quite happen. Last week I finished of mulching the veg plot. I then planted some garlic cloves. Technically I know I am either too late or too early. The best time is autumn to early winter, but the frozen ground prevented that this year. The next best time is early spring. Clearly, it is currently neither of those, but I thought it would give it a go anyway. I have read that a frost helps the garlic to split into individual cloves, and as frost was forecast, I hoped that this would do the trick. Sure enough, the next couple of nights were very frosty, so hopefully that should help.

This weekend I had originally hoped to do some repairs to the greenhouse that is largely held together by plastic sheeting. However, as we have had near gale force winds I decided that any attempt to do this would be doomed to failure. Instead I chopped a few logs to supplement our dwindling stock of firewood and did a bit of tidying up by the veg plot before I decided to call it a day, otherwise I think I may have been blown away! I decided that a spot of decorating was a far safer option.

During the course of my brief pottering about I spotted a few signs that maybe, just maybe, spring might be on its way.

This has felt like a very long winter, so maybe it is at last coming to an end and spring may at last take over. This will of course mean frantic seed sowing, and in preparation I bought my first batch yesterday in readiness and hoping that I will soon be able to get them started.

Preparing the Veg Plot for the Start of the New Growing Season

2011-01-24T22:49:00.002Z

Now that the weather seems to have progressed from "flippin' cold" to "a bit chilly" I have managed to spend much of the last couple of weekends preparing the veg plot for the growing season ahead. This is a process I normally do in the autumn, but being as autumn came to a bit of an abrupt end as winter descended and the ground rapidly transformed into permafrost, there was not any chance doing any serious digging. Well, not with a spade anyway - some sort of mechanical device might just about have managed it.

What I normally do is to dig over the entire plot, pulling out those pesky perennial weeds as I go, then mulch the lot with home made compost. The theory is that if I do this in autumn then the elements can get to work on the compost and break it down into the soil. Of course it won't have long this time as (hopefully) it will soon be spring and time to start sowing seeds.

This is also a chance to dig over the compost heaps. Those compost purists out there will tell you that to make good compost you should turn it regularly to aerate it. However, as we produce rather a lot of compost, I don't tend to do this. Our compost is actually a mixture of grass clippings and other garden bits, kitchen scraps, chicken manure (mixed with straw), goat manure (also with straw) and goose manure (with, yes you've guessed it, straw). Imagine turning that lot! Anyway, what I do is have two compost bins (actually two and half as I have another half constructed, but I ran out of wood left over from when the chicken house was built) and I first dig out the well composted compost from one bin and spread that. Then I dig out the compost from the second bin and put it into the first. Usually there is some usable compost at the bottom of this bin as well. Not a conventional method I know, but it works for me. If I can get around to finishing the third compost bin then I can avoid filling them to overflowing - another to add to my list of jobs.

Anyway, I nearly managed to finish - just a tiny bit of one bed left to cover. Although I am running out of usable compost anyway. Being as I now have two large beds and one smaller bed to contend with, not to mention all that compost digging, by the end I felt pretty exhausted. In fact, I think I might give the Wii Fit a miss for a couple of days!

I always find this job tiring, but immensely satisfying. There is something about transforming a rather tatty looking and weedy plot into a much tidier and nicely dug over one and putting back into the soil our various waste (i.e compost) that I find particularly rewarding. Maybe it's something about a sense of optimism about the growing season ahead.

In couple of weeks or so I shall get the rotavator onto it to break it up more so that it is suitable for sowing seeds. I am told that a good guide as to when it is the right time to do this is when the mud stops clinging to your boots. Plenty of mud clinging onto my boots at the moment - with each step my boots feel a little heavier!