Bra, underpants, cotton camisole, cotton tights, thermal vest, thermal leggings, cotton socks, jeans, cashmere sleveless top, merino cardigan, skinny woolen scarf around her neck, Norwegian parka with hood and her very battered oil proof jacket which has a furry lining and leather work boots. How, Dear Readers, she was even able to walk, I have no idea.
It was very chilly with a brisk wind when she arrived at the plots, I am reallyreally glad she didn't drag me out on this gardening jaunt, for I, with my bald stomach and chest, would have hated it!
She finished doing the garlic beds, of which there are two. We eat a lot of garlic in this house and people love it, who doesn't like to be given properly grown fresh garlic, not stuff that grew in a poly-tunnel? Ours is planted in October and harvested in the Summer, it grows slowly with no chemicals for nine / ten months.
She had a brainwave whilst she was there.. a real 'Eureka' moment! That poor asparagus bed has still not been weeded and whilst she was standing there thinking about starting it.. she thought 'If I strim the weeds really close to the ground, I can then see exactly how much weed there is', so she did and yippee, actually, there wasn't that much! They had just become so tall and straggly that it looked far worse than it really was.
A rake scratched across brought the bed back to a manageable state, she'll easily be able to get rid of weeds and in time for the asparagus spears to come through, probably in late May, it's too cold for it at the moment and this gives her time to properly finish the bed and get four bags of good compost onto it plus some seaweed.
Now, if those thieving bastards don't raid us again, we're in for a bumper crop of pears this year. The two oldest trees are covered in blossom, as are the plum trees. The two yellow cherry trees are the same, she pruned them very hard the year before last, for even dwarf cherry trees can grow to be quite tall and she sees NO point in having fruit out of reach!
Plus she throws very fine nylon fabric sheets over them when they're about to ripen, to the dismay of the avian folk who love cherries! Interestingly enough, the sweet red Stella and the sour Morello cherry trees are not yet in bloom but the sour Montmorency is! It is now four years old and beginning to behave like a fruit tree should.. ie.. give us a decent amount of fruit! Last year there was only a handful.. not enough for a pie!
Much to do, with there being just a bit more heat in the sun.. when it appears.. she's ready to plant lots of seeds. Some we'll start at home and they'll go out when they're tiny plants, the 'sun tunnels' that she bought so many years ago (is it twelve or thirteen years) a couple are cracked and a bit battered but they still do their job very well.
She found the packets of tent pegs, perfect for keeping fleece or tunnels in place, seed labels and pencils and plus seeds. All she has to buy are variegated Chard and perpetual Sorrel seeds, lovely stuff Sorrel.
Monday is weigh-in day at 1pm and at 5.00pm, she has her bi-monthly appointment with her eye specialist at Moorfields Hospital.
So there'll be no gardening on Monday and supposedly tomorrow the weather isn't going to be great, so she'll stay home with me and we'll do house work, or rather, she'll do the work and I'll cheer her on from on top of a door or a pole depending where the work is being done.
Out on the terrace at the allotments, there were two glorious signs that Spring is here! The Lovage is up! And so were a few shoots of self seeded Mizuna! Oh, what bliss to have Lovage again, together with Golden Oregano, which has spread amongst the paving stones as has the Marjoram and the Lemon Balm.
So she's had her first Spring salad of herbs with Dandylion leaves and a few baby Chive stalks with a salmon fillet for supper. I ate some salmon.. slurpy stuff fish.
Salads like these make all those aching muscles and boring bus journeys worth while. And one day soon, when it's sunny, she'll go down there early and 'muck' out the shed, Mr. Rat spends the winter in it and she always has to clean and sterilise everything that isn't firmly locked away in a cupboard. The floor and the work surfaces have to washed and scrubbed.
We aren't going to have a holiday this year as she wants to buy a small generator, so the plots have got to be ready for us to have fun out there, THAT means little shed has to be clean and tidy so she can cook in it or on a grill just outside.
There isn't anything better than having a pan of water boiling, going to pick a few asparagus spears, putting them into the water and eating them.. all within ten minutes! Likewise with the first fava / broad beans of the season.. bliss.
What is also bliss is having my fill of walnuts.. my tumtum is happy and it is bed time. "Goodnight" to you all.
GeeGee Parrot.
April 23rd, 2016.
It was very chilly with a brisk wind when she arrived at the plots, I am reallyreally glad she didn't drag me out on this gardening jaunt, for I, with my bald stomach and chest, would have hated it!
She finished doing the garlic beds, of which there are two. We eat a lot of garlic in this house and people love it, who doesn't like to be given properly grown fresh garlic, not stuff that grew in a poly-tunnel? Ours is planted in October and harvested in the Summer, it grows slowly with no chemicals for nine / ten months.
She had a brainwave whilst she was there.. a real 'Eureka' moment! That poor asparagus bed has still not been weeded and whilst she was standing there thinking about starting it.. she thought 'If I strim the weeds really close to the ground, I can then see exactly how much weed there is', so she did and yippee, actually, there wasn't that much! They had just become so tall and straggly that it looked far worse than it really was.
A rake scratched across brought the bed back to a manageable state, she'll easily be able to get rid of weeds and in time for the asparagus spears to come through, probably in late May, it's too cold for it at the moment and this gives her time to properly finish the bed and get four bags of good compost onto it plus some seaweed.
Now, if those thieving bastards don't raid us again, we're in for a bumper crop of pears this year. The two oldest trees are covered in blossom, as are the plum trees. The two yellow cherry trees are the same, she pruned them very hard the year before last, for even dwarf cherry trees can grow to be quite tall and she sees NO point in having fruit out of reach!
Plus she throws very fine nylon fabric sheets over them when they're about to ripen, to the dismay of the avian folk who love cherries! Interestingly enough, the sweet red Stella and the sour Morello cherry trees are not yet in bloom but the sour Montmorency is! It is now four years old and beginning to behave like a fruit tree should.. ie.. give us a decent amount of fruit! Last year there was only a handful.. not enough for a pie!
Much to do, with there being just a bit more heat in the sun.. when it appears.. she's ready to plant lots of seeds. Some we'll start at home and they'll go out when they're tiny plants, the 'sun tunnels' that she bought so many years ago (is it twelve or thirteen years) a couple are cracked and a bit battered but they still do their job very well.
She found the packets of tent pegs, perfect for keeping fleece or tunnels in place, seed labels and pencils and plus seeds. All she has to buy are variegated Chard and perpetual Sorrel seeds, lovely stuff Sorrel.
Monday is weigh-in day at 1pm and at 5.00pm, she has her bi-monthly appointment with her eye specialist at Moorfields Hospital.
So there'll be no gardening on Monday and supposedly tomorrow the weather isn't going to be great, so she'll stay home with me and we'll do house work, or rather, she'll do the work and I'll cheer her on from on top of a door or a pole depending where the work is being done.
Out on the terrace at the allotments, there were two glorious signs that Spring is here! The Lovage is up! And so were a few shoots of self seeded Mizuna! Oh, what bliss to have Lovage again, together with Golden Oregano, which has spread amongst the paving stones as has the Marjoram and the Lemon Balm.
So she's had her first Spring salad of herbs with Dandylion leaves and a few baby Chive stalks with a salmon fillet for supper. I ate some salmon.. slurpy stuff fish.
Salads like these make all those aching muscles and boring bus journeys worth while. And one day soon, when it's sunny, she'll go down there early and 'muck' out the shed, Mr. Rat spends the winter in it and she always has to clean and sterilise everything that isn't firmly locked away in a cupboard. The floor and the work surfaces have to washed and scrubbed.
We aren't going to have a holiday this year as she wants to buy a small generator, so the plots have got to be ready for us to have fun out there, THAT means little shed has to be clean and tidy so she can cook in it or on a grill just outside.
There isn't anything better than having a pan of water boiling, going to pick a few asparagus spears, putting them into the water and eating them.. all within ten minutes! Likewise with the first fava / broad beans of the season.. bliss.
What is also bliss is having my fill of walnuts.. my tumtum is happy and it is bed time. "Goodnight" to you all.
GeeGee Parrot.
April 23rd, 2016.
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