Well it has been some time since the last blog post.... in fact it has been an age since the last blog post. The summer holidays started not long after the last post and then went headlong into entertaining the children, followed by a manic September to Christmas with work and everything that needed doing here.  But that is enough of the excuses!

So, did we have a Christmas dinner of our own making?
In part yes.  Carrots, parsnips, runner beans and red cabbage.  If we hadn't eaten all the potatoes then we could have had those too!  AND a nice batch of runner bean chutney was circulated as beautiful little potted gifts.  We couldn't have been more proud of the first attempt at growing our own Christmas dinner. 

But one thing we would say is that we could not tell the difference in the flavour (or growth actually) of our two types of parsnips, but they were really tasty anyhow.

The 2019 failures were:
The brussel sprouts... they were savaged by the caterpillars, the ferocity of their attack was worse than we imagined.  Note to selves: do cover the brassicas with netting as they WILL be eaten.
The beetroots ..... we just didn't keep constant water and thin properly.
The tomatoes..... they did not get enough sun and that coupled with not having the right soil just meant they stalled and only gave a small crop in later September.
The peas..... well these were not so much failures really; we ate them all in the garden and none ever made it to the house!

And now onto planning the 2020 season.  Looking at growing fewer types of veg, but larger crops so there is some discussion to be had here about which ones..... but if you are the children, this means naming the millions of veggies you like, some of which will be impossible to grow here!  The planning will certainly be an interesting process (although you cannot fault their enthusiasm), but in the meantime we will continue to be shocked, dazed and amazed as to how well 2019 went for us.

It has been quite a while since last posting, but by gum it’s been hectic….and it’s not all about the veg garden. Whilst the veg garden has been flourishing, we have sold sheep, acquired sheep, acquired further sheep, bottle fed lambs, weaned lambs, off-loaded lambs, acquired new lamb… and as it stands we are still bottle feeding the last lamb! And don’t get us started on the fencing and field preparation!!

The veg is a real mixed bag of results. Some things have loved the soil conditions and the 40 days (well it feels like it) of rain. Other things, well let’s just say…..epic fail. Potatoes are looking tremendous and we are on tenterhooks wondering when the right time to harvest is. The parsnips (that quite frankly looked proper weedy when they went in the tubs) are looking very good indeed. All the greens are growing great to the extent that we are going to have to urgently re-net. The sunflowers are whizzing up their stems, the carrots, swedes and beetroot are looking fab. However, the tomatoes have sulked, the cucumber has died, and the pumpkin has gone an insipid shade of yellow.

The herbs are the real success story though and we have done a hard harvest of a couple of plants; the sage, the oregano and the thyme. Storing the herbs when they are harvested can be really difficult. In the past we have tried drying, either whole and then passing through a mill or cut and allowed to dry. But, owing to space in the house we find one waft past by a small child, and the leaves just dissipate across the floor!! That or we haven’t allowed the air to circulate around the drying leaves and they all go mouldy. This time around we cut the fresh leaves and packed them into ice cube trays.  A little top up of water and a good freeze have given us little bombs of herbiness. Once decanted from an ice cube tray into a bag and they take up no room at all in the freezer and who doesn’t like the little fresh feeling you get on opening the freezer in the summer.

It has been such lovely weather that we have spent most of our time outside enjoying it rather than writing about it.  I'm sure that can be forgiven.  AND we acquired more sheep, lambs that need feeding and more chickens. 

The small patch that is our veg garden is burgeoning at the seams now.  We have just got to keep it alive and growing; which is the hard bit!

In summary:
The early crop potatoes are big leafy plants so we are hoping for a good amount of spuds in a month or so time.  We have popped some spring onion seeds in one of the shallow sinks.  We were given some seeds so we have no idea how these will grow or what variety they are, its more of a case of in for a penny and in for a pound!  Rainbow chard has been potted in one of the large black tubs.  The two tubs of parsnips are looking a little weedy and have been slow growing, but we put this down to inconsistent watering.  Five different varieties of tomatoes are planted in the sunniest spot along the back wall.  This year we planted in 5l pots in a good compost and then sank the pots two thirds into the ground.  This should help to hold water (as the ground has a tendency to crack) but also provide some drainage.  Having had a stint in the greenhouse they are nicely hardened and are loving these balmy late spring days.  The boy was pleased to plant 4 of the 6 sunflowers that he had saved from last years whoppers! Finally the red cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower and brussel spouts had finished their stint in the greenhouse and are planted in neat rows.  They have cunningly been covered by a much too small piece of netting to prevent the pigeons, who are nesting in the tree above, helping themselves.  Perhaps the flapping red and white tape attached to poles will help prevent the pigeons thinking we have laid out breakfast!?

It's all growing like mad!  But that's a good thing right!?  It's been a few weeks since last posting owing to the Easter break but it feels like it has really all 'kicked off' since the last post.

1. Runner beans, peas and sunflowers propagated and are already now enjoying a little session in the greenhouse before planting out in a few weeks
2. Tomatoes, cucumber, peppers and squash purchased and also spending time in the now over crowded little greenhouse
3. Second crop of sunflowers (from our last years flowers incidentally), edamame beans, swedes, beetroots, carrots, chard , spring onions all sown
4. Parsnips are now out in their pot

And breathe......
It's not all about the veg though as the past few weeks we have also completed the entrance to the veg garden.  Instead of a narrow entrance with a huge hummock, it is wide and flat.  That makes it easier with a barrow, no more hernias!

However as the veg grows, apparently so do the weeds.  It's all growing like mad!  And those little critters, there are a very bad thing, right!

Well maybe contemplating the Clarke 2019 vintage of Damson Gin is a little premature in April but there's no harm in planning!  Sustainability on a smallholding doesn't stop at the veg garden.  All areas need to be put to use.  One such area for us was a small patch of no-mans-land in the chicken field.  Owing to the topography and the boundary of stone walls, we have difficulty fencing right to the extremities and in some circumstances this causes small patches of land that are not one thing or another (and we try to avoid this). This little patch is one of those and we are creating a damson grove.

We have a small whippet of a tree that suckered from a grand damson in our last garden and we have grown this on in a pot over the past 3 years.  This finally was planted and it probably out there having a mini part of its own.  We also planted a larger, more established tree that was already planted here and we inherited when we moved in.  That second planting was quite an epic manoeuvre - cutting it back (spiky little critter), digging it out from the bank at the bottom of the yard (we just managed to get the tree move done before the end of the tree moving window!) and then carrying it up to the chicken field.  But its in (despite the scratched and bruising) and the bit of rain we have just had will help it establish.  

We did manage to harvest the forced rhubarb too.  We uncovered it and cut it back.  As it is its first year in the ground in that bed, we need to leave it to grow and die back naturally so that the root gets more energy for next season (although a few cheeky little nibbles wont hurt!).  We had it just how nature intended..... just as it is.  It was gone in 60 seconds!
  
That was a weekends work, but its an area finished..... and we packed up on Sunday evening with an air of satisfaction.

When the first thing that you hear from another persons mouth (if you don't include the four of us) first thing on a Monday morning is.... "I have poo in my car", what can you do but be a little bit excited!  Our first two bags of fresh horse poo have arrived on the hill ready for the compost heap.  Perhaps we will finally get the compost bins made this weekend - the above picture is the anticipated look.  This was taken at Wisley Gardens last year and gave us compost bin envy!

The last week has given us some beautiful sunshine - chilly nights but gorgeous days.  Finally the chitted potatoes were planted in their green bags.  We must remember to water them - they never like to be dry but they don't want to be too wet  - today the outside thermometer read 18 degrees so it is much warmer than it would normally be here at this time of year.  Watering potatoes is one of those balancing acts and as they are in bags for the first time this year, it will be yet another learning curve.

Luckily however, we haven't had a frost here this week.  Every day in the valley bottom there has been varying degrees of frost but we are in that flux where we have been benefiting from higher temperatures up here (we do have our own little micro climate!).  This lack of frost is great as the sweet peas are being hardened off to be planted out.  The doors on the little greenhouse are open so the plants are exposed to the colder weather and they are looking really strong so we are looking forward to planting them out over the next week or so as they are really outgrowing the greenhouse.  Their destinations are in sheltered spots so they should be safe unless we have a sharp frost (and we can cover them). 

We have also had a weed and a tidy (there was a moment when the cane pile collapsed which caused a "right, that's it!" incident) and spent a little time sat down in the seating area.  It is a beautiful time of the year to enjoy the view.  So, whilst Monday started with poo..... the sun just puts a little spring in your step!

Yes the labels are over-sized and yes we probably should have fought the wind and rain to go to the barn to retrieve MUCH smaller labels.  Anyhow these are the parsnips - 'True and Tender' and 'Crown Paradise'. 

Planted in toilet tubes so that when they are taken outside for planting, the vegetable isn't disturbed.  Currently four seeds have been planted in each roll; the idea being three of the weakest plants are taken out so that one, strong plant can grown.  That way one plant can be moved outside to be hardened off and then sunk into its deep tub (each tub can take approx 8 parsnips) in the tube so that the plant has the best chance of making it.  The tubes are mainly full of good quality compost with a topping of seedling compost to help get the plants going.  It took several attempts to get them filled and indoors in gale force winds - they mainly blew over the garden after they had all skidded off of the icy potting table whilst being filled.  We seriously suffer with potting shed envy after watching Gardeners World.... but then that is the reality of it.  Not everyone has the best tools or facilities.  And we certainly don't!

We planted on the basil plants this week - from propagator to pots.  They are looking rather weedy and leggy though, which seems to be as a result of the propagator.  It kept them adequately watered but they struggled to get light despite being on a good window sill.  But it smells lovely.

Other than that we actually spent much of the time [we could snatch between heavy rain] putting everything back.  It was windy chaos - the little green house had gone for a walk, the been poles had come untied, the pea sticks are now in a tree, and all the pots in the herd garden were having a roll around.  Here's hoping for a dry and less blustery weekend for some productive outdoor work!!

Storm Freya blew over, Storm Gareth has just finished with us, and it still dares to be quite blustery.  So it's no surprise that with all that wind, we haven't ventured out much over the past week.  We did peek at the growing sweet peas (praying the little greenhouse didn't blow away Wizard of Oz -  esq), and we thought about replanting the basil seedlings (but as that needed one of us to go outside and obtain pots and compost, that remained a thought).  

As the spuds are still chitting on the kitchen window sill we thought a little bit of research on them may be useful (although how they taste, if they grow, is all the research we really need).  When growing first early potatoes in the ground you should avoid planting in soil where potatoes have grown for two years in succession to reduce the risk of disease, but as we don't have prepared spaces we are growing in potato bags.  Its a case of chuck it all in and let it do it's thing.

Red Duke of York (the girl's choice)

So this one is a heritage type.  This means it is an open pollinated variety that has been grown for many years - the seeds will grow a variety that will breed 'true to type' from one generation to the next. The seeds produced will carry their parents' genetic material and plants grown from them will bear their characteristics.  And breathe.  It also has the RHS Award of Garden Merit and this means that it has been tested and grows really well (when in its optimum conditions)..... but then this location probably isn't the perfect location for anything!

Red Duke of York is a vigorous, larger oval, red skinned tuber with a moist yellow flesh and (we shall be the judge of this) a good flavour.   It is supposed to be a good all rounder and excellent for roasting.

They can be planted from the end of February but as we think that everything should be done a month later here, we are aiming to plant at the end of March after a few weeks of chitting (to give the spuds a head start).

Foremost (the boy's choice)

These are a very tasty, firm white fleshed variety of top quality (allegedly). It is a good salad and boiling potato which you can leave in the ground for harvesting through the summer,  but doubt they will last that long!

They can be planted from March and be harvested in June and July.  These have been chitted too but are not as ahead of the game as the Red Duke of York and look like little dirty prunes!

So two quite different types... watch this space..... well the potato bags!

What a difference a week makes.  Last week we were basking in the warmest February on record and now the wind cuts through you like a knife.....one of the pitfalls of living on the side of a hill is that when it is windy, it is WINDY!  But we didn't waste any of that good weather and got plenty done.  We could be found in t-shirts at 8am one morning last week weeding the herb garden (all that warm weather meant it had a carpet of buttercups erupting that took the best part of two - therapeutic - hours to eradicate).

Whilst we were giving the herb garden some tlc, we gave the mint plants a little sort out.  We have two: a minty minty that we use for mint sauce and a spearmint.  Both have become pot bound as mints often get (never plant them in the garden as they will spread and be difficult to get rid of) so each came out of their pots, were divided with a spade and then replanted (as you can see in the photo).  All the bits and pieces left over went to the bonfire and were incinerated - cant run the risk of that rooting!  At least now the mint should have grown enough to make a fresh batch of minty sauce for Easter.

We did get a trailer of compost from the local garden centre (locally composted garden waste), so all the veg tubs are filled and ready to go, and there is plenty of spare for all the potato bags to be fully filled when the time is right.  The children picked two different varieties of 'earlies' - Red Duke of York and Foremost.  Normally these would be being planted but we have decided to 'chit' them before they go into the ground to give them a head start - it is too cold to plant them out up here at the moment.  To chit them we have popped the potatoes with the eye side up in egg boxes and popped them on the kitchen window sill (light but no direct sunlight and keeps a temperature of over 10 degrees).  Once they have started to sprout we will put them in their bags to grow.

The ginger was recovered from under a pile of bracken - it was having its winter warm.  Looks like the top has been nibbled by a pesky slug or two, so a little clear out of the pot and a covering of fresh compost, and it has been stowed in the little greenhouse with the sweat peas to rejuvenate.  Hopefully it will regrow as we are keen to see how that grows and how it tastes. 

And finally to the laceration - we moved 10 ill-placed gooseberry bushes and removed several layers of skin!!  We may have lived here for coming up 4 years but we have only just got around to moving the bushes that lived on top of a wall in the yard!  The first year we came they cropped well (there were bleeding fingers on that harvest) but then we didn't have many chickens.  The last few years we have just watched on as the chickens enjoyed themselves so we have moved them into the confines of the fenced veg garden so maybe we can enjoy them this year.  It was quite hard work as they had rooted into the stone wall and we didn't get as much root as we would have liked.  We have three varieties (1) Invicta (2) Careless (3) Whinham's Industry.   It was a little unfortunate as they had started to bud with the mild weather so we hope they will survive well enough for us to do some research on these varieties and conclude their long term future.  

At least they have been well-watered in over the past few days!