Post-Christmas pounds
I'm a little miffed about this Christmas. Every day I got up dug for three hours, moved, mulched, sorted out the compost bins, raked and tidied (it was my Christmas present to my parents to sort out their new vegetable garden) and yet I've still put on the Chrismas pounds. I think this is a little bit of an injustice as there was a point where I thought I might not move again as my muscles hurt so much.
Still their veg garden may not look perfect, but once the cardboard (putting good use to all their moving boxes) has rotted down and spring has arrived their soil should be in a good state. It's lovely stuff (the soil), if a little starved at the moment, lots of chalk and cuts like butter- a far cry away from Berryfields' heavy stuff. But where it is free-draining and light, it lacks nutrients and even the weeds are a pathetic size. Still, plenty of green manuring and compost will sort that out.
I went up to Danesbury hill fort to have a look at the local flora and picked juniper berries, a little hairy thyme and marjoram and stuffed them in my pockets for no good reason other than I could and now my coat smells lovely. There were lots of lovely beech trees, contorted by the winds over the years, and in every nook and cranny there were hundreds of snails snuggled together. It was an extraordinary sight.
I came back to my own garden full of vigour to get on with the 'self-sufficientish' plan, but have come down with some stomach bug. I'm consoling myself with reading seed catalogues and in my present state it's no bad thing; a bit like going to the shops on a full stomach; I'm finally showing constraint and have a very modest list. Still I'm dying to try parsley peas (Plants of Distinction) and to get hold of some purple asparagus (a bit of a pipe dream at the second) from the Organic Catalogue. The rest I'm keeping secret until I've put my order in...
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~39~RS~)
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Ah, the Christmas pounds. I think the whole nation may have been a little shocked at just how much tighter their back to work trousers felt this morning!
I spent a few days with family in the welsh hills; quite different from the rolling countryside of the weald, but terribly nostaligic. The mist creeping up the valley towards their house, or the inevitable sheets of rain pounding the windows took me back to my slightly mopish teenage days where I'd spend hours musing over life and probably how unreasonable my parents were!
I've also been enjoying the garden, more specifically the wildlife. My garden is on the small side (yes, I know that we'd all like bigger gardens) but backs on to a more established garden which has a huge Scots pine, a Maple and an ornamental cherry. Consequently my feeders are very busy. In one day alone I spotted blackbirds, great tits, blue tits, a song thrush, a lesser spotted woodpecker, a very territorial robin, tree sparrows, dunnocks and the usual collared doves. Squirrels are an ever present foe. Not sure if there are any bird experts out there but I also saw around seven long tailed tits on my small crab apple tree and they are constantly flitting about in the large pine tree. It just goes to show how important urban gardens are to sustaining Britain's bird population.
We've been in the house for four years now and I'm planning to spend the next few weeks looking at what needs to stay and go in the garden. I'm constantly frustrated by my lack of space and I'm sure my husband will divorce me if I get any more pots for the area outside the back door! Enjoy the seed catalogues and get well soon.
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Hi Alys,
I too spent much of Christmas sorting out the veg patch. I needed something a bit more permanent so I popped in a nice brick path up the middle, with an arch to enter. I am really pleased with the results!
Then I moved some rasps and I hope they will take. Is it a good idea? They were coming up all over the place so I dug a few out and moved them to a new spot.
Best of all was 'my' robin. (How dare I claim a bit of the wild!) He started visiting me each day as I dug. I wondered what he thought about!
Anyway - I meant to just say I used to have a dog like yours, only he had eyebrows. Takes me back!
Keep up the good work!
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Lovely garden birds. I saw a whole tree of long tailed tits at my parents. We also watched a woodpecker make light work of mummified apples left on the tree and numerous others that mother shouts the names off at the kitchen window and I sort of nod in ignorance. My mother likes to call me up and reel lists of birds at the window--it's a little eccentric, but I like hearing about them. My sister and brother gave my dad one of the those whizzy weather stations for christmas, so now I get precise temperature and winds directions as well as bird names.
Rich,
THe raspberries with a little love will move fine, but mulch well so the frost doesn't do too much damage. I'm jealous of the brick path that was on my list, but I still struck down with this pesky bug.
Bessy,
The seed list has gone up and down with the fever and is now somewhere near reasonable I just have to make all these funny ideas work and look pretty. But oh how I understand wanting more space. Fingers crossed I move up the allotment list or I'm going to start making a move on the patch next door . . .
keep warm
Keep warm
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I combatted putting on Christmas weight by putting on a few before the event (accidently admittedly). On the positive side i have no guilt about all the cheese i ate. Soon be spring and we can dig again. Happy new year!
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I had similar difficulty in curbing my excitement when ordering seeds this year as it's my first with an allotment. I solved it by discovering a brilliant company called "moreveg" on the internet who sell small quantities of seed for small prices. I cut my expected seed bill down from £78 to £24. Still not sure I'll have the space for everything but I can make myself popular by stocking my friend's gardens too!
Ooh, and I'm so jealous of anyone who's been able to get a fork in the soil over the last three weeks as mine has been frozen solid!
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