Cyclamens

Just a shameless post showing the beautiful cyclamens that grow wild in our garden... gorgeous.

(yes, that is our Christmas tree in the pot!)

Cast ne'er a clout 'til the May be out

My understanding of this is that May is maythorn aka blackthorn, and that when it comes into bloom it's warm enough to shed your winter clothes (certainly your winter coat). It holds well with me as I've reached that uncomfortable too-hot-for-my-winter-coat-but-too-old-to-go-without stage...


Spring is here! Hoorah!
(and about blimmin' time, too!)

Allotmenting

The beginning of the year on our allotment. Today we took the garlic and broad beans to plant out. The garlic, after some escapee issues when the roots made a dash for it and tried to push the cloves out of the soil, are doing really well. I would definitely recommend the seed tray method, and will be using it in future.

The plan is to intercrop the allium patch (i.e. garlic, onions and leeks) with carrots and beets - to make use of the differing ripening times and dislike of their respective pests for each other.

I hate seeing so much bare soil as it's just not natural. Expect to see a very different picture later in the season!

A beery Saturday

Today we resurrected my grandpa's fermenting barrel (see left, sans tap), which brought me great joy - both because I'm carrying on a family pastime and because we successfully reused something rather than buying new.

We're really lucky as we have a 'Hop Inn' locally  where we can get good brewing supplies (pictures below), and we were happy to only have to buy a replacement lid/valve and some more tubing. Total cost = about half that of a new barrel (so I reckon that's half way to barrel #3!).




Home brewing is one of those things I always wanted to do, and it gives me great satisfaction to have home-brew to offer people when they come over. We have yet to progress onto more complex things such as wine, but I think it's a good start!

 

Shameless food snap

In midwinter I crave colourful, healthy food. So imagine my pleasure at the veritable FEAST they gave us at the IOTA (institute for organic training and advice) meeting today held at Abbey Home Farm. I am thoroughly inspired to make some similar food myself - winter doesn't mean you can't have exciting salads!

Phwoar!

Plant pots

We buy our olive oil in bulk since realising that it's cheaper that way (buying more oil really doesn't result in us using more of it). For interest it's £17 for 3 litres.

A bit of Saturday morning inspiration resulted when I realised I could re-pot our lemongrass into the empty olive oil container, using nothing but a can opener to remove the lid. Brilliant!

Vinegar

If you're interested in sustainable living, you need at least one German friend.

Why? You ask

Because in Germany people still do things like pickling and jarring and making your own. In England, we just don't cut it - you can't walk into a supermarket and pick up some sourdough starter, a large contraption to sterilise your bottled preserves, or a vinegar mother.

Yes, a vinegar mother. My friend Sabine very kindly offered me one after I mentioned we had a ton of white wine left over after the wedding. I'd always assumed vinegar happened from the oxidation of alcohol. Alcohol --> aldehyde --> carboxylic acid, right? I remember that from A-level chemistry. But apparently vinegar comes via my best friends, bacteria.

So how does one go about making vinegar?

First, take one vinegar mother proffered by German friend.

If you do not have either of these resources, proceed to step two...

Take leftover gone-off wine (fairly traded, of course), and pour into large, wide-necked container.

 Next, add vinegar mother... schlop!

...then cover with a clean cloth, and leave in a cool place for several weeks/months (I am unclear on the exact duration of this - more later)

If you do not have a starter, apparently it will do the work itself. Like with all things in nature, bacteria come as a bonus, whether we like it or not.

In this case I imagine the necessary bacteria (Mycoderma aceti) will predominate as the natural oxidation proceeds and the vinegar becomes more acidic. We use vinegar to preserve food as it stops the growth of 'bad' bacteria and fungi - from my experience very few of these are particularly fond of acidic conditions. I just never knew that there could be good bacteria in vinegar. Maybe that's why so many health books say it's good for you...

Egg shells...

We always put our egg shells in the compost bin. Sometimes I remember to crush them, sometimes not.Of course they don't break down in the composting process, so I always end up with lovely looking compost with large bits of egg shell in it.

No harm in that really, but it is a bit messy, and I was wondering if it makes the best use of them. So I have another (yes, another) cunning plan, to segregate them from the compost, crush them up, and then use them as slug deterrent for my plants. They should keep the blighters away a bit when the plants are wee, and provide phosphorus for the growing roots, then the earthworms will take them down later on. In theory.

The hobbit house

So I have spent most of this week writing my transfer-to-PhD report - a necessary evil if you want a doctorate degree. In all fairness, it's proving to be a very helpful process, and I'm eternally grateful I'm registered with the agriculture department who have a very practical and hands-on approach to such things.

However, sitting in front of a computer all day, while something I've spent far too much of my adult life doing, is not my idea of fun. This evening I've spent some time dreaming (granted, this began in front of a computer...).

In case you have not come across this picture of the 'hobbit house' before, it is the craftmanship of Simon Dale (www.simondale.net). The house was built using natural materials, and I think it's just plain beautiful. While I'm all in favour of the sustainable, chemical-free aspect of this kind of housing, it's actually the aesthetics that really sell it for me. No straight lines, no mdf, no crappy plastic fittings. I think I'd prefer to have the beamed stripped (bark-off, rather than bark-on) though, so I could keep them dust and cobweb free - I imagine gunk would accumulate fairly quickly on that ceiling!

Jon and I made a pinky promise to do this when we have some land of our own. I suspect it may come in the form of guest housing on the farm.