Monday 25 June 2018
Sadness
No more crane chicks. Farmer sprayed the field yesterday and this is the result. As it is every year.
Wednesday 20 June 2018
Luckily not a disaster
Yesterday we had our first thunder storm. It stroke only once.
Thunderstrike hit one of our big spruces behind the garage (and outhouse). It was cut off at about 6m and top fell down breaking my rug rack. BUT it could have hit our garace, hb's car, es's car or outhouse, or even the well, but it missed all of them! Rug rack is twisted around the trunk and is beyond hope, but it is no great loss, nowadays I use our balcony railings to hang out rugs, covers, mattrasses etc.
The very best thing is we had decent amount of rain - not enough to get rid of forest fire warnings but I don't have to water veg plot today.
Polytunnel and greenhouse need watering, but it takes only few minutes. Oh, the polytunnel is ready!
Doesn't it look neat... Also 'Sumas rear is in the pic.
Sorry, I had to. It takes only half an hour to tidy all the wood and cardboard and pots and stuff, but I haven't had time to do it. Well, I had, but it was so hot and I didn't want to get overheated. I was lazy.
It'll be all fine and dandy soon, I'll have some time off from work and weather is going to cool down significantly.
My garlics, raddishes, beets on the front and beans on the further cold frame. Finally got also the third one ready planted - by the way those peas germinated after all, and survived 'Suma.
Thunderstrike hit one of our big spruces behind the garage (and outhouse). It was cut off at about 6m and top fell down breaking my rug rack. BUT it could have hit our garace, hb's car, es's car or outhouse, or even the well, but it missed all of them! Rug rack is twisted around the trunk and is beyond hope, but it is no great loss, nowadays I use our balcony railings to hang out rugs, covers, mattrasses etc.
The very best thing is we had decent amount of rain - not enough to get rid of forest fire warnings but I don't have to water veg plot today.
Polytunnel and greenhouse need watering, but it takes only few minutes. Oh, the polytunnel is ready!
Sorry, I had to. It takes only half an hour to tidy all the wood and cardboard and pots and stuff, but I haven't had time to do it. Well, I had, but it was so hot and I didn't want to get overheated. I was lazy.
It'll be all fine and dandy soon, I'll have some time off from work and weather is going to cool down significantly.
My garlics, raddishes, beets on the front and beans on the further cold frame. Finally got also the third one ready planted - by the way those peas germinated after all, and survived 'Suma.
Wednesday 13 June 2018
And it is June
There has been a lot happening. Even a royal wedding, but I was mostly at the veg plot - althought I had conviniently planned the day and just had to come insid to make lunch just in time for the seremony.
Weather has been brilliant and then worrisome. We had three weeks of hot weather (first time in over 30 years) and no rain. Then we had few cooler days and again into the heatwave. No rain. Everything is parched, local plants cope well with heavy rains and frosts but not with heat and drough.
Potatoes have been planted, as well as several rows of peas and broad beans. I got batch of brassicas, (red cabbage, kale and cauliflower) and I planted them as well. I even sowed a row of flowers, which is very unlike me. I also planted cornplants, they overgrew their pots.
And of course we had heavy frosts last week. I covered almost all of veg plot with fleece, but couldn't cover potatoes. Fortunately losses were few, brassicas had only minor damages on their upper/outer leaves. Corns were of course damaged, but only three out of 38 plants seem to be died because of frost. Last night frost was here again, great. I covered everything (excluding spuds) and hope this is the last time. Ok, I might wait until Friday, it's 15th and here has never ( before last summer) been any frost after 15th of June.
There were loads of flowers in my damsons, but I guess drough has dried fruits or there wasn't enough insects to pollinate them because they blossomed so early
In my two original cold beds I have sown beets (yellow and normal ones), carrots and raddishes in one bed and bush beans on the other. Then there is salads, swiss chard and argula. We have been eating thinnings (beet and raddishes), argula is already eatable. I built another cold frame, it's the same size old ones are, 90cmx200cm. I guess they are narrow, but I can't reach far, and if the frames were over one meter wide, I wouldn't be able to tent them in the middle. Custom made to my measuremets, a sheer luxury!
I sow some peas in to the new frame, but they never germinated, so I'm going to use the whole frame for bits and bobs I have as leftovers, like beans, new zealand spenach, marigolds, nasturtiums, pickling cucumbers
'Suma has been busy as ever, she ate at least two of corn plants, dug up one strawberry plant and ate some of my seed potatoes (after digging them from the ground and bags). She has eaten several bean seedlings and courgette plants. And she dug up the new cold frame - luckily there weren't any seeds or plants yet.
I'm knitting new boot socks for es because 'Suma ate at least two pairs of his socks. And I had to buy some black yarn - how come I don't have any black sock yarn, but I do have about 70kg of brightly coloured yarns? My yarn stash officially overweights me now.
I built a frame fot the new polytunnel (with some help from kids) and finally got the covering on last weekend. Now I have been building frames inside the polytunnel, and it's taking forever. With 'Suma helping me everything takes at least trice the time.
I need to get ready soon, tomorrow or day after tomorrow I get tomato and pepper plants from my parents, and I need a place for them. I'm going to keep my small greenhouse just for chilis and maybe for a courgette or two. And i have plenty of other plants that need place to live, like pumpkins (I'm planting at least one inside the polytunnel), brassicas, herbs, marigolds...
Cranes have two chicks, they look like brown furry chickens. Swans have been hanging around unlike previous years. Someone said they might have built a nest, but I haven't seen any possible nests around ponds. They need open water and with this drough our village ponds are too shallow.
Hares have been very fertile this year, again. We have at least one gang of leverets, two years ago gang was about 10 individuals, now we have a smaller bunch. Then there is one small and cute leveret, but she is alone, I guess she's too small to join the big gang? Or he.
I have lost over 10% of my weight. I'm not on a special diet, but I have a puppy which needs a lot of walkies. I have cut the amount of meat I'm eating, and that means I also get less fat in my meals - I have replaced meat with pulses and vegetables in general. I'm really trying to eat my five a day. I don't eat as many snacks as before, but the reason is not to loose weight, I just haven't had time to eat!
If I want to be in range of normal weight, I need to loose half a stone.
I haven't been happy with my weight, but this weight loss is just a by-product. And to be honest, only two people have noticed anything, and neither of them are my family or my friends. I was planning to celebrate my first lost stone by buying new black skinny jeans, but when I realized I'm still losing kilos, I decided to wait until my old jeans are too worn out to be worn at work - and now they are. I still might wait until summer sales begin.
Weather has been brilliant and then worrisome. We had three weeks of hot weather (first time in over 30 years) and no rain. Then we had few cooler days and again into the heatwave. No rain. Everything is parched, local plants cope well with heavy rains and frosts but not with heat and drough.
Potatoes have been planted, as well as several rows of peas and broad beans. I got batch of brassicas, (red cabbage, kale and cauliflower) and I planted them as well. I even sowed a row of flowers, which is very unlike me. I also planted cornplants, they overgrew their pots.
And of course we had heavy frosts last week. I covered almost all of veg plot with fleece, but couldn't cover potatoes. Fortunately losses were few, brassicas had only minor damages on their upper/outer leaves. Corns were of course damaged, but only three out of 38 plants seem to be died because of frost. Last night frost was here again, great. I covered everything (excluding spuds) and hope this is the last time. Ok, I might wait until Friday, it's 15th and here has never ( before last summer) been any frost after 15th of June.
There were loads of flowers in my damsons, but I guess drough has dried fruits or there wasn't enough insects to pollinate them because they blossomed so early
In my two original cold beds I have sown beets (yellow and normal ones), carrots and raddishes in one bed and bush beans on the other. Then there is salads, swiss chard and argula. We have been eating thinnings (beet and raddishes), argula is already eatable. I built another cold frame, it's the same size old ones are, 90cmx200cm. I guess they are narrow, but I can't reach far, and if the frames were over one meter wide, I wouldn't be able to tent them in the middle. Custom made to my measuremets, a sheer luxury!
I sow some peas in to the new frame, but they never germinated, so I'm going to use the whole frame for bits and bobs I have as leftovers, like beans, new zealand spenach, marigolds, nasturtiums, pickling cucumbers
'Suma has been busy as ever, she ate at least two of corn plants, dug up one strawberry plant and ate some of my seed potatoes (after digging them from the ground and bags). She has eaten several bean seedlings and courgette plants. And she dug up the new cold frame - luckily there weren't any seeds or plants yet.
I'm knitting new boot socks for es because 'Suma ate at least two pairs of his socks. And I had to buy some black yarn - how come I don't have any black sock yarn, but I do have about 70kg of brightly coloured yarns? My yarn stash officially overweights me now.
I built a frame fot the new polytunnel (with some help from kids) and finally got the covering on last weekend. Now I have been building frames inside the polytunnel, and it's taking forever. With 'Suma helping me everything takes at least trice the time.
I need to get ready soon, tomorrow or day after tomorrow I get tomato and pepper plants from my parents, and I need a place for them. I'm going to keep my small greenhouse just for chilis and maybe for a courgette or two. And i have plenty of other plants that need place to live, like pumpkins (I'm planting at least one inside the polytunnel), brassicas, herbs, marigolds...
Cranes have two chicks, they look like brown furry chickens. Swans have been hanging around unlike previous years. Someone said they might have built a nest, but I haven't seen any possible nests around ponds. They need open water and with this drough our village ponds are too shallow.
Hares have been very fertile this year, again. We have at least one gang of leverets, two years ago gang was about 10 individuals, now we have a smaller bunch. Then there is one small and cute leveret, but she is alone, I guess she's too small to join the big gang? Or he.
I have lost over 10% of my weight. I'm not on a special diet, but I have a puppy which needs a lot of walkies. I have cut the amount of meat I'm eating, and that means I also get less fat in my meals - I have replaced meat with pulses and vegetables in general. I'm really trying to eat my five a day. I don't eat as many snacks as before, but the reason is not to loose weight, I just haven't had time to eat!
If I want to be in range of normal weight, I need to loose half a stone.
I haven't been happy with my weight, but this weight loss is just a by-product. And to be honest, only two people have noticed anything, and neither of them are my family or my friends. I was planning to celebrate my first lost stone by buying new black skinny jeans, but when I realized I'm still losing kilos, I decided to wait until my old jeans are too worn out to be worn at work - and now they are. I still might wait until summer sales begin.
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