Inconclusive conclusions.

Oh this busy life... I certainly don't have time to be bored.

I have managed to test one sample for NPK - and I'm afraid to report that the only conclusion I am able to come to is that I am incapable of coming to a conclusion about the colours! grrrr.

I have waited more than enough time (it says 24 hours) for the water to become clear after mixing it with the soil, but that hasn't happened, it is still cloudy.

I think that the results are showing a total lack of nitrogen.

The Phosphorus appears to be adequate as does the Potassium - I asked my teenage son to confirm as maybe younger eyes are superior!

I shall hopefully test at least some of the other samples this weekend, in between making a cake for Ivor's 8th birthday!

 View from my bedroom window...

Ivor introduces himself

soil testing continued

It was quite exciting today, discovering the pH of the soil. Ivor and I took 10 samples around the garden, in different spots, and after leaving the samples to dry out I spent most of the day crushing soil into crumbs (yes, I have a blister to prove this), while he was out mushrooming with a friend.

Then came the pH test :

 I have only tested two areas for pH so far, and apparently the soil, which is 'argileuse et fine' - fine clay, is also between 6.5 and 7pH so, only very slightly acid. Good for pear trees, and raspberries and strawberries according to the leaflet I have read - more research to be done, as I really want to plant apples. Hopefully the top part of the garden will be slightly more acidic. Next stage, take the dried, painstakingly crushed soil - not allowed to touch it with hands - add distilled water and shake for one minute (I did time it!) and allow to settle. This stage may take 24 hours due to the type of soil. So here are the samples, ready to be tested tomorrow (if I find time) for NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium).

A year's anniversary

Wow, the first 12 months have simply flown by, I am finding it hard to believe it has been a year. It has been... interesting, lots of learning has gone on, changes in the boys lives and mine too. Salix has completed his chef qualification and is working full time. Fabien is doing work experience, which is apparently pushing him towards going back to school although the jury is still out on that, and Ivor has improved his reading and has a new teacher this year.
I felt inspired to write today, as Ivor and I spent half an hour digging up soil samples from the garden to test the acidity and NPK levels. Then I can decide which rootstock is best for the trees, which we have been researching. The results will also tell me which flowers and shrubs and so on will be happiest in the type of soil. I am already noticing certain plants struggling, and others doing very well.

As you can tell from the photos it is all quite scientific - and those are not sweets, as I hastened to tell Ivor, but chemicals for the testing! He helped me label the jars. The research into which trees comes down to me reading lots about grafting - very exciting stuff, I can't wait; plus the boys trying lots of apples and telling me their favourites 😀.  Crunchy and acidic seem to be key words here. I bought a couple of grafting knives for myself for my birthday, and intend on planting some rootstock and grafting onto them myself. I am eagerly anticipating grafting from my mum's tree in London, obviously the apples won't be the same, as they are affected by terroir and climate.


Sadly the Rose I bought is not looking too happy!

The baby raised beds - of which there are three which are in production - are doing alright, again, it is early days so I didn't expect too much.
Of the four Yes trees planted, only three have survived, the cherry seems dead, although hope does spring eternal so I shall await the winter before pulling it up. It never took. The three apple trees are fine, thanks to (somewhat erratic) watering through the dry season.
The late frosts which followed an unseasonably warm Spring killed off most of the fruit at the farm up the hill, and the pear tree here in the garden suffered too. Not a lot of jam has been made :(
On a happy note the chickens are all still alive, and had a great time being looked after by family whilst I had a short break over the summer. The eggs are fantastic.

Poisson d'avril

The following post was written in April 2016, and published in September the next year!


Well, I knew it was going to be eclectic, but I didn't realise quite how erratic it would be, my only excuse being a total lack of time between school and bring up boys and local council work, oh, and the odd minute to myself,  there are really very few of them!

Over four months later, I find time to sit down and update y'all on the project. I was invigilating the mock exams the other day, and thought I would seize the opportunity to  make a list of subjects to write my next blog entry about. I filled a page and a half of A4.

Some of the difficulties we have come across has been naming the farm. Or is it a project? There are several fields anyway, so it would be useful to find a name for each of them to avoid confusion.

Good news -  Four yes/fruit trees have been planted, three apple (two golden delicious - not my favourite apple, but very popular, and one reine des rainettes - a local apple) and one cherry tree (sunburst variety).
More good news - Two raised beds (hug-le culture) are on their way, thanks to me, Anne, and mainly Salix and Fabien, who have done some major digging. I have been up to the old garden 'stealing' plants, raspberries, strawberries, hazel trees, origano, marjoram, nettle, lemonbalm, comfrey, and poppies.
Seeds have been sown, and are starting to peep through - basil, chives, lettuce, tomatoes.
Cuttings have been taken - yellow buddleia, christmas cactii, red and white varieties, and the aloe vera babies are doing well too.

More excellent news, the chicken palace,  as it is rightfully named has been completed and eight beautiful, happy and free chickens have been duly bought and brought onsite to be loved and cared for as chickens should be, so we can steal and appreciate their eggs, and make cakes and pancakes and endless egg-based recipes.

I truly feel as though we are starting to land and rebuild my dream, food shall be coming from our smallholding, and maybe, just maybe one day self sufficiency can once again be an attainable goal. I remember leaving the UK, in the year 2000, 17 years ago, and someone saying that I was crazy, giving up my corporate life when I had my feet well on the bottom rungs of the ladder, and instead moving my pregnant self into a truck having sold my home in Sydenham. Well, I must still be mad, as I still see society's goals as twisted, and mine as the only way forward for the planet and thus for the human race if we wish to survive.

And yes, I still believe that each and every one of us can change how we live and that will make a difference. Obviously. We must all stop voting for their society by removing our money (read energy) from their system. Don't buy nutella (Nestlé, Monsanto...) - not even on a Sunday.

Alex has been busy as a bee creating and designing a Fibernacci spiral for one part of the garden, I only hope I can do justice to the hours of work she has put in, I must remember to always take the right hand turn :). The Fiberanacci spiral is based on the mathematical series of numbers on which a pine cone, an artichoke, and human heritage dna are based. Alex has created four spirals which interlink coming from a central point where I am hoping to grow a pagoda/picnic area inspired by my Aunty Tessie's outside eating area, where we would sit and eat grapes dripping from above our heads, surrounded by colours and smells and variety provided by plants grown with love.  The spirals will hopefully be themed, colour, genus, time of flowering, One of the ideas is that the garden needs a wild path crossing its entirety - wild hedging - to enable the hedgehogs, and all other necessary animals/bugs/beasties to traverse, so one of the spirals may be made up of 'wild' hedging.

Another important addition to the garden is the compost area, which has been improved immensely.
How important is chocolate?