Spring update

I spent the day grafting fruit trees 07/04/19 thanks to Patrick (my grafting guru), so the orchard is coming along nicely. Will show you the photos of these grafts once they have leaves, it is so exciting!

This autumn and winter there has been some progress, with new raised beds (thanks Nigel) filling in what was a gaping gap in the vegetable garden, plus thanks to a priceless present of horse manure, the trees are blossoming and seem to be growing as expected, and the pool is being transformed with some beautiful plants and lots of preparation for the filtration system.

 

The worms are doing fine and their produce is feeding the garden which in turn is feeding us. Just look at this rose bush which I have been feeding with the worm tea!

The cuttings taken a couple of years ago have been planted out so we have a bed with a row of gooseberries, the mother plants being from my mum's garden in the UK, a few rows of blackcurrants, raspberries and strawberries, rhubarb too. We just ate stewed rhubarb and apples for pudding tonight. I had to buy the apples, but I sincerely hope that after planting lots of (I've not counted recently) apple trees one day I will be picking them from my trees or bringing them out from storage. I am particularly happy with this bed of 'petits fruits' as they call them in French, as most of them are babies from my plants, thus it was almost completely free to fill it!

We have been eating greens and spinach from the garden and the greenhouse all

winter - it has admittedly been a mild one. Oh, and lambs lettuce. We have also been eating the chutney and tomato ketchup (Jamie Oliver's recipe highly recommended), tomato and vegetable sauces and jams from the most busy harvesting period of the year. I have worked out that I need to double that production! I shall I shall I shall fill that store room!

The greenhouse is now harbouring a plethora of germinating seeds, from courgette to pumpkin passing through tomatoes and peppers amongst others and of course including some flowers.

The home improvements are coming on, the idea being to reduce our bills and become as environmentally friendly and autonomous as possible. The wood-burner is a success, it looks good too! It has not really been put to the test this winter as it was a mild one. So far so good, we have not had to use the radiators too much (would like to install alternative as they are fuelled by diesel). For only part of the winter we had to turn them on in the end rooms (Siberia) as there has been a leak in the roof (Oh NO!) and Ivor's bedroom wall is to be re-done.

There was much sadness the day that we were visited by a predator, which ate a good number of our chickens and two of our much appreciated grass-eating ducks. So with a vastly reduced and interestingly enough no male flock, we have strangely the same if not an increased number of eggs on average! I have drawn some conclusions from this and will house no more male fowl (probably).

Several of the grafted trees from my first ever lesson have taken, and one was dug up and brought down from the old garden to the new and duly planted with the help of our new friend Kami from New York. (Update - the tree is looking good after moving home)

This cherry tree is taking pride of place, I am dreaming of it as a large tree in front of the house, children climbing in the branches. My only trial and tribulation now is that I must wait for all these amazing trees to bear fruit! As a youngster, computers taught me patience, trees will carry on the work.

 In other news an old friend, Christophe Cardon59 from Lille, a wood sculptor of amazing talent, (check out his work here) has been visiting for over 15 years now and is working on a sculpture for the garden. Some of the trees from the farm needed cutting, so he has gained a mast for his boat, and we have gained a Maypole/Totem Pole for our garden. It is an original project, and I am enjoying watching the transformation of the oak tree into a feature for the center of the garden. None of us like cutting down trees, being mainly interested in the preservation and plantation of these, but sometimes it is necessary. Agro-forestry and managing woodlands, husbandry of this beautiful planet on which we have the good fortune to reside is imperative.

More photos to follow, as the Totem pole deserves its own post!

There have been many more developments, I shall have to write more often...