Self-Sufficiency in Style
february 2002 diary
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Self-Sufficiency in Style february 2002 diary
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The snowdrops appear once again by the front gate and the world springs back into life. |
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The house is full of lists of seeds, plants and implements.
Our heads are full of good intentions. The beer kit is ready in the garage; the pasta making machine in the kitchen. This is going to be the first year for making cheese. |
Seed packets everywhere |
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Raspberry Bed |
The raspberry bed is completed with some "Galante" - another
Autumn fruiting variety.
This is the southern- most bed and therefore shaded by the south wall, but raspberries are not supposed to mind a lack of sun as most other fruit - and they do grow wild in wooded areas....we shall have to see. |
| Storage is at a premium
again, mostly because the building of the wall has turned huge areas into
a sea of mud.
It is inconvenient to have to wade to the sheds, every time a tool is needed. This is the third wet winter in a row, the dykes are full and the pond overflowing. |
The new Greenhouse is being brought into use mostly as storage for the moment. |
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The Potting Shed |
It might need a coat of paint, but that staple of all Nineteen Thirties
whodunits, the potting shed is an essential.
Finally brought into the walled garden, it is instantly pressed into service. The conservatory is quickly filled of propagators and seed trays. We intend to grow something of everything this year. |
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The overflow from the conservatory reaches the brick greenhouse.
Unfortunately the electrician has not arrived to complete the heating
system so the first of several propagators is pressed into service.
Then a paraffin heater is used to keep the general temperature higher during the frosty nights. It smells though. These are Cayenne Pepper plants, just pricked out into pots. |
The Smallest Greenhouse |
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Tougher conditions in the Aluminium House |
Anything that can be removed from the warmer brick greenhouse is moved to
the new aluminium one.
The strawberry plants potted up in the autumn should survive. Asparagus plants too grown from seed last year. |
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Despite the occasional frost at night and the wet winter the days have
been unusually warm.
February 15 brought a cloudless sky and was warm enough to eat lunch out on the terrace. That is unusual. |
The terrace comes into use early. |
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Walter and the Hens |
The chickens have started to lay eggs again after the winter rest. The
increased length of daylight springs them into action.
They spend more time patrolling the meadows led by Walter the Cockerel. The muck heap is always an attraction. |
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The warmer days enable us to give the cow a break outside. The grass is
not of any interest yet, and she does poach the wet soil a bit, but Gladys
seems to enjoy some fresh air.
We are just "drying her up" - the couple of months when she has a break from being milked before calving again. We will be taking frozen milk and butter from the freezer. |
A welcome change from the cow shed. |
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Dry feet in the walled garden |
Towards the end of the month, the brick laying on the walled garden is
completed.
The paving is finished too. We are getting very close to the end of two and a half years work. The horizontal black line is a temporary electricity supply to the greenhouse. |
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The conservatory has been more successful then we dared hope.
Despite getting a bad infestation of scale insects, we have been getting a good supply of lemons, mandarins and oranges. That we hoped for. What we did not expect was the quality, which is unbelievably good. The fruit drips with juice and the flavour takes us back to our childhood. It just shows how bad things are getting in the supermarket. |
The conservatory - an unexpected bonus |
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A sickly orange but with
fantastic flavour |
The writer had given up eating the sour and acid oranges we get in the
shops in Britain.
This fellow, although ravaged by insects, produced a dozen really tasty oranges. We will be making a big effort to nurse it back to health. |
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The lemon is just a small plant, but we have had a dozen lemons already,
full of juice and the aroma when cut is amazing.
As the peel has not been waxed, even this can be used. We will grow more of these. Home-made Lemon Pudding is a favourite especially for dinners with friends. |
Meyer lemon |
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Orange - Lane End - healthy and full of blossom |
A Lane End Orange produced only three or four oranges.
But it missed the scale insect attack and is full of flowers to scent the conservatory and promise more fruit later. |
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We don't usually grow very much that can't be eaten but this indoor
reminder of the Mediterranean is in full flower now.
Balmy nights by a southern sea remembered under a cold Norfolk sky. |
Bougainvillea |
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Springing into action the outlandishly named Hangman's Cottage, just to the south of Misery Corner. |
