Self-Sufficiency in Style
march 2004 diary
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Self-Sufficiency in Style march 2004 diary |
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| February ended and March roared in with snow overnight | |
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to give us a reminder that winter was not yet past. |
From the bedroom window. |
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The walled garden takes an unfamiliar look and all work stops. |
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Just as quickly as it came, the snow melts and with impeccable timing -
the first births of the year. Triplet lambs, one ram and two ewes to Rosemary. We kept our fingers crossed that she would look after three herself. Bottle-fed lambs are a nuisance. She is an experienced mother and accepts them all with no problems. |
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Then some pretty sharp winds with frosts at night, and suddenly Spring arrives. |
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The almond is in full blossom and work in the walled garden begins in
earnest. Our winter rest is over. |
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The dog does not seem to have any problem. She moves her position from in front of the wood- burner to supervision of the walled garden where she does an excellent job making any pigeons unwelcome. |
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The walled garden with the glasshouses and tunnels produces most of our fruit and vegetables. |
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The greenhouses are now filling up with tender subjects destined for the
tunnels. There are dozens of varieties of tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, cape gooseberries, melons and others. Also some that will be planted outside, mostly winter and summer squashes. The only plants that will stay will be the cucumbers.
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Even the space on the floor is full of early potatoes in buckets. We have run out of last years crop, and eagerly await the first "new" potatoes. |
No back-breaking digging. |
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The balance of the early potatoes have been planted just behind the greenhouse, where there will be some shelter from late frosts. |
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Some strawberries are also given the bucket treatment for an early crop. They are frost-hardy, but will bear an earlier crop given some protection. |
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...and if the regular readers notice this diary is a little late and a
little shorter, this is of course, the busiest time of year... and, alas, the gardener's blight has struck... the inevitable springtime bad back. |
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Back breaking Spring at Hangman's Cottage, just to the south of Misery Corner. |
