This blog is basically turning into an allotment blog… ah well!
Today was a momentous day. And I didn’t take any pictures, mostly because I’d buried most things so it would have been rather uninteresting… Today, the potatoes went in. My little chitted babies, who’ve spent the last so many months on the tumble dryer in the garage, went into the ground today, to take their chances with the drought and frost, both of which are forecast. The parsnips (Duchess F1, free from a magazine), carrots (Early Nantes from Birdseye of all people, Healthmaster came free with my asparagus, Ingot F1 left over from last year and Autumn King 2 free from a magazine) and small onions (Paris Silverskin for pickling and stews and Crimson Forest, a sort of red, mini-leek-like spring onion) all went into the carrot bed also. I put some compost in a drill (or in the case of Early Nantes, a wide tray), watered as best I could with only two cans of water (tap still off, bah), station sowed the parsnips and scattered the carrots and onions and covered with dry soil to keep the moisture in. Optimistic? We shall have to see.
So that’s two out of six rotation beds in use, assuming they germinate. Big times. I also came home and sowed 20 peas (Swallow) also from Birdseye and three types of Beetroot in modules (Detroit 2 free from a magazine, Bikores, left over from last year and Golden, a yellow version).
Also got some sweetcorn from Birdseye also but I’ve misplaced it, and I need to work out if planting them (I think they are supersweets but didn’t notice their variety) with my Lark F1 tendersweets will cause them issues. For those not obsessed with veg, sweetcorn has several types, and the cobs can reflect both parents i.e. if supersweets cross-pollinate with other types the cobs are small and rubbish. Tendersweets are reliable either way.
Oh! Four asparagus spears are up! Looks like they are from two crowns (of five). No eating them this year unfortunately, must resist, but it looks like we have viable crowns anyway 😀 I can’t work out which crown is which but I think it’s two of the three crowns that came with a magazine rather than the two crowns I’ve transplanted repeatedly. Very pleased 😀
And yesterday we (Dad and I) finally sorted out the under fence Alfie issue. Alfie can dig, yes, with one front paw, the monkey, and spent much of last week trying to dig under the fence, presumably to meet next doors Beagle. The fence is actually slightly sunk already, but with the drought and the dog undermining the soil level from the other side, the clay soil has shrunk away. Several hours and several metres of wood planks later, and the fence is now 3-4 inches deeper all the way along.
Lastly I racked the crab apple wine – it is a pleasing 1.005 ish now, which is a dryish wine. When I eventually bottle it I think I’ll include the quote Mum gave me today:
“It’s not bitter at all!” Mum.
I’m not stopping it yet as it was happily fermenting before being racked so may well continue. Apparently getting it below 1.000 would be good, as alcohol is lighter than water and sugar is heavier (and water is 1.000) so at 1.005 there is still sugar in it. And I hate sweet wine. No rush though – still needs racking again to keep clearing it.
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My Aunt bought me a book, gave me another book and a poncho. My Aunt is sometimes hit and miss with things, but this time it’s at least two hits (I haven’t read the last book yet). I love the poncho. The book she bought me was a vampire book by Nora Roberts, an apparently prolific writer (sort of like Danielle Steel) I’ve never heard of. My aunt bought me Morrigan’s Cross, first in a trilogy of a prophetic fight between good and evil, with vampires (the evil, mostly), witches, sorcerers, shape shifters, princesses and alternate universes, set in County Clare, Ireland. What I like is that unlike pretty much most vampire fiction, it does not make out that vampires are just waiting for that one girl to turn them good. These vampires are not very nice at all. They don’t really have any redeeming features for the most part. They would eat the girl. So yah – good fun. I finished the book and have ordered the next two already.
More random things – we went to the Circus on Friday – Cirque du Ceil. Excellent. I’m very picky about what I see at the theatre – I love RSC Shakespeare but very wary about seeing any one else’s performances, and I don’t like farces, murder mysteries etc. However I really really like circuses. I spend pretty much the whole time vacantly grinning. I love the music too, reminded me of when Mum and I randomly went to see Mugenkyo, a Taiko group (Japanese drum music) – I bought the album. Worth a listen.
