Jogging along nicely thank you, especially in the garden!

Well, a lot of improvements - like replacement more of the draughty double glazing - will have to wait until my single solitary investment matures in September - but on the whole, the house is doing okay. The garden had deteriorated quite a bit over spring and very early summer - the patch of grass you're supposed to be able to sit on (other people call it a lawn) was over a foot in height, for instance, partly because the operation I had made it impossible to use two hands to do anything, and partly because of the rain, I never seemed to have any free time when it wasn't throwing it down. But over the last month - woo hoo! The turnaround started when a couple of people stayed with me over the weekend, and at the end of the last day, they spent 45 minutes in the garden pulling up the grass that had consumed the border, including a beautiful, beautiful little sedum plant I brought from my last house, that I absolutely adore. And these two lovely people got a whole dustbin-sized bag of grass from out of the border, and then rescued the sedum and replanted it so it could breathe again. And I couldn't let that work go to waste! So ever since then, I've been reclaiming the garden - cutting back the grass, weeding the borders, mulching wherever I can find space, and using anything I can for the mulch, all of which I gathered last year - the oak leaves, the wool carpet samples, old cardboard, all of it is down now, in the garden, slowly feeding the soil and making sure I don't get nearly so many plants growing where I don't want them!

The fence is mended!

Hallelujah! The fence at the front blew down in one of the really bad storms we had earlier this year, and my favourite builder couldn't come along for ages, so I had to wait, with bits of fence strewn all over my little forecourt. Now, however, its been done, and in as green a way as possible too. Several of the panels blew off, and the posts were so rotten that one of them came down too. Surprisingly, the posts were the easiest bit to fix - they'd been very tall, so tall that they caught the wind, so my builder friend cut them down and in doing so cut off the rotten bits that had made them collapse. Hey presto - more normal looking posts, at no extra cost, and no waste.

This is what it looked like soon after it had been blown down. Initially, I tried to shore it up with one of the horizontal overheads that had blown down, but it continued to be too windy for that to survive for long.

So, when the builders were able to come, the first thing they had to do was take away all the rotten stuff, and all the stuff that had collapsed because the rotten stuff wasn't there any more!





The panels themselves seem to have been a little bit more tricky - each end was rotten, so there had to be a little bit of jiggery-pokery extending the horizontal bits supporting the whole thing, so as to re-attach the panels to the posts. I'm very happy with the way its gone! The workmen that came also fixed my gate, without me asking - and without telling me, actually - I only found out when I was suddenly able to close my front gate and have it stay closed. Very nice, and very kind.

And this is what it looks like now - it has one coat of weather-proofing on, but if the last few winters are anything to go by, it needs a few more. Looks much better now though, doesn't it!





And now, finally, I'll be starting to pay attention to the soil, and the planting out in the front. While the fence was down, for instance, I slowly pruned one of the huge, flowerless, depressing shrubs out there - in looking at it, you can't tell, but a whole binbag has gone. There's two self-sown trees, much too close to the house (one is only six inches away) and they'll have to go. The roses need shaping, so does the honeysuckle and the forsythia. The Japanese anemone needs to be consigned to history, there are too many, and they're way too big. And I don't like them! Thats rather important!

There's a little bit out there that can be used as forage: the roses can, for instance (rose petal jam, anyone, or rosehip tea?). Heather flowers can be used, though I'm not quite sure I'd use them from that border. Interestingly, forsythia is said to have anti-viral properties, though the studies are small, and I don't think they've been replicated. I wonder if thats why forsythia was named in the film about a flu epidemic, Contagion? I love forsythia anyway, I much prefer it to daffodils - whatever garden I had, there'd be room in it for forsythia. There's also lots of lily of the valley out there, and while apparently it has genuine cardiac effects, its known for every part of the thing being "highly poisonous" according to most authorites. Oops. Better not forage that, then.

I plan to plant my comfrey out there too, I think thats a good use of the area. Otherwise, any of the flowers that I really like, such as forget me nots, or the cotoneaster that managed to accompany me from my previous house - bees loved that plant. And there's an increasing number of self sown aquilegia out there - they are such beautiful plants, and they grow on the clay soil here like weeds. Wonderful ....

Another long absence

Oh dear. I've been gone a long time again - lots of excuses jolly good reasons this time. I'm self employed and I was doing my accounts (got them in the day before the deadline, hurray). Then I buried myself in housework and springcleaning for a fortnight, because I was due to have an operation on 14th February - nice, huh! I had the operation, and all has gone swimmingly, but it *is* an operation, after all, and moving my shoulder just downright hurts. Including typing, after a while.

My eyes, however, are as good as ever, and my left arm is fine, so when I've been awake, I've been having a ball wandering about all over the web, blogs, ebooks, newspapers, forums, you name it. Even facebook, god help me. Not posting very much, of course, but reading (plus a few reallly crappy dvds have come my way, that helps) and I've been making plans fit to bust. Its been a lot of fun!

Still thinking, still plotting, still determined to live the way I want to live. I'll be back, as Arnie said so unforgettably ...

The 52 week salad challenge: several weeks on!

Oops! I got distracted by actually doing, y'know? And I have, honest, and I mostly took pictures while I was doing. Only fair, innit!

So, week 2, I nearly got behind. A little supermarket pot of basil was crying out to me to be rescued, so I bought it, for 70p. It must have been last year's, because there were only two stalks, but they both looked like mature plants, well, almost, so I put them in their own little pots, cut them down to have an easier time, and they're both really happy still - well, mostly happy, I think I didn't quite take off enough leaves.

What I *did* take off, I combined with the sprouted mung beans, and ate. Go me!

This is the little basil plant, ready to be divided.

Done! There's a lot of new growth showing on them now, I'm sure they're going to make it, no basil plant funerals here any time soon. The cuttings are sitting in water at the moment, hopefully they'll take root, and I'll have some more. When I'm ready, I'll buy a couple of supermarket pots and make a little basil forest, but not yet. Happy with this, tho!

The sprouts from the first week went really well with the basil leaves, and this is how they looked together with some chili sauce - thats from Approved Foods, bless them, I haven't grown my own chilis yet.

This week, the project has been to grow some cress seeds - I confess, the seeds were Best Before 2009, but they did eventually sprout.

This is how they looked a few days ago. Today (I'll include an update on the next week's) they're looking more like cress, but I don't like it nearly as much as the sprouting - I'm quite prepared to add sprouting to my weekly schedule, but this isn't great, though I might feel better about it if I used a little layer of compost, rather than kitchen towel **shruggy smiley**

All in all, although I might be one of the least active on this challenge, I'm really pleased I'm taking part - must remember to post over there at the end of the month. And this week's challenge? I have some lettuce seeds. I suspect they're as old as the cress seeds, but we'll see :)

The Energy Now Expo 2012 Exhibition

The lovely Wittgenstein has been chatting to me about smallholding, and when I followed what she was saying around the web, I found The Energy Now Expo 2012 exhibition, to be held at the Malvern Showground in Worcestershire in mid-February.

And looking at the exhibitor list:
http://www.energynowexpo.co.uk/VisitorInformation/ExhibitorList
its fascinating - biomass, anaerobic digestion, hydropower, risk management (uh oh, I wonder how that applies?), the Dulas Coop (the commercial subsidiary of the Centre for Alternative Technology, bless their woolly socks).

It sounds a fantastic place to be, even though there is the odd bank in there, as well as a government minister There's a conference too ...

I'm absolutely sure that some smallholding technologies are suitable for houses - heat exchange, for instance, or any solution to using less fuel. I won't be able to go, sadly, but I'll be watching the news space.

The 52 week salad challenge begins

The challenge is from VP at Veg Plotting, which is a *really* professional blog, with huge amounts of information, both on there and referenced.

http://vegplotting.blogspot.com/2012/01/52-week-salad-challenge-begins.html

And now that we're at the New Year, it seems appropriate to take on a challenge, a practical one anyway - I have enough challenges that need just online or written work to fill a book of their own, which is very aargh.

Anyway, I've Commented on the post I've linked to there, and I did indeed put some mung beans into soak. I'm going to root about (geddit?) on VP's site now to look for quick instructions on sprouting - I'm fairly sure I remember how, but better check, poor little mung beans, it would be sad to do it and drown them and have to throw them away ...

I confess, I hadn't researched the posts carefully enough: I was going to grow in this, just a food tray from a supermarket. But I read the sprouting post, and it seemed the drainage would be a nightmare. The label, by the way, is that classic of the green world, a piece of a plastic bottle. And the beans themselves are on the right, soaking in a little glass jar that held pesto (to which I am addicted - this jar is from the Waitrose version, a nectar indeed).

Then I thought of this, which I bought from Zimbabwe more than ten years ago - I wouldn't normally do that, but I've since had a couple of presents of much more dramatic woven stuff, and a big basket also from Zim, so at least a single use before I get something more appropriate is okay. Though its certainly not two inches high (EDIT - but that doesn't matter because it won't be stacked, d'oh!).

This big basket, it cost about 50p, which even at the time was a bargain. Absolutely unique, especially because of the bent twig for the handle. I bought it from an ordinary little stall at the roadside, which is a great way to buy - *all* of the money goes straight to the woman who made it, after all.

This big square one was a gift a couple of years ago. I think the "crazy patchwork" effect might mean its a more Western approach, but its still hand made by someone ...

I've photographed the reverse as well, as the handfinishing using natural objects is so remarkable - you can see where the stalks or strands or whatever they are have been chopped off in the finishing work, so it will sit straight on a table. Gorgeous.

This one is more accomplished, its made of softer strands, more tightly woven, some of its been dyed and then woven into patterns. Its less striking because of that, but if you look closely (at the rim, on the right hand side) you can just see that its not concentric rings - its a spiral! Thats a lot more impressive, and a lot cooler :) :) :)



This business of whether the sprouts are supposed to root or not is a bit confusing: if its a tray you're using, its good to give the sprouts something to root to; if you're using a bag, you should move the sprouts around to stop them rooting ... I think chaos theory (otherwise known as suck it and see) might operate here.

A bag seems the best alternative long term, but I'll be using the little Zim basket for this helping. I think I might end up actually *knitting* a bag, not sure yet.

This post seems to be much more about basketwork, but you know what, there's an important principle there - how to use those dramatic things we buy on holiday! The little one I'm using to sprout the seeds, thats been my bedside tray for ages, so things don't fall off my chair. The lovely big square one can do that for a while, thats fine. Usefulness!

Wish me luck with the sprouting!

I made my own mincemeat **happy dance**

Oh dear, here's another "consequences of Christmas" blog ...

I love mincemeat. But in the shops, its either crap, or the same price per weight as gold dust. So, I thought, I'll make my own. How hard can it be, in Jeremy Clarkson's immortal words?

Not very, is the answer. I looked at a few recipes online, made a (mental) note of the main ingredients, compared them to what I had in my storecupboard (metaphorically speaking - its a CD rack, the space is long and narrow). And hey presto!

I soaked a full bag of Sainsbury Basics mixed fruit in the juice of 3 lemons (Aldi's best, they must have been waxed, so I just squoze them to get the juice out), and glugged in a miniature of whisky from my tour of the Hebrides a million years ago - Lagavulin? Not sure now, that bit was a while ago...

Then, one fine morning, I chucked the mix in a pan, followed up with mixed spice, some chopped maraschino cherries (oops, ate the rest as finger food at the beginning of December), couple of tablespoons of sugar, some lumps of vegetable suet, and maybe 100g of ground almonds. Let it bubble once it was all together.

I had a taste, and its sooooo good. The suet (even vegetarian suet!) gives it that thick taste, where it slides over your tongue, and the almonds give it that sense that its overloaded with evil things that you love - like its all overflowed the sauce and become gritty. But in fact, almost all of it is incredibly good for you, and whats 3 tablespoons of sugar between maybe 20 helpings anyway?

There's still a little bit left, and from now on, my own mincemeat is a must-do for Christmas.