Strawberry Bed

I really should have done this in October.  Once again I refer you to the title of this blog.

The strawberry bed was very productive last year.  I got loads of tasty berries. I made many jars of super delicious strawberry jam. But I must confess that there were not as many strawberries as there were the year before.  There were enough so I chose to ignore the fact that the strawberry bed was due for an overhaul.

It's a tedious job and it is made worse by putting it off for two years.

Now that we are in isolation because of the Covid-19 pandemic I am forced to do all the jobs that I really should do but never seem to have the time.  All I have is time.  It really is a luxury.  I am actually quite fortunate and privileged to have a big garden and all the time in the world to tend to it.

Because we are forbidden to go anywhere, the weather has been quite nice.  It has also been dry.

Last week, I washed the front of the poly tunnel.  It made it look almost NEW!

If you look just around the corner, you will see that it is not new.  The green algae has had a couple of years to get a good build up. 

This is the north side of the poly tunnel is where by law it will be worse.  I made a few cursory swipes at this algae and decided that I would have to get the hose out another day.  Only the front is clean for now.  That's okay, that's the part that people can see from the road.

We have two vegetable beds in there.  One to the right and one to the left.  There is a big strip down the centre where we grow NOTHING.  The lawnmower is kept there and a seldom used rotovator.

The vegetable bed to the right of the tunnel is where we grew a little bit of everything.  It gets the best sun and the soil is rich and well drained.

Radio on the old cobbler's lasts in the right bed

The vegetable bed to the left is where the strawberry bed is.  The berries are safe (well, safer) from the birds and we can gather them in the rain without getting slightly damp.  It is so easy to harvest them that I have ignored regular plant maintenance.  I should have staked out runners two years ago so that I could have fresh plants. . . . never mind.  You get the idea.

This is what the strawberry bed was looking like when I went in this morning. 

Old matted strawberry bed

There is a thick mat of old runners and dead leaves and a big area in the middle that will give us nothing if this isn't sorted now..  There are a few weeds dotted in there punctuating the reminder of my lazy ways. 

Despite all the neglect, nature wants to live.  There is plenty of healthy growth on the old plants yet.  I know that when I split things up and give them a bit of love they will bounce back. 

So armed with a portable radio, a mug of tea and a garden fork I set upon the task.
The soil under the old plants is delightful.  There are plenty of earthworms. 

Diving the plants is easy but it takes a long time because I am careful and want to save everything.  Throwing aside a perfectly good but surplus strawberry plant horrifies me.

I am definitely keeping the ones that show the most promise, popping them straight back into the dirt.

The others will be kept in a holding bin to be potted up and given to the anybody who wants them. 
Who wouldn't want some nice organic strawberry plants?

Strawberry plants in the holding bin

This is the bin where the "maybe" plants are being stored.  This time of year they will not die if I don't replant them immediately.  I will select what I need and then pot up the rest.

a bit of progress

I decided to replant them immediately.  I wanted to see how the refreshed plants would look in their newly cleared places.

I think they look good and seem that they will survive my attentions.

I managed to get a third of the strawberry bed dug up, sorted and replanted today.  I will do a bit more tomorrow.  If I get everything done all at once I run the risk of being industrious.  Can't be having that!  I will also run out of really big jobs before this isolation is over. 

Heating the Greenhouse

We do not have a heated greenhouse.  What is available is a small parafin (kerosene) heater. 

Learning to use a heater was an education.  There is a trick to it. 

Light the heater the last thing at night and keep the wick trimmed short so that there is no smoke.

Spring from your bed as soon as you're awake, run out to the greenhouse and blow the heater out.

Paraffin is not free and I only ever buy one container of it at a time. 

If the flame on the heater is too high the paraffin be used up way too quickly and undermine the savings you are trying to make by growing your own food. 

The other reason is that the heater will smoke.  This will cause all the glass in the greenhouse to be dirty.  It will be covered in a thin layer of black soot which will need to be washed off at your earliest convenience. 

Do you know what a major pain the neck rewashing the greenhouse is due to the fact that you didn't notice that the heater was smoking a little bit?  Answer:  It is a very large inconvenience. It may cause the use of strong language from the person who has to do the cleaning.

The isolation we have been doing is easy as we are fortunate enough to live in the country.  There is plenty to do.  We have loads of places to walk the dog without risk of running into anyone.  I am still concerned that things in the UK are going to get a lot worse before they get better.  I have no control over other people's actions.  I am really trying to let go of things that I do not have control over and worry about my own actions. 

Panic gardening

As you may be aware, there is a global pandemic at the moment. As of this week, the UK is in lock-down.

I knew this was coming and it couldn’t happen fast enough! I got plenty of chicken feed and dog food in. I can get hungry. I’m okay with that, but not the animals!

My hens enjoying some sunshine

I also kicked my gardening into gear. I’ve always dabbled (I refer you to the title of my blog)

The greenhouses are used for glorified storage outside the growing season. That came to a swift halt.

Cleaning!

I replaced the broken panes of glass. It is an unpleasant job. I really hate the W shaped glazing clips. They ping across the grass at the earliest opportunity. It also hurts fingers when pushing new ones into place.   I still have one left to replace. I noticed it was broken yesterday when I was washing things down.

seed stash

Tomorrow sees me planting lettuce and radishes in the poly tunnel.  More on that later.

vegetable seeds 

I find it reassuring to have tidy rows of germinating seeds. It is comforting to be able to grow your own food.

Back to Nature

On Thursday getting up at before dawn, I drove out to Langholm Moor to see some Black Grouse.

Historically the lek is always in the same place. 

It was -4 C when I left home and we were enjoying a rare non-rainy period. There was frost on the ground.

When I arrived it was dark.  I could hear the grouse but I couldn't see them.  I had to wait for the sun to come up.

They are notoriously skittish so I turned the radio off and rolled the car window down before I even got to the good spot.  When I got there, I turned the car off and sat there in the dark.  It made me smile to hear their bubbly little calls in the dark.

It was the first day of spring and the sun seemed to be taking its sweet time breaking over the hill. While I waited I enjoyed seeing the last of the moon.

Once the sun was up, I could see the dark shapes zipping around in the grass.

It was fun watching them doing their grousey things.  Sitting there by myself with no radio was lovely. Such a nice respite from the constant worry and drama of the increasing Corvid-19 virus news.

I watched two males facing off for ages.  Just when I was thinking about packing up and heading home, it all kicked off and they started fighting. Sneaky peek of my boot.

Meadow Pippit

In addition to the Black grouse there were loads of Skylarks, Meadow Pippits and a lovely female Stone Chat.

female Stonechat

It was a lovely start to the season.  I fear it is going to be worse before it is better.