Spinach experiment

I have an old pack of spinach seeds.  The expiration was 2018.  Two years out.  I don't know what the germination rate will be.  Some seeds can live for decades - other seeds only barely hang on until the next season.

The old seeds are getting planted. There is a good fistful of seeds so  I will plant all of them.  I will start out with two test rows in the polytunnel.

I also have some new spinach seeds.  I ordered them from Amazon and they arrived in a few days  from China!   There will be two rows of these seeds too.

Well well well. . . Chinese spinach.
The warning on the packet is formidable!  Do not open this can/package/container or plant the seeds until you have read and understood the NOTICE TO PURCHASER.  This seed is intended for planting by professional growers who are familiar with this variety *text obscured by photo* under their field conditions.    Cripes!  I hope I'm up to the challenge!


When comparing the appearance of the seeds, the newer seeds are greener.   I don't know what the variety is of this new seed.


The old spinach seed from a shopping trip to Aldi and is obviously variety Matador.  I hope it germinates and is happy here.

I've planted two short rows of each in our big plastic tunnel and watered them well.  I will be interested to see how each variety does.  It is not fair to compare germination rates as the European seed is old. It will be fun to note the physical differences.  I expect the taste will be identical.

I will plant the rest of the seeds outside later on today.  I will plant all the spinach seed.  No sense in keeping it.  I love spinach and will eat every scrap that is edible.

If one variety does particularly well, I will let a plant or two bolt at the end of the season and harvest the seed for next year.

dead lupin seedlings

On another note, it is vital to check and water everything in a greenhouse every single day.  Sometimes you should water twice a day if the weather is particularly warm.   This poor tray of lupin seedlings is now dead.  It sure didn't take long to go from healthy and growing to crispy and dead. I am upset with myself for being so careless.  I had great plans for those plants.  I have a few seeds left in the packet so . . . do over.

Nets on the Fruit Cage

The poles to the fruit cage were put up a few days ago.   We promptly had a couple days of high wind so I just left the project until we had more favourable weather.

Yesterday I dragged the nets out of the greenhouse and unrolled them on the grass.  I looped the meters of net over my arms like an enormous bridal veil and draped them over the wobbly poles.

Birds thwarted for another season

The nets go on when the fruit looks like it may start to be inviting to all the local birds around here.

blackcurrants starting to plump up

I like having song birds dart around the soft fruit bushes the rest of the year.  They clear everything of insects that may be harmful to the crop.

gooseberries are now protected

The gooseberries were looking the plumpest of all the fruit over there.  They are a favourite of The Man of the Place so the berries need to be protected. 

Now that the net is over things, the trick is to not let the birds sneak in any gaps. I believe that I have pegged down the net in all the places where tiny songbirds can sneak in. . . but only time will tell.  If a bird gets in under the net, it is difficult for them to find a way back out.  They could die if somebody doesn't check the fruit cage regularly and release any trapped birds.  This is yet another reason we need to stay at home! 

Baskets up - Baskets down

Earlier this week we were enjoying a lovely stretch of fine warm days.  We got loads more done outside in the garden.   

The bold step to hang the hanging baskets out was taken.

Baskets at the kitchen door

It gave so much more room in the poly-tunnel and greenhouse.  No more bumping my head! 

On the "courtyard" side of the house we have three doors.  I put a hanging basket on either side of each door.  That makes a grand total of six hanging baskets.  They really brighten up the place.  It is a daily activity to water them completely (until water is running out the bottom).  The spent blossoms also get pinched off.  Deadheading keeps the plants blooming for longer.  If they don't make seed, they will keep producing flowers.

There are two big enemies of hanging baskets, not watering them enough and wind. In the last couple of years we have not only lost a hanging basket to the wind, we lost an entire bracket that was bolted to the wall! 

Baskets unhooked because of wind

When the forecast was for wind today one of the last jobs I did last night was to unhook all the hanging baskets from their brackets and place them on the ground.

I am glad I haven't planted out the beans and pumpkins yet.  This wind would shred them.  It's really rattling the windows.

comfrey jungle near the chicken run

There is a lot of comfrey growing here.   The bees love it!  On a warm, still day I could be mistaken for a beekeeper.  There are hundreds of happy little buzzers.

We didn't plant the first comfrey plant for the bees. The bees were a delightful added bonus.  The comfrey was planted so we could make fertiliser for our vegetable plants.

We cut down loads of comfrey leaves and fill a bucket.  Nettles may or may not be added to the mix and then top it up with water.  The whole lot is left to putrefy for a few weeks.  There is a lot of protein in the comfrey plant so when the leaves rot down it really stinks! 

rotting comfrey leaves

When diluted this mess is a brilliant high potash feed.  Great for tomatoes and flowers.    It costs nothing, is completely organic and boosts the fertility of the garden enormously.

This bee was in the kitchen this morning.  He isn't supposed to be in there.  I gave him a little feed and then sent him on his merry way.

Being an Immigrant

Food in a culture is vital.  You have your favourite things to eat.  The way the kitchen smells when your favourite dinner is cooking makes you happy.  You miss the treats your grandma used to make for you. 

One of the lovely things about travelling is discovering new things to eat.  Sometimes the new food is a bit challenging for you.  Butter takes on a whole new meaning in Brittany, France.  The butter there is beyond amazing.  The first time we were there on holiday marked the end of margarine in my refrigerator.  I want to live in a world where I always have butter from Brittany in my fridge.  If you cook with good ingredients, your food will automatically be better.  The buttery pastries from that part of the world send me into raptures. 

You know you're in the American south when sweet tea and grits are on the menu.  In Iowa you will see a pork tenderloin on the menu.  A good one will be way bigger than the bun it is served on.   Really excellent Mexican food in Mexico (of course) and the Americanised version that you'll find along the southern border of the US.  I'll try it all!  Some people will eat nothing but hamburgers and fried eggs until they can get back home.   I feel pity for them. 

American breakfast

I have discovered some life-changing taste sensations when I am on holiday.   I try to replicate it when I get back home if I can.  I have also had food poisoning.  You roll the dice and you take your chances.  Fish in North Africa was a gamble too far.

Fish n chips

When I moved to the UK all those years ago I was eager to try new foods.  The first place we lived was within walking distance of a chip shop. So much winning! I put the blame on fish and chips for the 20 pounds I put on in the first year I was in the UK but I also had a baby.  

There were different things in the supermarket.  There are some stupid things that I miss.  Graham crackers, root beer and wint-o-green lifesavers are biggies.   Some other things I just get over or make my own self.  I have made root beer in the past.  I may do this again some day.  The apple butter I make is better than any that is available in a US supermarket. Apple butter isn't even known over here.

Language is the first adjustment that is made when you move to a new country. 

Changes in manners, dress and language happen over time.   Some changes happen immediately as we struggle to assimilate. Other changes happen gradually over years. 

Even though I have lived here since 1992, I still sound like a foreigner to somebody new.  

"Where are you from?" 

I will explain that I have lived here for over 25 years.  Originally I am from Iowa.  

"Oh, you haven't lost your accent!"

I have lost a bit of my accent and the volume at which I speak has lowered.  My American accent is going around the edges, but for the most part I still sound American.

I am still doing volunteer work.  I have been asked to help two Syrian families that have moved into the community.  One family has only been here since December.  They are trying to get up to speed quickly.  Their English is coming on leaps and bounds!   The little ones may outpace their parents as soon as things open up again and the little ones are in school again.

The other family has been here a year.  Their children are already fluent and the family are due to have a new baby any minute!

I am making baklava.  A tray for each family. Syrian style baklava.  Each country has their own style - I investigated and discovered that Syrian style has orange blossom water in it and the technique is basically the same as other methods.  No honey or cinnamon and Syrians prefer orange blossom water.

The last thing to leave us when we immigrate is the food.  Food that we loved from our former home stays with us.  We hold old recipes dear.  These recipes and food traditions stay with us and are passed down as a legacy to the next generation.  

Gardens Have More Enemies! *edited*

I am in a seriously foul mood this morning.  Gardens are always under attack!

Two nights this week we have heavy frost warnings.  Even with frost warnings, it is still very dry and seeds that have been planted are really slow to germinate.

Going into the poly-tunnel this morning I noticed that there were some green strawberries that have fallen off the plant. My first thought was, perhaps the strawberry plants are so dry that the berries are falling off.

Moving the lawnmower  I was confronted with this!  A green strawberry midden has been started under the lawnmower.  Rats!  They're eating the strawberry crop!

It looks like a large percentage of this year's crop!  Damn it!

Two rat traps have been baited (no poison) and set carefully in the strawberry bed.   The poly-tunnel is blocked so that Fen can't get in and get his nose nipped.

In addition to the rat damage, there is evidence of a large black Labrador digging deep holes in the vegetable patch.      Some of the sweet peas have been destroyed and a few carrot seeds have been sent flying.

I can water the garden, set rat traps but I can't protect the vegetable patch from marauding pets.

I would really like the garden gods to cut me a bit of slack!
_______________

Not rats.  It is mice. Lots of mice.  I've managed to trap three so far.  Setting traps each night until the damage stops.

Treasured Gift

Years and years ago - possibly 1988.  After a move from Boca Raton, Florida back to Iowa City, my beloved sister and her new husband sent me a set of towels. A blue bath towel and a pink bath towel.  There was also a blue and pink hand towel set and matching face cloths.  There may have been two of each colour but it has been so long now, the memory is fading.

The towels were SO welcome!  I was always broke back then.  I was raising two little boys on my own on a secretary's wages.  Having a nice set of thick, fluffy, matching towels was a little bit of luxury.  I had enough nice towels to make a nice display of them in the bathroom.

Boy did I ever use them!  They stood up to vigorous and daily use. 

Over the years most of the towels have disappeared. I may have given my eldest son the blue half of the set when he left home.   

This is the last towel, one lone faded pink hand towel.  I won't get rid of it.  It is still in regular use all these years on. 

Sometimes when I am using it, I am thankful for my sister and her generous support all those years ago.  I don't know if she remembers sending me the towels.  I am pretty sure I said thank you back then. I am also sure that I haven't mentioned them since.  I should have.  They made domestic life a little easier for a long time.

Don't Get Caught Out!

We have enjoyed WEEKS of sunshine and mild temperatures!  There hasn't really been a frost for a while either.  It is SO tempting to just put stuff in the ground!

Vegetable plot patiently waiting

The vegetable plot is ready.  The plants in the greenhouse are ready!  The weather is fine. 

One could be lulled into thinking that putting all those tender plants out will be just fine.  I know better. . . rather I have had this happen before.  I put everything out on a fine weekend before the risk of frost was completely over.  Naturally, a late frost came along and killed everything.  I learned my lesson.

The US has a system of zones that lets gardeners know when the frost risk is gone.  Britain is a much smaller area.  We don't need a zoning system.  Just trust local knowledge and experience.  Folks in Cornwall can plant stuff out earlier and probably grow tomatoes outside.  Scotland has a narrower growing season and some tender things like cucumber and tomatoes do best in the greenhouse.    Some years we don't get enough sunshine for those tomatoes to ripen or the sweetcorn cobs to fill out. 

The rule here is to wait until the end of May.  Seriously - that is late in the growing season . . . but that's our time.  Don't play Russian roulette with your tender plants. You may win but if you don't,  you will have dead plants.

The only things that have been planted in so far are things that are known to be okay with a light frost.   I have sweet peas (pretty flowers), garden peas, onions, garlic, and cabbages.  Peas are super hardy. I love them for that.    The soil is ready.  The bean supports are up and we're ready.  Just waiting for the calendar to move forward twenty more days.

Me enjoying the sun

In the poly-tunnel there are few things to bring me joy.  The scent of the flowers in the hanging baskets and the setting fruit in the strawberry bed.

Strawberries on their way 

I spied a 5 kilo bag sugar in the supermarket the other day.  I grabbed it even though I don't need it just yet.  I plan to need it when these puppies are ripe.

Bad Compost!

At the beginning of the lock-down The Man of the Place was still going in to work.  This drove me insane as 98% of his work is administrative. There was no sensible reason for him to go into an office full of people who had to travel out to visit other people.

Anxiety levels were quite high for me.  I was worried that he was putting himself (and me) at risk of infection.   To placate me, he went to one of the few shops that was still open at the time, a local shop that sells hardware, and gardening things amongst other stuff.  He picked up two bags of compost for me as I was getting near the end of the bag that I had in the greenhouse.

A few days after some strongly worded complaints, he is working from home now.

The new compost that he brought in was a bit rough.  Lots of very woody twigs and bark.  It had not been sifted.  It was practically mulch!  As we are in the middle of a global pandemic I won't complain. I used it.  From time to time I tossed the big wood chunks out of the greenhouse door.

I thought perhaps the poor germination rate I've had this year was due to old seed.  Maybe it wasn't that.

Although there were more failures than normal, some things did germinate.  I was diligent about pricking them out into larger pots as soon as they were big enough.

Some seedlings went into the old compost and some went into the budget compost.

Things were okay until I noticed that some seedlings were not thriving.

Some were not only  not thriving but actually dying!

dying tomato seedling

Today I re-potted a lot of those sickly seedlings.

Look at these two cucumber plants.  Both germinated at the same time.  One lucky seedling went into ordinary compost and the other went into the "budget" compost.

cucumber seedling in the good compost

unlucky seedling in bad compost

These two cucumber plants were from the same packet.  Both were potted into pots at the same time.  The only difference was that one was put in budget compost and the other was put in ordinary compost.

All tomato plants were sown on the same day.

What I am saying that buying budget compost is no savings!  Look at the dramatic difference!

I got another bag of ordinary compost as I was getting to the end of the barky, twiggy compost.    Nice stuff is being used to re-pot the poor plants that are not thriving.   I am now at the end of that bag.  Now it is known that I need at least four big bags of compost to get me through the spring planting season.

I had to re-pot everything that was placed in the bad compost.  So really as I have to remove and replace a lot of that budget compost there was no savings to be made at all!  False economy!

I've got a big 50 litre bag of good compost coming today or tomorrow.  I am so thrilled that one of our local garden centres are making deliveries of garden things for orders over 35 pounds.  My house is just on the very edge of their delivery range so I made my order big.  I am grateful to be able to have enough cash to make a decent order and take advantage of the delivery system.

In the meantime, I have been rotting some comfrey leaves in buckets.  The leaves will stay in those buckets until they have made a purtrifed and stinky mess.  That putrified liquid will be diluted and used as tomato fertiliser.  It stinks to high heaven.  I believe that this is the nature of fertiliser.  It stinks.  I love using things I already have here at the place. Comfrey and a few stinging nettle leaves make excellent fertiliser. It costs NOTHING.

Jobs Done!

The Vegetable Patch is Ready

As there is nowhere else to go and the weather has been glorious!  Jobs got done!
The Man of the Place did the lion's share of that digging.  For this I am so grateful!

The vegetable patch in all its glory.  I really must get out there and put stuff in.  There are things that can go in now and should have gone in a few weeks ago.  I can put the peas and onions in.  Anything else that might suffer with frost has to wait.

Washing the Greenhouse

 
The greenhouses were tidied up a while ago.  I got a lot of junk out of them at the time.  When it isn't growing season, the greenhouses end up as see-through storage. 

For most of yesterday it was very clear and sunny.  I put sunscreen on my face and wore a hat while I emptied the greenhouses.

I can fool myself into thinking that I don't really need to wash the glass every year.  That is until I empty them and have a hard look.  It really needed to be done.  I don't remember if I cleaned the glass last year.  I'm glad I did it.

It is immensely satisfying to blast the green off the glass.  I give the greenhouse frame itself a good blast too.  I feel like a better gardener after washing everything down. 

You can see the clouds were building just as I finished with the power washer.  It started to rain just as I was putting things back in. 

I was tired after blasting off the green and went for a sit and a cup of tea.

Today I am nursing a migraine.  It is almost gone now so I will go out and see about getting those peas in the soil.