Nice to hear that someone is getting on with something Jeff. Our winter
routine tasks are all sitting neglected as we recover from flu and its side
effects which were pretty devastating - and the next person who tells me
they didn't get flu because of their healthy lifestyle/intake of Vit C etc
dies horribly. In our mild autumn the couch grass climbed so far and fast
that gooseberry bushes have become smooth green mounds - this despite the
fact they were pruned and mulched at the end of September. Shows we've got
fertile soil anyway - which is nice since it was a cold blue clay over
gravel and stone which had been worked to exhaustion when we moved in. I
did manage to get out and start the pruning today, though I didn't need to
take Jeff's plant health precautions since the apple trees I was dealing
with are clear of canker which is our only real problem around here - it
will be a different matter when I get to the pears at the weekend.
The trenches sound interesting - can't try it myself since we the river
would move in if I tried any form of trench culture. I raise all beds at
least a few inches and watch the water swirl around my winter greens.
Instead this is to be the year of hugelkultur and an area of new beds is
currently under newspaper weighted down with small branches, onto which the
smaller prunings are being chopped by hand - we can't afford a shredder and
they aren't available to rent so we'll just have to let the microherd do a
job on them for us - I look forward to seeing how long it will take - we
envisage a starting height of about 3 feet - which is of course and awful
lot of prunings, but we have an awful lot of prunings. Strawy hen manure is
what we use to even things up. I'm thinking of building it to cook fairly
warm to grow the cucurbits on.
Alas a gale before Christmas did for the greenhouse - it was built from
reclaimed wood and glass and some of the wood had decided its time had
come. We managed to rescue most of the glass, at some risk to our lives,
and will rebuild later in the year. But the conservatory is great for seed
starting although space is limited because I break out in frost tender
decoratives which have no economic justification whatsoever but look
beautiful.
The great thing about bad weather this time of year is that one can sit
there with the seed catalogues and fantasize. I've never had time for cabin
fever yet - even when the river rises. In fact we certainly don't have time
then because we have sand bags to fill
Always amuses me when I hear discussions of purchasing the sort of place
suitable for back to the land/self sufficiency. 99% of us find what we buy
is dictated by the amount of cash in our pockets and then we do the best we
can with it when we have it. Willow and alder are great for flood control
and look beautiful in the winter sunshine
kathryn
