Fairweather Gardener.

When the Boys were younger we lived near a park, The sort with trees and grass and paths rather than playgrounds and sports equipment. Along the top path in this park, between the path and the houses was a row of allotments. This was in the years before Allotments became fashionable and they were largely manned by older (as in retired) Men. They grew many things, but I couldn´t help but notice that runner beans, a vegetable I like, and vegetable marrows( of doubtful culinary value), were more in evidence than anything else. I wondered why. I love runner beans and I have to say that Steve will eat them to the exclusion of all else but in my experience one or two plants at each corner of an tripod will easily feed a family of four, with some over for giving away. So a giant trellis running the entire width of an allotment...... well you can do the maths yourself.  What can I say about marrows other than a single specimen exhausts my stock of marrow recipes, lasts way longer than I want it to and rarely makes makes me think "Oh I wish I had another Marrow" when we finally finish it. And yet these vegetables were produced in huge numbers, the reasons why escaped me then.

Kale grows faster than we can eat it,

When we arrived in Galicia I noticed a similar phenomena, gardens have rows, and rows of tall walking stick cabbages, and a variety of turnip grown for the green leaves, and in summer lettuces, all grown in quantities that defy understanding. The thing is the more time I spend in the garden the more I begin to understand. The whole thing is addictive, the more you plant the more you want to plant, the limitations become about time and space, not the needs of the kitchen. I haven`'t even started on flowers yet. You grow things because you can, because it`s kind of like finding treasure when it works and when you can throw a couple of lettuces to the chickens rather than just the scraps you feel kind and generous and wealthy.

Lettuce A Galician necessity no idea what people do with the huge amount in their gardens

I did not plant these but I´m not complaining

Wish there was a bit more blue.

Because of this I am becoming a gardener, Its not really about knowledge or your methods (I will never be an expert) more a willingness to work at it even when the weather is bad, or I´m not feeling great.Maybe it`s just than spring is a time when I can be optimistic and enthusiastic because despite the cold and wet at the moment i am thinking it will be a good year in the Garden. 

Weekends are different

I suppose that I thought that living in the country would mean that all the days would turn out to be pretty much the same. As it has turned out weekends are different. To Start with all the shops in Sarria close for lunch on Saturdays and don't re-open until Monday morning. No major problem there, but it does mean that our attempts to have a rest day on Sunday is supported by circumstance which helps us. It does make a difference to, I have way more enthusiasm for life on a Monday if we have had a quiet day on Sunday.
Steve gives English lessons to a neighbor on a Saturday morning, he agreed because it is a neighbor but I know that he feels that it is the hardest lesson of the week. It think that we hope that it dies a natural death as it is our only chance in term time for Steve to get jobs done around the house. He likes to think that we are moving forwards or at least keeping on top of things. For me it's almost the opposite problem because Steve has the car all week I like the chance to get and go for a coffee or a drink. I rarely get lonely and relish the quiet passing of the days but I do like some contact with the rest of the world.
Whilst Steve was teaching yesterday I took the opportunity do some work in the garden, the weather was threatening to do something unpleasent. Heavy cloud and gusts of wind, but in the end only a few spots of rain. There is so much work need doing but I was determined not to repeat Friday's mistakes. I chose a bed to work on and closed my eyes to  everything else. You really can only do what you can do.

Plenty of Work here

 I get quite a lot of satisfaction from restoring some sort order in the garden. although it will never be quite as regimented as the Victorian Kitchen garden that has remained my secret ideal,despite changes in gardening fashion, with a few days of good weather I should be able to prepare it for the winter.

Blight

My tomatoes got blight whilst I was away, inevitable really as the weather changed and Steve really had no time to mess with them. In fact we have had a pretty good crop so I'm not too disappointed.

Peashoots

The cooler damper weather has given the green stuff a new lease of life including pea shoots grown from peas that fell in the spring they make such nice salad veg, that next year I might grow some specially.

Failure on the walnut eating front I will try and do better tomorrow.

Christmas is here

Christmas has most definitely arrived in the Hawkins household we even watched a James bond film on the television yesterday. Having said that we will be eating out on Christmas day because of the whole thing about large roast dinners for just the two of us, we have the most enormous joint of pork in the oven with stuffing, Yorkshire pudding and the works and we are eating out on Christmas day so we have as normal gone into overdrive. But honestly it is so nice to potter about thinking only about food and television and the odd walk to stretch our legs that I won´t complain.

 I can always read about other peoples stress on the Internet, I know that for many Christmas is the overachievers nightmare. Somehow if magazine articles are to believed the reality never quite lives up to the fairy tale and for others the hype serves only to emphasise loneliness or loss, For me Christmas has always been good,  We never  went in for massive expensive present giving, We have the joy the joy of the birth of Jesus to give us meaning and hope and although we are away from family I know that we will talk and skype over the holiday.

I saw on there news that Yesterday was Panic Saturday in the UK with the shops full and expecting their biggest take of the year. I feel so far away from that and sure I miss Carol concerts and mulled wine but on the whole  I am glad of a quieter saner celebration.

The Garden,

We have developed a tradition of putting the garden to bed over the Christmas break. It started because the first year we were here our neighbours dumped a trailer load of cow manure on our drive. We has asked for it you understand it is just that it was Christmas eve before they got around to delivering it and so we were there on boxing day with our shovels. It became a tradition quickly and we actually look forward to it. Sadly this year our neighbours have sold their cows so we have have lost best source of manure. We covered the beds and then scraped off any of the un-composted manure into the compost heap and replaced it with homemade compost before planting. It sounds complicated but actually it is pretty simple as the top layer of manure forms a crust no weeds grow and the straw under the crust composts down.

 We still plan to cover the beds with straw and and chicken/ rabbit poo but this time come spring we will just move the straw aside and plant into little compost filled holes. Well that`s the theory.

The straw covered beds are the the tidiest that the beds ever are although I do weed at intervals the beds are still productive even if they sometimes look a bit chaotic.

 We have beetroot still growing amongst the (chickweed which we also eat). However, with the exception of cabbage and purple sprouting broccoli, we are at the end of this years garden. I have vague intentions of growing more year round stuff but am proving to be a bit of a fair weather gardener and am glad of the winter break. Maybe next year who knows.

The garden

For me, a fair-weather gardener if ever there was one, we are are at the start of the gardening season. With the exception of a few trees planted midwinter the garden has been left to its own devices through the winter. I come with with a few excuses such as water logged ground but since every year is the same I have to conclude that for me gardening is a summer activity.

Today it  didn't rain  hurray!!!! so I got the chance to sort out my greenhouse . My green house is tiny and more that a little ramshackle and as such has been the subject of ridicule on more than one occasion. I stand resilient to attack because it has served me well, nurturing seeds in the spring and growing winter salad (when I brave the cold and wet to plant them).

 In the autumn I flung a couple of half packs of leftover seeds onto the seed bed by the green house and was rather gratified to find that they are growing , Ok so there is more weed than seed at the moment  but you can just about see the baby lettuce if you look hard.

I love that we get to eat something from the garden everyday, even in winter, and a little bit of spring sunshine makes me think of the coming years good things.