Far Lands

The picking season is underway. Eating strawbs and raspbs as fast as we can pick them. But the tarter red currants have gone in the freezer (via being flash frozen). Our redcurrant crop surprised us. From one bush which last year yielded 1kg (and in 2011 only 200g but then we had just replanted it) we picked this year 5kg! I was very careful with the pruning this year which I think has really helped. That and the sun of course. Also been harvesting rainwater - our 6 water butts were totally empty until the weekend (I had been carting water from our neighbour's outside tap!). Water butt No 7 and pipework (pipes all from current bathroom work) is now in situ on our shed. It filled in half a day on Saturday!

Just back from a couple of days at the RWAS. They expect 250 000 visitors in the 4 days, have over 1000 trade stands and 7000  livestock. Mixture of the impressive and the cute:- We saw hedge-laying, dry-stone walling, gundogs, lots of livestock, a  Messerschmitt  flypast, log-chopping competitions, went to a seed-collecting lecture, discussed clonal rootstocks with a grafting expert and ate a lot of ice-cream. It is our wedding anniversary today - 14 years. Hopefully, I am a better bed-mate than this trotter-in-the-face fellow:-

Me or the weeds? Been back from holiday three weeks now and slowly been re-asserting control. Ok, just a fancy way of saying I have spent a lot of time mowing the grass and weeding. Foraging hedge. Before... ... and after  Sarah and I are currently mid-debate about what to do with the weeds. We currently put them on our compost heaps but I am beginning to wonder whether we are creating next year's weeds. It seems crazy for us with our sized garden to use the green bin collection service, so the only other alternative is having a weed dump somewhere. Contributions welcome!

Literally. What a fantastic spell of weather - our cool house does have its upside at the moment. What will we do with the hay, I hear you cry! Its good for the chickens nesting boxes. It is all go in the garden; still trying to regain control after our holiday. I am also looking for our brown bantam who has gone AWOL. Maybe being broody somewhere, or perhaps gone on holiday to Eva's or even to Colin's.

...or so I read recently. Lucky really as I have before we went away I finished constructing a bespoke kale frame (netting now added) and have planted 25 kale plants from the cold frame in it. Kale is packed full of vitamins and antioxidants.You only need to eat a half teaspoon of kale every day to extend your life-span by 10%. Actually I made that last bit up - you probably have to eat a wheelbarrowful - but it is meant to be very good for you.

After two weeks away the smallholding looks like a jungle. In a good way, I suppose. The veg garden is in rude health - spinach and chard to last us months, 50 radishes the size of golf balls, a fruit cage bursting with vigour, potatoes and rhubarb competing for room. Lots to do; mainly with the scythe. Started on the orchard, and I unexpectedly came across a nest where the bantams had been laying while we were away. 10 eggs!