Far Lands

. . . and it's not just the sprouts. We've now had 3 trees down; the massive ash (which was dead) a month ago, a sycamore along the bottom bank, and two days ago the hawthorn behind the sheds. The bird box was too heavy? They say that chopping wood warms you three times, but when a tree comes down it's about twenty-three times; it all starts with digging (axing and chopping) out the roots. Keeps me out of mischief. Happy NYE!

Turkey-time this week. Plucked (etc) the first two on Saturday morning. Our electrician (with whom I had hammered out a complex cash-turkey deal for re-wiring the top of our house) took away the larger one (14lb, ready for the oven, he has just told me). Then, this morning, Sarah and I gutted our bird. (We had watched (on the recommendation of our electrician) a U tube video showing an 8 year old girl gutting one in under 5 minutes - amazing! Our bird weighed 12lb - not bad. Orders now being taken for next year! Happy Christmas to you, my reader(s)!

Compost heaps are, as anyone who talks to me for more than 5 minutes will know, the engine or hopefully engines of the garden. Now is a good time to dig them out. I have been digging out two of ours (six at the last count). One is pure horse manure (2nd photo), a year old now, and frankly looks good enough to eat - maybe on toast as a Christmas Day starter rather than pate? The second (but 1st photo!) is garden compostings, also a year old. It is nicely black and rotted - only the odd twig and egg-shell - and I am about halfway through digging it out and spreading it on the veg garden. Happy digging (out)!

In Guatemala we visited a permaculture farm, and saw their turkeys - see photo. The turkeys out there have quite a different life - balmy days and lots of daylight - to ours. Our turkeys have a cold and wet experience, but at least they get to see snow (we had a sprinkling last week). Of course, the one thing they have in common is their final destination. I have been dusting off my traffic cone in preparation (if you remember it from two years ago).

Inspired by my visits to the NFG (Northern Fruit Group) I decided I needed my own tree nursey, and so I have started building one. This is what they do at NFG (see photo) - a raised bed about a metre or so wide, and with enough room for 2 or even 3 rows of rootstocks. These can then be used for grafting either in March (whip and tongue) or more likely in August (bud grafts). My rootstocks will be a mixture of:- 1. purchased (a pound or so each) 2. ones I have grown from pips (by way of experiment) 3. cloned rootstocks from a coppiced tree (mine is M25 and will be the first I transplant) (this will be the subject of a further blog) Below is the rockery that I have had to remove from my new bed!