Just as predicted the warm weather arrived on Thursday and hung around for a couple of days before settling back into a more normal, though still mild, temperature range. It felt a bit odd, the air was so warm and so laden with moisture. Inside the potting shed the honey jars and bottles of apple juice were running with condensation, to the point where I couldn’t attach labels to the bottles, hence the naked ones that you received in your boxes. It was good to have a taste of things to come, but it didn’t quite feel right, a bit like sitting in heated car seats – it should be enjoyable but just feels weird and wrong. Maybe I’m the weird one? What is agreeable is the ever lengthening daylight hours, but it is March from next Saturday. Blimey, March….already!
The week was overshadowed for me by the bizarre, scary, outrageous, and frankly nuts behaviour of Trump and his cronies. What the heck is going on? If we are talking dictators maybe our orange ‘friend’ should take a look in the mirror. And did you see the Bond villain Musk at that right-wing meeting the other night brandishing a huge chainsaw on stage? How can you take any of them seriously? The political games they are playing are destabilising the whole world and could be catastrophic, so they have to be taken seriously. A week is said to be a long time in politics, so who knows what else might have happened by next Sunday?
Towards the end of last week’s blog I mentioned recent multiple Barn Owl sightings, and was cock-a-hoop about the apparently good health of the owl population. Imagine then my sadness the very next morning when on my way to work I passed a deceased owl lying on the edge of the road. I stopped the van and turned round so that I could place the lifeless body on the grass verge, because I couldn’t bear to see the poor thing squashed by passing traffic. It was such a sad sight. Some of you may already have seen the image below on the Moyns Park Organics Facebook page.
Look I know that you are sick of hearing about that dratted hedge, but it is occupying my every waking and nocturnal thought (the usual exaggeration for dramatic effect), so I am unable to ignore it. The wonderful news is that all being well I should complete the job in the next two days – hoorah! I made excellent progress last week and the finishing line is in sight. I don’t want to tempt fate, but I have thus far come through the ordeal relatively unscathed, save for some scrapes and bruises. I am not a natural when it comes to aerial chainsawing so it will be a relief when I can safely store the machine away. However, there will then be the small matter of chipping all of the brash that has grown into huge piles either side of the hedge. It’s not something that I can delay, because those piles are going to look very attractive to birds looking for nesting sites. I measured one of the ‘prunings’ last weeks at 8 metres long! The main photo accompanying the blog title above is of snowdrops and a Hellebore growing under the Beech hedge.
The 8 metre pruning
The seedlings on the benches in the propagating greenhouse are looking well, with more trays being transferred there from the heated propagator every day. It will now be a constant cycle of seed sowing, and in a week or two pricking out and potting on. I have a propane gas heater to protect the vulnerable young plants from overnight low temperatures.
As alluded to last week, the availability of decent fresh produce (at affordable prices) is already becoming an issue, so there is likely to be some predictability in the contents of the shop in the weeks to come. The kalettes are done for now, and there is not much to take their place, but we do still have Brussels sprouts, and there will be bought in spinach this week. In desperation I will cut some spring greens from the greenhouse, much sooner than I was hoping to. There was a hiccup with the supply of avocados last week, fingers crossed all will be well this time. What there is plenty of is citrus fruit that is extremely flavoursome, and all of that vitamin C will do you the power of good. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) helps to protect cells and keeps them healthy. Maintains healthy skin, blood vessels, bones and cartilage, and helps with wound healing. What’s not to like?
Spring greens
The bad news. Yes there is bad news for some of you. I sold what remained of my honey stocks last week, so unless I can get some from one of my beekeeping comrades that will be it until at least the end of May. I’m sorry that I didn’t give you any prior warning, but I think that it would have resulted in some panic buying. It would have been like toilet rolls during the first wave of Covid all over again.
Did you watch the rugger yesterday? It was another nail biter. Hand on heart I can’t say that England particularly deserved the victory, but a win is a win, and we finally get our grubby mitts back on the Calcutta Cup. As for the Welsh…..sorry Betty, I couldn’t resist 😉
Well I suppose I had better get on. Have a nice week.
Phil