I finally finished the hedge on Tuesday afternoon, and what a relief it was – I was just about sick of the sight of it. The photo above shows about two thirds of it but doesn’t really convey its scale; the top of the central arch is a good 12′ high. Aside from a few scrapes and the odd hairy moment I came through the ordeal relatively unscathed. I now have the task of dealing with the huge piles of material that I cut from it, but at least I won’t be balanced on a ladder with a chainsaw in my hand. It will all go through the tractor mounted wood chipper apart from the lengths of timber that I have piled up to season for next winter’s firewood – everything greater than 2″ in diameter, and there is plenty of it. I will cover it with a tarpaulin to keep it dry. The wood chips will be left in a pile to compost for a couple of years.

As well as knocking that job on the head I also did a lot of seed sowing, pricking out, and some planting in the polytunnel. I put up the netting support and set out the mangetout peas along the base of it. I will need to remember to close the tunnel doors at night, otherwise my ever present gang of pheasants will be very tempted by those tasty tender sweet new shoots, if the mice don’t find them first. Did you know that the collective nouns for pheasants include the following – a bouquet,  a covey, a nide, and a nye. I also planted a couple of rows of Swiss Chard next to the peas, and in a couple of weeks I will add lettuce, and early courgettes under glass cloches. I will only crop them until the outdoor ones take over, making way for chilli peppers.

I received a very nice gift from one of my customers on Friday. Fathima and her lovely family are Muslim and are currently observing Ramadan, so are fasting between sunrise and sunset for 30 days. Apparently it is a custom to offer gifts during this period, and so it was that I was honoured to be the recipient of a tin of really delicious plump Medjool dates that were grown in Jordan. The tin was purchased from a relief charity (One Nation) that provides desperately needed fresh water to the people of Gaza, so it was a gift to me and also to those currently much less fortunate than I.

A couple of days ago a farmers market customer (thanks Betty) sent me a fine photograph of a Sparrowhawk sitting atop a brick wall in her garden, its piercing eye scanning for unsuspecting prey on the other side of the wall. Quite coincidentally, yesterday afternoon as I settled down in the sofa to watch the rugby I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was a Sparrowhawk sitting on the Yew hedge that divides our garden from our neighbour’s, not six feet from the window. It sat there for a good couple of minutes before swooping down into Chris and Margaret’s front garden. It pains me to say (not really) that Betty’s Welsh boys took a hell of a beating on the rugby field 😀

I’m calling time on the Brussels sprouts for this season, they are really on their last legs now. Better news is that the chard in the greenhouse is ready to have its first cut now. There is purple sprouting broccoli again, curly kale and calabrese. There is actually very little change to what was in the shop last week. The avocados are yummy, and the cherry tomatoes have been pretty tasty for the time of year. Apples are Spartan, there are Mandarins and blood oranges, but I forgot to order regular oranges so there will be a break from them for a week.

It has been cold for the past week, but mostly dry, and it is forecast to get up to 15° by mid-week, so that will be nice. I woke at 4.40 on the morning of the lunar eclipse and looked out the window to see a very bright full moon, but with no hint of eclipse. I went back to sleep and woke with my alarm just after 6.00 which was around the time it should have been blood red. To my great disappointment the sky was shrouded in cloud with not a chance of any moon viewing. Frustratingly, by 7.15 the clouds had dissipated but the moon was below the horizon. Annoying really.

Well my creative juices have dried up so I’ll leave it at that I think. Please pay your outstanding debts to keep the wheels of this old organic jalopy oiled. Enjoy the warm weather when it arrives, and it’s now only 2 weeks until the clocks go forward which heralds the nice light evenings.

Phil