Cuckoo in the Nest

I haven't been to the Hill today as I was busy getting muddy elsewhere - ha! - but this evening I thought that I would pod some of the beans that have been drying in the attic room.

They are a bit of a mystery as they are all from one plant that was supposed to be a dwarf bean ('triomphe de farcy'); but it climbed and set a multitude of pods.

These are definitely not 'triomphe de farcy' which are slender brown speckled beans - in my hand in the pic on the left - these are more of a borlotti type, but relatively small.

No idea what happened there, but given how prolific that a single plant has been, assuming they taste nice, I might just plant a row of them next year.

Unexpected Goodies

Whilst we are waiting for Jason to send me the photos that he took at the AGM on Tuesday evening - in particular of the assorted silverware that was presented at the end of the meeting - we can have a look at this delightful courgette loaf that Woodchippings Paul has baked for me.

He had baked a loaf for the buffet after the AGM, and it was so delicious that I asked him for the recipe.

'Oh - do you really like it?' he beamed, 'Jackie P has just said the same thing - I'm going to bake her one.  Do you want one too?'  Well, you can't say no to that offer, and on my way to the Hill today, I collected it.  Delicious - great with butter and cheese.

It's the season for tidying and clearing, so besides wanting to dig up the final potatoes (picasso - fabulous bakers), I also wanted to get the pea wigwams down.

The Autumn has been so wet that the soil is heavy and difficult to work, so it was hard going on the potato bed; but the upside is that when it came to taking the pea plants down from the wigwams, the string supports easily broke and the dead plants could pulled up and composted in no time.

But before I took the sweet pea wigwam down, I spotted plenty of sweet pea pods ripe and ready to pick on the plants.  Brilliant - they will come in for next year, and there are plenty of them  So I picked them all the plants and took them home to dry and pod; and came home for tea and courgette bread.

Marvellous.

Making a List

A terrific amount of rain fell yesterday but today was fine and dry, so I set of to the Hill this afternoon to see if I could do a few jobs.

I didn't have much planned, but wanted to dig some potatoes and have a look at what maintenance jobs will need looking at this winter.

There is some general tidying up to do, of course, but no great rush - and I don't want to trim the lavender at the front of the plot yet, as it still has some flowers

I got the fork out the toolshed - noting that it is getting increasing rickety, and the wood is so rotten that if I replace all the timbers that need renewing, and the roof, and the felt; I will, in fact, have a new shed.

I dug up the golden wonder maincrop potatoes.  Not the heaviest crop this year, I must say, but I still have the picasso to dig, and I have high hopes of these based on last year's successful crop.

I was careful around the one side of the bed where the side timber is loose.  The raised beds have been in situ for just about 5 years, and some of the stakes that I used as pegs have rotted and snapped, so they need replacing.

With that bed now empty, I turned the wood-chippings from the path onto the bed.  The chippings rot down every couple of years, so I'll need to put new ones down this winter.

Before picking some kale to bring home to eat this week, I had a look at the compost bins.  I'd declared these redundant when I got the dalek composters, but with the prunings of the currant bushes and the raspberry canes they are more heaped than ever

Need to do something about that too, I think.

But not today - I had more than enough food for thought, and came home for a well deserved cup of tea.

Rain - and lots of it

It's been mild all week again; but from today, it looks like temperatures are dropping to single figures.  The change in the weather was heralded by a band of heavy rain this afternoon, coinciding almost exactly with my visit to the Hill.

I can take or leave most jobs at the moment - the clearing up doesn't have to be done all at once - but I did want to get the garlic planted.  I keep a few bulbs back to replant each year, but this year has not been a good year for it for me, and the bulbs have been noticeably smaller that usual.

I don't know whether that is because we had a dry May and June when the bulbs are meant to be swelling, or perhaps because I didn't plant them until last December, a few weeks later than I usually do.  Or maybe it was just a rubbish year for garlic.

So after a bit of weeding in the pouring rain, cutting the asparagus down, and filling the raspberry bed with a deep layer of leaves, I took the biggest of the garlic that I had from this summer, and after forking over half a bed (where the courgettes had been) I split them and planted the cloves.

Besides getting very wet, once I'd finished it did strike me that I probably should have mixed in some sort of feed before planting - I'll have to do it afterwards now.

Hopefully when it is not raining.