Year: 2021

Oh my goodness……..this should have happened in the middle of May (!) …..I am finally putting up my bean arches….the last major job of ‘spring’! Before I start this job, though, it is our community work day…so I roll up my sleeves and get stuck in on the hottest day of the year so far. After the communal work I was done in and ready to call it a day…….but help arrived so I decided to carry on and get all the bean arches built!

Things may not have gone according to plan this year, things may not have grown as I would like them to…..but for the near self-sufficient garden there is no room for dwelling on disappointments…and there is certainly no room for empty beds through the height of the season. So….it’s time to roll up the sleeves again and make something out of nothing!

Yay!!! I finally get to plant out my winter squash. In this video I talk about why I grow some horizontally and others vertically (and how I make my vertical structures)………and wax lyrical about their uses and ease of storage. I have made a spelling mistake on one of my pebble labels….. (!!)…it should read ‘Rouge vif d’Etampes’. The pop-up card at 20:20 will show you some of my favourite ways (recipes) to use these fabulous veggies.

The slugs and snails did a proper job on all my lovely brassica seedlings…….so toady I am on a rescue mission…..even the tiniest sign of life on a plant will put it into the rescue pile! They have also destroyed half of my precious Coco de Paimpol…….so they’ll need to be reseeded too! It’s a bit disheartening……..but won’t stop me from keeping going.

Today it’s all about assessing and remedying the damage caused by slugs after a day of rain. The cucumbers were badly hit and the ones that remain look rather sickly so I’m going to try something I’ve never done before……plus explain how I build my cucumber frame each year. The tomatoes need a bit of attention too……..and then I check on my pot sown climbing beans…..

Since leaving my job four years ago I’m often asked ‘but what do you DO all day?’….or ‘you’re so lucky you can potter in the garden everyday’…I think there can be a misconception that I have somehow retired and am now a woman of leisure! Here I outline an average week……it changes a lot depending on the season and how busy the food production side of things is….but this is how my hours are at the moment. I hope by sharing this it gives a realistic idea of what your hours might be like too if you are considering going the wage-free life route. The hours are long but I couldn’t be happier!

Today I am finally getting on with my last bed…….this one has had masses of organic matter added so I’m hoping it will be an improvement on the previous three beds I tackled. It’s also the day for the last of the seedlings/plants coming to the garden from my home – Pelargonium cuttings. There’s a little bit of shed chat, as usual, some quiet time just getting on with the work…..and a fork in the soil test.

The kitchen garden is showing signs of new life as we go into June…..I celebrate that…..but I also can’t get away from all the outstanding jobs which really should have been done a month ago. I am going to say ‘never mind’ yet again (!)…….and hope for the best. The truth is, growing a vegetable garden means starting from scratch every single year…….it takes time and a lot of work……I simply have not had the time but I hope to make up for it with the work.

You’ve been asking for ages to have a nosey round the Cottage in the Sky so here it is….starting in the bathroom. I talk you through how I managed to entirely gut the old bathroom and replace it with this one for just £250 ($355) including all the ‘furniture’…….and a bit of graft! There has never been much money to make the Cottage in the Sky comfortable and homely…….but always plenty of imagination, skip diving and hard work. Come and have a nosey…..

I’m feeling quite excited today….the sun is shining and we have warmth again…….and I’m right on the cusp of my first harvest of this new season! But first I need to tackle a pest issue……yes, I have Blackfly…grr…….but I share with you my gentle, organic solution. The varieties talked about today are: Broad beans both Claudia Aquadulce and Aquadulce Super, Celery Green Utah and Garlic Violet.