Herb Spiral

Inspired by reading about permaculture, I decided to build a herb spiral. I needed to relocate herbs from the front of the house, and thought this spiral bed would work well close to the back door. There is a lot of information online about how to build a spiral bed like this, as well as the ideal arrangement of herbs to accommodate different growing conditions.

This is obviously not at its peek, and will look better once the grass grows back around it and the herbs really take off. But I like the locations, and already I can see how it is the start of something, and the beginning of defining space, and there will be more planting, I can just feel it. For a while, until these herbs grow up a bit, I will probably still be wandering about the property to visit the various patches of herbs; oregano and mints in the “goat pen”, chives and sage round the front, basil (later!) up in the veggie patch. And on a fine day, what could be nicer? But ultimately I think it will be more convenient having the herbs close. Quite a satisfying project.

Chicken Garden

It doesn’t look like much, but in the last few days I’ve been working on a little garden in front of the chicken coop. I’ve been browsing Free Range Chicken Garden and while the book is perhaps more oriented to those keeping a small backyard flock it is nonetheless inspiring. The current chicken arrangements involve some time in the coop in the morning, then out “to pasture” in a large area we had fenced off for the goats. In the evening we let them out to free range around our property. So this little garden won’t have their full (damaging) attention. I planted it with some so-called “chicken resistant” plants as well as a few of their favourites, like kale. Tiny kale plants are protected by a chicken wire tent and I seeded some greens under the cover on the other side. I’m hoping these will give the plants a chance for a good start but after that it will all be fair game.

I hope to get a few more herbs that will be useful for sprinkling in the coop and look forward to seeing nasturtiums spilling about. I recruited a few wild strawberries and cowslips from the lawn. G and Little R built the stone path yesterday. Looking forward to seeing it grow up!

 

Rhubarb Curd

I made some lemon curd a week ago and while I stood over it and stirred it occurred to me rhubarb would make a good curd too. We have lots of eggs, we have lots of rhubarb. This afternoon I tried it out. I was hoping for a pale pink mixture but I guess it must be the eggs that give lemon curd its colour, not lemon, so the rhubarb curd is also a cheerful yellow. It tastes lovely. I still want to perfect my recipe but this first attempt is quite passable. Seems like a perfect spring delicacy.

Gathering

High up on the list of my favourite things is gathering from the garden and using my finds as inspiration for a meal. I love that. And it’s early, and there isn’t anything ready in the garden yet, but thankfully there is sorrel and dandelion greens in profusion. And a healthy clump of chives. And add to that the eggs collected daily. (Oh, if only I was an “egg person” and could enjoy an omelette, or indeed any kind of egg dish, then a collection like this could be a meal in itself. I’m serious, I really do regard my dislike of anything eggy as quite a handicap, but I don’t think there is any hope for me in that regard.) So the eggs go in the fridge and I turn the rest into this dish:

Pasta with sorrel pesto (sorrel, garlic, olive oil, roasted almonds) dandelion greens and mozzarella.

Not sure why I find this transformation from gatherings to meal so satisfying but I do. And I have so much more of this to look forward to as things begin to grow.

Planting in Play Dough

 

 

 

 

Nothing beats the real thing, of course, but sometimes being able to use a more cohesive (less messy) “potting soil” is just the thing. This is coffee play dough and some old seed packets filled with beans and other goods from the pantry.

Buds, or “Tiny Peas There”

 

 

 

Clutch

Queen Anne, our Silver Laced Wyandotte hen, is broody. After a few days we decided to let her have some eggs to sit on. We moved her from the hen-house last night and this afternoon we gave her a clutch of eggs. (Blue/green eggs courtesy of a friend.)

Here she is, shortly after egg-handover. In a few moments she pulled all the eggs in, where they will be warm and cozy. And now we wait and see. 21 days, if she proves a committed mother.

 

Plotting

In February, my mind turns to the garden and Spring. There is a shift that happens, a changing of the light, and my brain responds to the cue: get out the garden books, order your seeds, make (possibly extravagant) plans. And even when brief spring-like moments are replaced with very wintry storms I still know that Spring is on its way.

I’ve been plotting the veggie garden rotation, and making a calendar of when and how to start seeds. The rotation thing always seems a bit complicated to me. It shouldn’t be, and in the books it looks easy – just move each crop from bed to bed – but in reality, or in *our* reality, it stumps me a bit. Probably because I always want to grow more of a certain kind of vegetable and so you can’t just do an even rotation. It’s more complicated. Fortunately, of course, the main thing is to keep things moving, and whether or not it all follows the strict recommendations is probably not the end of the world. Also, I’m making it sounds as if we are perfectionist gardeners or something, when really, if we manage to get things in and maybe even do a bit of weeding this year, it will be an accomplishment.

On a stormy day I sometimes cover the coffee table with brown paper and set Little R up with crayons and pencils. I like the large-scale aspect, and of course the location near the stove. Inevitably I end up there too, maybe trying to get something productive done or maybe just drawing by the fire.  Yesterday I was trying to plot the vegetable garden and took the opportunity to sketch out a plan on the table. I filled in the beds with crayons drawings of the veg as Little R hovered over me. No sooner was the garden complete than all Little R’s farm animals moved in to snack. Cheeky critters! (But that reminds me, we’ve got to fence the chickens out of our plot this year.)

 

 

Snow Labyrinth

I woke up this morning with the desire to make a labyrinth in the snow. Not sure where it came from, but there it was. And so, after breakfast, and after stuffing Little R into her snow suit, we headed out to make one. I printed off a design to follow, which was helpful since most of the labyrinths I found marked out the walls,  and when you are walking in the snow it is better to follow something that traces out the path to avoid confusion. Mine is a little wobbly but not too bad for a first attempt. Next time I will make the paths a little further apart, and maybe wide enough for a shovel.

As I looked for some designs online, I read what other people have written about walking labyrinths and something that kind of stuck with me was the idea of “walking with intention”.  The phrase seems to conjure up images of a straight line to your destination, but in association with a windy labyrinth “intention” suddenly means something else entirely. I need to walk a few more labyrinths before I feel qualified to wax lyrical about them, but I feel intrigued.

Making the labyrinth this morning was one of those rare occasions when a whim strikes me and I fairly immediately carry it out. Doesn’t happen a lot, but it’s a nice way to start the New Year.

Happy New Year, lovely people. Head out into that fresh snow and walk with intention.

The Old Plum Tree

Little R and I have been working to create a little play spot around an old plum tree on our property. The tree is badly affected with black rot, half dead, and partially hacked down. We’ve stamped down some dead undergrowth, done some raking and planted a few bulbs. A few small pieces of wood wedged in to various crooks in the tree make little platforms for setting things on and I’m plotting some kind of letter box. Lets be honest and say that I am probably enjoying this as much, if not more, than Little R.