Strange Times

Strange times indeed.

I have been busy finishing the chicken house. A building I started two years ago but then I got sidetracked. It has worked out quite well and looks quite cute. Now I just need some chickens. I asked my neighbour but now we are all in lockdown because of the virus I think I will have to wait.

The flowers of spring are gorgeous as usual, and the cuckoo has returned along with the swallows. It is such a joyous time in nature. I was walking past this field of lupins with the sun shining on them and a soft breeze blowing towards me. I was enveloped in their sweet, almost soapy smell.
It's just a bit grim for humans at the moment.

The garden is producing food. Brocolli and cabbage and Swiss chard. All the onion sets I planted are not doing their thing because I stuck them too deep in the ground! Darn. I spent today scraping away the earth from around them and hope they will bulb-up. I have carrots in pots because all the ones in the ground got nibbled by a carrot fly worm. I also have lots of tomato and pepper seed, some cotton plants (well, I am a spinner), basil, sweet corn, more cabbage, cucumber and courgette. Let's hope I can keep them all watered. Lots of mulch this year.

 The guinea pigs are doing fine. They've discovered they can get out under the cage. The cats are fascinated and try to scare them but these little piggies lived with a dog and a cat that liked to cuddle up with them so they aren't scared. When they move towards the predatory cat, the cat jumps and runs off! Long may it be so... I love to watch them and they are keeping the grass down.

This is a rather bad photo of the Hunza apricot tree I grew from a stone. It is over 3 meters high. It has lots of flowers tangled in its branches. So exciting. Maybe it will produce Tibetan apricots!

I have been trying to do some artistic weaving, using hand spun wool, based on the colours of the west coast.
I miss spending time with my lovely girls but we are being sensible. Let's hope this will all blow over soon.
Stay safe everyone.

A Quick Word About No-Dig Gardening

It was with great enthusiasm and conviction that I dove into the no-dig gardening technique. Now, a few months down the line I have some thoughts on it.

First, it seems that the mulch is meant to be wood chips, fresh from some chipper, and as I didn't have any I used straw, which duly sprouted all the seed heads in it.

Second, and the worst thing, was that the slugs and snails loved it! They ate every little cabbage into lace. I went out at night and caught tons of the slimy buggers. During the day they would hide in the mulch of cardboard and straw. They got enormous!

Third, in winter the mulch keeps the ground very cold.

Fourth, unless you have managed to smother and kill off the weeds like couch grass, they will keep popping up.

So I think that I will start mulching more now that the weather is warming up and there's no sign of the much-needed rain, but until the ground has no more weeds like couch grass, no-dig is heaven for gardeners' enemies. I am much more vigilant in searching for the slugs and snails.

Update from the Hill.

A rosy dawn with mist.

I have been neglecting my blog. I am still trying to figure out how to get photos from the phone to the computer! (Aha! I've found a way!)
Meanwhile, the 'Wine House' has got nearer to completion

and the vegetable garden is bulging with cabbages.

I have two temporary residents in the vegetable garden. My granddaughters' Guinea pigs have come for a holiday. They are eating the grass and fertilizing the ground and I think they are so cute! The cats find them fascinating.... I am glad they are in a cage!
I have spun and woven a tweed scarf. It's very soft. The rigid heddle loom can be a bit boring but it's lovely to make fabric.

The ground is very dry. We have had no rain for weeks and none in sight. I have been watering the onions and garlic and broccoli. The weather is mild, warm in fact. Hot at midday. Cool at night. Hardly need a fire. Let's hope we get some real rain before the summer comes.

My funny greenhouse. But it works. The seeds germinate in the warm atmosphere.

The lentils I sowed a couple of months ago are coming up well and so is the garlic, on the big terrace. I also sowed some chickpeas which have also come up. These are the things that traditionally one can grow without watering. They are meant to have some rain! Still, they get the dew and the mist sometimes. That will have to do. The broad beans are in full flower. I chopped some down and covered them in straw, using them as a green manure. I am not sure what I will plant in the terrace, but it will have to be something that doesn't need watering. Perhaps corn or potatoes.

It feels that we have left winter behind even though the swallows haven't arrived on the hill. They are already making nests closer to the sea.
So that's the news.

A Wee Video, And Some Progress on the Wine House

Come in! My house is so cozy. The big storm that attacked Portugal was scary but we survived. Now we have a few days of sunshine to celebrate Christmas.  OOPS! Technical hitch. I will investigate.

A roof is beginning to happen!

I spotted this strange looking fungus mushroom thing. It's called a red cage. When I saw it I thought it was a bit of red lace that someone had dropped. It's about the size of my thumb.

I hope that we all survive Christmas and have a brilliant New Year.

December Sun

After a stormy wet and windy November the weather has set fair and the farmers are roaring about on their tractors sowing wheat and barley. The hills are greening up and so is my garden. I have cabbages heartening up, and carrots swelling. The cardboard is keeping the weeds down. It seems to be working.

Days are shorter and shadows longer.

Parasol mushrooms are popping up around the place. This one was the size of the frying pan.

The neighbour's wine house looks rather wind tossed but it is fine. That red clay is extremely hard. I had to take down the tarp as a huge storm tried to take everything away! Looking forward to getting the roof on it.

Life on the hill is pleasant. Cosy evenings with the wood stove burning merrily and bright sunny days. We do need more rain. It will probably arrive in January. Until then, be safe.

Cosy Cob Cottage

Starting the No-Dig Beds

I stopped to talk to a cow farmer nearby and asked if he had any manure for sale. He thought about it and then said he had some. If I followed him up the the monte he would show me. And sure enough there was a small pile of left over very well composted manure, probably two years old. He said I could have it! So I went over there first thing Sunday morning to dig it up and take it home. He described it like this: Melhor do que isso nao e. Better stuff than this doesn't exist.

So I've been barrowing it down to the vege garden. That's the hard bit of this gardening on a steep hillside. I managed to do two loads and have started to do no-dig beds. See how that works. I need more cardboard, but am using black plastic for the moment, to black out the soil and kill off the dreaded couch grass.

It's windy and we have had some rain off and on for the last few days. Soft rain that encourages growth and softens the soil, but it is still dry when you dig below 20 cm.

One of the little guava bushes has fruit on it. A good dose of vitamin c in each fruit. I grew these from seeds. They are no bother and don't need lots of watering in the summer.

I have planted a cheery red bougainvillea on the south west corner of the cob house. Let's see how it fairs. I've put it in a big pot as I don't want the roots to interfere with the drainage below the foundations.