counting pea seedlings

Sweet pea seedlings are doing well but now I'm counting pea seedlings. A DS friend suggested soaking peas for 24hours to aid germination. It works and there are about 30 seedlings up today in the greenhouse! No sign of the parsley I sowed at the same time however...

In the propagator on the windowsill there are chillies, tomatoes and black holly hocks on the way up. Some ockra shot up in the week and have needed potting on already as they were very spirited! Not grown them before so learning curve on that one I think -not sure what they taste like neither.

Meanwhile...

Meanwhile Tim likes to relax by pottering so he went and did a good patch up on a particularly difficult tear in the poly tunnel and then sorted out the wormery.
We've some nice fine seed compost now. He's started off chillies and tomatoes in the heated propagator so that feels like getting summer up and running!

Relaxing Sunday

The cats had the right idea whilst we had snow flurries and general cold weather. We all had a restful day. I'd accumulated a delicious pile of magazines and papers so sat and enjoyed them.

The Observer Climate Change magazine special

A good read so far and I'm only at the beginning. A few quotes have stood out so far that are worth putting down somewhere. As I read I may well edit this post to show other gems.

Thom Yorke from Radiohead - Unlike pessimists such as James Lovelock, I don't believe we are all doomed.... As I heard George Monbiot saying not long ago, isn't it funny how in the space of a year we went from listening to sceptics who denied this was happening to suddenly saying we're all doomed - how interesting that both scenarios demand that we do nothing. That can't be right. You should never give up hope.

Amory Levins - I'm not an enviromentalist. I'm a cultural repairman. Its all about efficient and restorative use of resources to make the world secure, prosperous and life sustaining.

I'm a practioner of elegant frugality. I don't feel comfortable telling other people what to do, so I just try and lead by example.

My way of dealing with the doom-mongers is to let the person talk for a while and then I ask gently ' does feeling this way make you more effective?'

A Good Start to the Easter Weekend

Hail storms and blustery winds here but we've all managed a little potter and cross off of little jobs
Tim mended another tear in the poly tunnel. With the winds we've had recently this has been a repeat job. I've yet to work out if this is a game we have to play all summer!


The above part of the plot was the last one to clear and had a large rubbish heap on it for a while. Finally all burnt off so Tim levelled it today and it will make a nice flat bay for the potatoes this year.

Then during another little shower he prepared the other side of the poly tunnel. He's since filled it with compost like the first side. All ready to plant or sow up. He also put a row of broad beans in there as well to see how they do. Its going to be a learning curve as to what grows in there.

At home I've finished off some creative projects
A collage I'd previously had a mental block on. The phrase in the middle says - Everything that slows us down and forces patience; everything that sets us back in to the slow cycles of nature is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.

Then I made a little ipod case out of a small bit of knitting. There is a deliberate hole in the bottom to connect the headphones so it can stay in the case whilst playing and there is a pocket at the back for the headphones to live when not in use.
The kids helped me decorate an Easter or Spring tree using twigs from the garden and cardboard eggs previously coloured in. As well as wooden eggs and little chicks.

Its the Spring Equinox as well as Easter so we'll be thinking of both this weekend

Polytunnel Progress

Inspite of the odd gentle rain shower we've got on well on the plot. Not outside, but in the dry of the polytunnel. First up repairing little tears and mini holes before they get worse.

This next photo is taken from the inside and Tim is fixing the doors, and I've been clearing the bed of 'stuff' and weeds before giving it a rough fork up.

Some bags of compost and a rake level later and it does look smart! Have sown a couple of rows of things; namely carrots, spring onions, leaf beet and winter lettuce. Just to start things off! I've got spinach seedlings in the greenhouse at home coming up which will be transplanted in to there when bigger.
Its suppose to get colder again this week so haven't gone over board with planting just in case. Picked some lovely daffodils from the cutting garden on the way back which must be our first flowers off there this year. Tulips are on their way I can see too!

counting sweet pea seedlings

Its one of those things; we're keen to get on with planting and starting the growing season off but know from experience that there's no point rushing. There is still the chance of a frost or two and with all these storms little plants need to be hardy and really really ready to face some quite harsh conditions on the plot. So its about reining back for the moment. I've sown some spinach in the greenhouse - its not a heated greenhouse so again can't go mad - and its coming up. I thought we'd bung that in this polytunnel and see how it did. And sweet peas. Most days I'll go and count how many have come up. We're up to 13 yesterday.

I've not been up the plot yet this week yet so there will be some trepidation as to what's standing after the winds we've had. It does blow across there somewhat and has been known to lift up whole sheds in the past. We shall be up there at the weekend to assess.

We'll plant the spuds out on Good Friday though as is traditional but goodness that's early this year isn't it? Hopefully it'll mark the gentle beginning of the growing season. There is no rush after all.

A sustainable wedding

Its possible!! We were guests at a friends wedding at the weekend. They had a hog roast after the ceremony and sourced as much of the food locally as possible. The pig and spit were supplied by Downsizer members (the bride is a member as well) and it was cooked and served by further Downsizers. In spite of serving a 4 course meal to about 150 guests there was only a third of a bin bag of rubbish and a box of compostable stuff. Almost no food waste either - well it was delicious. Clothes were made locally and the transport for the happy couple was a 20year old landy run on vegetable oil!

We wish Claire and Alex many years of happiness!

This Needs Putting Up On The Fridge!

Todays thought for today from my inbox is -

Grow and Move Forward
To help yourself grow and move forward, you need a healthy desire for change and a clear vision of your future aim. Add to this a 'can do' attitude together with lots of energy, time and determination. Now, shout it from the rooftops, - I can do it! - I can ......

General update of assorted stuff

Busy couple of days and a need to write it down and just tot up all I've done. Purely selfish reasons but still.. If I don't have a good sense of achievement and accomplishments then its too easy to concentrate on all that I've not done yet.

After the Eco day and busyness of Saturday we had a friend of Tim's stay overnight and you've seen the photos of our spring walk over to Hinton and back on Sunday. Most of the rest of the day was spent visiting the mums and delivering Mothering Sunday gifts.

The boys sweetly made me a card and I got an ipod nano!! Squeal!! Couldn't have been more surprised and delighted - dunno what I've done to deserve this at all. Been having fun programming it and adding tunes and videos. Can see how itunes is a time waster!! Currently listening to an eclectic mix of Nickelback (doesn't he have a fab voice! ) Santana, and Fedde Le Grand - a dance lot if you've not heard of them

Yesterday once the boys were at school I whizzed off to Abingdon to meet with a friend and her PTA chair. On an earlier post I mentioned that I was interested in doing more anouncing work and I think I said that I'd been asked if I'd do a bingo night for a local school PTA so this was what this meeting was about -ie I've got the job!! I'm really looking forward to doing it actually. Sounds fun and I've had a look round the hall and checked out what pa system I'll be using. I surprised myself in how confident and organised I felt and sounded. This is a huge boost for me to be moving on with this idea.

And business idea no 2 is coming on - when the website is up and running I'll tell you more but its looking good and those that I've spoken to like the ideas and think it'll work. And I've got a first client lined up for the end of the month.

Today was prep day for the coffee morning we have once a month at school. I'm the organiser of it so there was baking to do. A lemon drizzle, a tea bread and a large batch of flapjacks are cooling on the rack. Having more than one oven makes it a much quicker job. Other than a pilates class that's it for today.

Tomorrow its do the coffee morning; me and youngest boy have already put tables and cups out ready which saves me time in the morning. Then I've my private pilates lesson followed by an evening committee meeting for the local environment network group as a post script to Saturdays eco day.

Need to fit in some study, some time - its clear I'll never get bored. Some more hours in the day would be handy I think. I do try and schedule some rest time to sit and read and I can tell when I've not done that. An 'afternoon off' is due I think. Might not be this week though.......

Photo is the one the boys put on my mothers day card - one of my favourite! (its a given that I mean the boys' pictures not mine!!)

Sunday Morning Walk

Walked over to Hinton Waldrist on Sunday morning for a walk and both Tim and I were vying for the camera so the photos are a mix of both photographers this time. Definite signs of spring though aren't there?

Village Eco Day

We're members of a local environment network (L.E.N) in our village. Our first objective as a committee was to give every villager a leaflet detailing local resources like buses and local food markets and hints and tips for saving energy and recycling. This was given out a few weeks ago.

Since then we've been working on having a village event to really give out information and show folk how to do their bit. Today was the day!

To start it off we showed the film An Inconvenient Truth with Al Gore, at a special convening of the village film club last night, which we wanted to use to get folk thinking. This was then backed up today by an afternoon Eco day. We're in the process of aquiring an area of land which we hope to plant trees on to create a community woodland so we offered visitors to our day the chance to sponsor a tree or two. (In the autumn, we'll host a day where they can come and help plant them.)

We had a range of stalls from http://www.tvec.org.uk/ and http://www.cagoxfordshire.org.uk/ to the local council giving away free cotton bags, the local school with a rubbish recycling game and lots of information and leaflets on solar power, recycling, organic food, and suppliers of eco friendly products. There was a steady stream of visitors and the chance to have some deep and quality conversations with folk to really engage them in practical measures they can take to make a difference. There is sometimes a feeling at these events that one is talking to the converted, however even the converted could always do with another cotton bag to reduce their plastic bag consumption!

I've put a small video that Tim shot below and some photos - before you ask I'm the one in the black jumper and stripy skirt.