Today was dedicated to my garden and as soon as I had baked the days bread and packed Pa off to the hospital I changed quickly and out I went. Although the day was cooler than it has been for some weeks it suited me today as I had some serious work to do. The greenhouse needed to be anchored firmly and there were lots of plants to deal with and the second crop of peas to sow.
These went in to the old potato bed where I hope that the reflected warmth from the green house will prevent any bad effects if the weather turns colder.
The vegetable garden is beginning to be productive and we have some lovely rocket and a variety of salad leaves ready to pick, this garden is an important part of the family economy and it is important that it does as well as possible. As an instance of this, on a normal year I make about sixty jars of strawberry jam, thirty of gooseberry, about sixty of apple and thyme jelly and numerous other types such as damson. I could not possible afford to by all the fruit needed to make these quantities and even if I could I can guarantee that it would not taste as good as the home grown fruit. Add to that the fact that the fruit is picked and goes straight in to the jam pan and you can see why we prefer our own produce.
Then of course there is my love of growing things which has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. There is nothing quite like serving a meal knowing that almost everything on the table is your own produce, it gives me a real kick.
This year will be a trial of lots of things to see what works best and I have several varieties of tomato from small cherry to large plum varieties and even some yellow ones which I have grown before and I believe them to be the sweetest tomato there is. Peppers are another trial plant and I even have some sweet potatoes to try. I did grow them outside once but even in the very hot summer of 2003 the crop was quite small. They should be grown indoors in this country so as we love them I thought I would give them another try.
Behind the greenhouse is a sheltered area surrounded by fruit bushes and there I have planted a sister bed of sweet corn, squashes and beans., this is a great way of growing lots of things in a small space. I have made a new bed for the garden peas which my son loves to eat straight from the pod and a new salad bed which I hope to plant out soon.
I fear that I shall have to take a day or two away form the garden as I have damaged my hip and wrist. It is all my own fault, I should know my limitations by now but I am too stubborn to admit defeat. To steer clear of temptation I intend to go shopping tomorrow and that will I hope stop me from being silly again.
Our neighbour joined us for dinner tonight, I found him attempting to mend his ariel which was damaged by the recent strong wind and asked him to join us. We had a good time chatting as we ate.
All in all I have enjoyed today is spite of the painful hip, time spent outside is precious to me, I really am not an indoor person at all. When all around the birds and insects are busy it seems only right for me to be busy too. I have been worried that this yea I should not be able to manage the gardening but after the past few days I am well on the way to a good harvest, if the Gods allow.
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