Cooler and a lovely Gentle Drizzle (a bit of a long-post)

Wednesday

After the past few days it is with a sigh of relief on my part that the air is cooler and we have a gentle drizzle going on which will do a lot of good at the end of the day.  Quiet relief for me from the draining heat and even though it is drizzling I do not have as much discomfort in my joints today from the humidity.  I have been uncomfortable for the past couple of days.  I have never been one that copes well with the heat or the extreme cold for that matter.  Next time we go to the caravan, which hopefully will not be long now will bring back the expensive air conditioning unit that we purchased for the van.  I think this piece of equipment needs to be a moveable feast as it were!  We could have done with it.

Welcome relief for a little while at least.  The garden will appreciate the gentle drizzle.  I may go out and do some planting whilst it is drizzling.  Will see.

We had another disturbed night from Missy; in the end I got her settled but it took some doing as she was highly vocal last night/early morning.  She is currently "dead to the world" but comfortable in this cooler weather although she has had Aunty Kelly's cold jacket on and has been having regular cold wash downs to help with her temperature and keeping her cooler.  The cat has also been having gentle wipe downs as well.  Both have access to lots of water too.

Not quite sure what will be up to today as it was a late start due to lack of sleep. Lots of pottering me thinks.  Just things that need doing in the larger scheme of things and I will I think hit the kitchen mainstream tomorrow to start in readiness for the weekend.  I am well out of kilter on routines etc. at the moment and striving for getting things back on track.  However as with most things here it is a case of pivot, work with the flow and what is being done is more reactive at times more than how it should be planned and easier to achieve.  That does not apply here at the present.

I have planned on another salad for tea this evening.  When I went to Sainsburys I found some lovely pre-cooked beetroot bigger in size than the standard generic pack that seems to be available in lots of juice.  I therefore decanted it into a glass bowl and cling-filmed it and G is quite taken with it. We have had several salads this week as I had bought a load of salad ingredients in and I am "blowed" if I am going to waste them.  I am looking forward to picking fresh beetroot from the garden later on and preserving some in different ways for the Pantry shelf as well.  Next year I have plans on the salad front as well.  I think I am going to invest in some of the aquaponic towers one by one when I can to run alongside the sort of growing that I have done this year. Planning forward and acquiring a bit at a time where I can.  Possibly using any money that comes my way to invest in some of these for next year.  This gardening hobby is seriously becoming addictive, relaxing and something very real for me.  

I shall soon be picking Courgettes, and I have a last plant delivery scheduled in the next few days from Rocket Gardens.  Mostly pumpkins and squash so there will be loads more potting up to do.  I had sent for some larger growing pots but I do not think they will arrive in time so maybe some of the planters I bought at the weekend will be used in the first instance for the Pumpkins as I do not want to lose any this time around (previously down to my own fault).

My last lot of veggie sacks arrived on Monday another ten planters, and I am waiting a delivery of four cloches from Temu in order that I can get some of the Brassicas out under cover in the garden.

I am also waiting for a small dehydrator to replace my previous one which completely broke.  Then I can get set too with the smaller items to be dried so as to save waste.  I personally think you need a large dehydrator as well as a small dehydrator for optimum use.  My 9 tray Excalibur is used for bulk batches.  I also utilise natural air drying.  I am itching to get quite a bit done on the drying front.  I am hoping to use some of the leaves from veggies for green powders.

In terms of equipment there are still a few key pieces that I would like to acquire.

The first, is an electric water bath canner (bottling water bath canner - not pressure canner) which is on pre-programmable temperature and timer.  I had one of these before the fire and I think mine was lost in the fire, although I have the accessories in the house so am not quite sure.  I am still ever hopeful that I will come across it. They are extremely helpful in bulk processing fruits etc.  It is a little easier than having a hot pan on a gas hob. However due to lack of not finding my original electric water bath canner, I think it may have gone, but one never knows around here.  If I cannot locate it, then I will be buying in a new one.

I also need to replace my apple press which I also lost in the fire four years ago.  It was brand new and had never been used a Vigo one.  I am also looking to buy in a crusher as well.  We are not far from Norfolk here and access to apples and it would be lovely to go down and collect apples and then bring them back for processing and making apple juice as well as making apple sauce, apple wine, dried apples etc.  A dream at the moment, but it will happen one day.

Something else I would like to organise is some apple storage drawers as they would be ideal for storing apples in my shed over the winter months.  My grandparents had orchards and they were a big part of my life and the seasons as I was growing up.  I miss those days and if I ever had the opportunity and land to grow an orchard I would in a heartbeat.

My gardening foray has been very much a trip back to my roots this year and it has given me a hunger to do more.  I am loving it; really loving it and want to do a lot, lot more.  I am somewhat restricted here though.   It is all about the land at the end of the day and dunking my hands into soil.  Guess the inner child is coming out as there used to be plenty of mud pies when I was a child.

What I actually did in the end today

I went out into the gentle rain and I started potting on more plants.  It has been cathartic and peaceful and I have enjoyed being out in the garden.

I also dealt with the green worms from the Cabbage fly that have attacked my Cavolo Nero.  I squished the eggs and the worms and have doused them with some plain flour.  Hopefully this will work.

I had cause to nip out into the garden after dark tonight as I had left some washing drying.  G was supposedly going fishing today and needed his fishing clobber ready and so I had washed it all and got it on the line to dry.  I fetched it in in order that it could finish off drying in the house overnight and be ready for him for tomorrow.  Whilst in the garden (I had taken a torch with me) I found a Hedgehog helping himself to some of the food I had left out for the cats.  I do not know who was more startled, but it was good to see.  At least the food seems to be helping the Hegehogs as well as the cats.

Outline Plans for the weekend:

Hopefully this weekend G will be able to start levelling the patio slabs.  I want to be able to get our old battered patio table and chairs on there so that we have somewhere to sit and go out of an evening in.  It will also free up more growing space down the side of the fence where the table and bits are stored at the moment.  After our "blue" earlier in the week I have specifically asked that he deals with this for me.  All part and parcel of sorting the garden that little bit more.  Needless to say there will be more rubbish and my crystal ball tells me that we will be heading for the Tip again quite shortly!

Once the patio is sorted I can then set about getting the growing planters a bit more organised than what they were.

Plans for tomorrow:

These have changed I was going to do the kitchen but I have received notification that my Pumpkins and other veg are due to arrive.  If they arrive tomorrow then I will be potting up. If not I will still be doing things in the garden.

Thursday:

Was woken by the delivery driver this morning.  I am waiting for about four parcels to arrive.  One including a garment steamer, the other a Pilates board, the third a smaller dehydrator and a box of plants.  Was not sure what had been delivered until I went down and it is indeed my last order on plants for this year which includes pumpkins, squash, cauliflower, beans and leeks.  So it very much is going to be a gardening day today as a lot needs to be done.

G did not go fishing despite me prepping all his fishing clothing in readiness last night. He is on babysitting duties with the animals whilst I potter away in the garden.  He is not really into gardening but as far as I am concerned it is here to stay.  I just need to get everything to hand to make it workable and easier for me next year.  More streamlined so that I can really get stuck in.

And today has definitely been a gardening day and I am pleased with what I have managed to get done.  I have potted up everything apart from the Leeks and the Outdoor Girl Tomatoes that I received today. There are 40 Leek plants to set and 5 Tomato plants.  All the Pumpkin, Squash, Cauliflower and Beans have all been potted up

I also hit the Tomato greenhouse and gutted that today.  All the Tomatoes are in here and the Outdoor Girl Tomatoes are going to be grown outside now.  The Marmande Tomatoes I have already have Tomatoes on them.

I have also sorted out the Courgette plants.  I have harvested my first real little harvest of the Courgettes.  I have a couple of ball courgettes, a yellow and a green Courgette. There are more to come on all the plants.  However, I de-leafed the grotty leaves and topped the pots up with more compost and then re-arranged the pots.  They were then fed and watered up.

I also harvested a load of little cherry tomatoes as well.

There are further crops to come on all the plants.

Plans for Tomorrow

I need to do some flower planters for the patio slab area.  I do not have many flowers but there should be enough to make a little show. I have Sweetpeas, Marigolds, Tagetes, Nasturtiums, Trailing Fuschias, Bush Fuschias, Lobeilia as well as a little Ivy.  I shall go all out on flowers next year and will certainly be doing my own hanging baskets, window boxes and planters like I used to do every year.

I need to finish potting up the items I did not get to yesterday as well.

I also intend to plant some Tagetes and also some Basil in the Tomato plants that do not have the ring culture addition to them.  As the greenhouse doors are normally left open during the day it will help with the pollinators.

Once all that is done I will then tackle the other greenhouse which houses the Cucumbers, the Cucamelon, the Sweet Peppers, and the Chilli plants.  There are also all sorts of veggie plants in there and I need to start preparing the beds for the plants to go into.  The covers have arrived to protect the plants from Cabbage white butterflies and their offspring and other nasties and I am thinking of ordering some more.  I have quite a lot of veggies to go in.

It has been a long day, and a busy one.  My  back is playing up and I will use some spray on that in a little while.  Working in the garden is giving me a lot of pleasure and a lot of personal peace which I am grateful for.  I am learning so much as well about the growing side of things.  However it is really good to be out in nature and being in the moment.

I have been watching the Moon again this evening and sat for a little while after I had finished in the garden like I did the other day.  Supposed to be a warmer day tomorrow.

I have also organised my Nurse appointment for taking bloods and also requested renewal of my prescription as it was not automatically available to renew on line as the inhouse Pharmacist wanted to review the prescription.  

Next Wednesday I have the appointment at the Eye Clinic at Doddington Hospital.  So we shall see how we get on with that.

Hope everyone has had a lovely evening.

Keep safe.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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