There were more strong winds last week, but we did manage one afternoon at the allotment. So far we have been let off lightly where the winds have been concerned. A couple of beds had the enviromesh covers blown to one side. Other than that the main problem was that the greenhouse frame from a neighbouring plot had, yet again, blown onto our plot. This must be the fourth or fifth time that this has happened. Fortunately this time there was little damage. In summer it managed to batter our sweet peas, Martyn, once again, dragged it back onto the neighbouring plot along with a large sheet of black plastic that had come from the same place. No doubt it won’t be the last time that the frame visits us.
My sister wasn’t as lucky as us, her garden fence was flattened so this week we will be on fencing duty.
Our jobs at the allotment were to coppice one of the hazel bushes – photos on the left -and cut down the buddleias – photos on the right. The hazels take turns being cut down every couple of years or so. The pile of branches will be recycled into hazel poles and pea sticks. The buddleia prunings are less useful. Any pieces stuck into the ground to use as plant supports tend to root and produce more bushes in unwelcome places. The huge pile of buddleia debris will probably at some point end up on a bonfire.
We harvested some sprouts from the one or two plants that had actually managed to grow.
Apparently, we are now being told that growing our own vegetables isn’t environmentally friendly – what next?
Once again Nostell had to lock the gates for one day. We did manage an afternoon walk there but didn’t notice much more damage.
I’m not sure whether these photos show a newly felled tree, or we just didn’t spot it earlier.
Winter provides an opportunity for the trees to reveal their skeletons. Many show signs of damage wreaked in previous years. Others have developed dense areas of twiggy growth which I think are called witches brooms.
As well as wind causing damage to the trees, the wind has also had an effect on the size of the winter lakes. These have been considerably reduced in size.
A new flock of visitors appeared on the lake. Canada geese are sometimes seen browsing in surrounding fields but last week they had moved onto the lake. At present, the geese and swans are living in harmony but that will change once the swans start to thinking of breeding.
Over winter a flock of noisy black-headed gulls set up home on the main lake. Black-headed is really a misnomer as in summer their heads are chocolate brown and not black. In winter the only remnant of their brown head is a small spot on each side of the head.
Walks with Ruby always take much longer than expected as she has to stop and sniff or investigate everything.
She’s a very curious little dog and soon learns new things.
One of the Yorkshire Air ambulances is based on the Nostell Priory estate and usually takes off at least once or twice during our visits. It is incredible to think that air ambulances rely totally on charity donations. They carry out such vital work and save many lives.
Finally, our oven and hob have been fitted so we now have our full complement of cooking facilities.
As I didn’t know when the fitters would be arriving or how long the work would take, on the installation day I used our slow cooker to make a chicken tagine. Into this went our onion, garlic and carrots.
Last week, I also made a turkey stir fry using our shallot and frozen peppers.
More frozen peppers, green beans, sweetcorn and broccoli along with some onion, garlic and carrot were used in a vegetable rice dish.
That’s all for this week so, as always, stay safe and well until next time.
Meanwhile down here in the far south west of Cornwall …it is back to boring old mizzle and drifting sea fog and it is SO gloomy ! 🌧️ Longing for some more sunshine . 🌞
We are back to gloom too Debbie
Having different WordPress and various MSN/Google/Blogger/Yahoo/Hotmail IDs has resulted in a web of confusion. I logged on to WordPress and liked your post as FEARN but when I made a comment it came up as Mal. Historically getting a new laptop or email has added to the confusion. I half expect to be unable to restore functionality every time things breakdown. On the plus side the next generation always seem to know how to resolve my problems. Relying on the mobile more and more adds another twist to the tale and is probably the main reason I have become an intermittent blogger.
It’s weird Mal, I can’t even comment on my own blog other than as anon. It’s the same whether I use my laptop iPad or iPhone and using any browser
Un bel lavoro nell’orto! Mi dispiace per tutto il vento che avete avuto, ti capisco perché anche qui c’è molto vento e spesso le piante vengono rotte o abbattute.
Buon appetito con il nuovo piano cottura!
Oggi c’è di nuovo vento, Gabriel, non sembra fermarsi. Il forno e il piano cottura sono ora pienamente operativi
I had a problem commenting on blogger posts a while ago. In the end I googled the problem and was told to turn off the eye icon on the top right hand of the computer. Worked immediately, I think the icon has something to do with cookies. Glad the wind did no damage. Love the water birds and Ruby. Tasty looking dishes.xxx
The eye on my computer is already turned off, Dina
I opened the eye and chose to allow third party cookies and iy worked but I think each time it only allows temporerily – Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
Hi Sue. My WordPress ID comes up as FEARN (Freeze Edinburgh Allotment Rents Now). I am using it to bypass the Blogger issues. The bad press for urban farming is coming from a University of Michegan study. I cannot believe that “conventional” agriculture is 6 times more efficient in carbon terms than allotment growing. Also “conventional” farming is a system that relies on monoculture, multiple applications of pesticides and fertilizers, results in soil erosion and the decimation of every other living thing aside from the crop. Someone has figured out a highly technical, and therefore hard to argue against, way to show it in a better light than the “amateur”.
One of the assumptions used in the study is that urban farm sites last a maximum of ten years, whereas our allotment site, like many in Edinburgh is 130 years old.
It makes me very angry that an august institution has lent its name to the besmirching all other growers except for the government backed professional/industrial farmer.
The institutions can manipulate data to make it prove whatever they want, Mal. You should see the huge trainloads of wood chipping hauled several times a day for Drax power station. It’s all imported from the US but they claim it is far more environmentally friendly then when they used to use coal from virtually next door.
By the way I still couldn’t comment on your blog even though I can jump straight from my blog where I am logged in to Google. I’ve got in on some by using the name and URL login when commenting anonymously.