Singing Lhude for a Dream of Summer on the Slippery Slopes of a Lea Valley Winter...1st - 12th February, 2018.
1/2/18 - P7 - raised bed in polytunnel rebuilt.
Some water-logging in this part of the site may have caused some
of the Cucamelon (Melothria scabra) roots to rot this winter. This is partly why the bed has been raised so high.
3/2/18 - P7 - heavy rain continues to saturate this area of the site - dug
a temporary channel to divert some water away from the raised bed.
4/2/18 - Apple Tree - B top - winter pruning.
4/2/18 - Transplanting rhubarb plants to beds, B4b and B4c.
4/2/18 - starting to rebuild raised bed row, A9 (a, b, c).
A9c - the first raised bed rebuilt in this row is home to a Southernwood bush (Artemisia abrotanum) and purple flowered comfrey (Symphytum officinale L.). The comfrey is used for mulches and liquid manure teas.
7/2/18 - Plot A bottom, beneath a refreshingly clear winter sky.
The raised bed, A11, in the foreground, has a winter cover crop of fodder radish.
7/2/18 - Polytunnel - with recently rebuilt raised beds.
Plants being cultivated include: Echium, Marigold, Sweet pea, Larkspur, Chop Suey Greens, All Year Round Cauliflower, Pea Shoots, Rocket, Lettuce, Kale, Chard, Spinach, Cabbage, Broad Beans, Grapevine, Tarragon, Ginger, Lemon Grass, Roses - new from cuttings, Dwarf peas (1st early), Cucamelon (? - if any have survived in P7), Mustard, Chickweed, Dittander.
10/2/18 - A9b - raised bed rebuild. Very heavy going in the wet and mud.
Levelling of the path between rows A9 and A8 to make them less slippery and to use the soil in the Lower Orchard.
10/2/18 - Polytunnel - P3/P4 - respite from the wind, rain and mud - making
supports for sweet peas.
Sweet peas as companion plants to help attract pollinators.
10/2/18 - polytunnel - sowing of peas, Meteor - 1st early variety - P7.
10/2/18 - over-wintering Marigold, Sweet Pea and Larkspur - potted on.
10/2/18 - a bumper crop of rain drops being harvested in Plot A top.
10/2/18 - a bleak and bedraggled site endures more 'weather'.
In the foreground - A2a - a slightly unkempt rabble of purple sprouting broccoli plants - soon to bloom.
11/2/18 - Row A9 - again - all 3 raised beds rebuilt.
Row A8 to the left - this row is for heavy feeders/sub-tropicals in 2018. The compost bins are nearly full, with 'homemade' compost (ripe and nearly ready) - the courgettes, squashes, pumpkins, sweet potatoes will be planted where the compost bins were located. The bins are surrounded by different types of over-wintering mulches - leaves, cardboard, green manures and compost.
11/2/18 - Hellebores - a huddle of them blooming in A4a - in the dappled shade of
our willow dome tree house. Hellebores shouldn't really be handled with bare hands as they contain and secrete a variety of toxins - some of which are very poisonous and irritating.
11/2/18 - Row B4 (a, b, c) - in the foreground, B4a growing field beans, and beyond,
B4b and B4c becoming the new rhubarb patches - Rhubarb Row?
11/2/18 - Plot A bottom - all hail the hail clouds moving over from the south west.
The bush in the lower left of the picture is a long established union of rose,
honeysuckle and comfrey
12/2/18 - Apiary - topping up winter fondant stores in the beehives.
12/2/18 - A9 - covering/mulching the bare soil - using cardboard weighed down by some of the remnants of the pallets used for rebuilding the raised beds.
12/2/18 - A10 - cardboard mulching around some very scraggly perpetual spinach.
12/2/18 - A8c - rebuilding the raised bed - note the gradient of the slope
these raised beds are located on.
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