Welcome back to Bryngwyn. Overall it’s been a good week.
Patch:
Veg growing well. Now harvesting in abundance. Peas continue to crop well, courgettes going mad and sweetcorn looking good following the dried blood treatment. Runner beans have bounced back after the gales of a fortnight ago and dwarf beans and broccoli ready for picking. One schoolboy error. Transplanted some left-over swedes one evening and ran out of time to net them. “Not to worry,” thought I, “ I’ll do it in the morning”. Ha! By 7.00am the following morning the pigeons had massacred them. The trouble is that they get up at about 5.00am at this time of year. Oh well, that’ll teach me.
Pickling like mad. Now have jars of beetroot, cucumber, gherkins and pickled onions for the winter. Peas going in the freezer and about a hundred onions strung up for storing.
Ducklings thriving and growing incredibly quickly. We haven’t fully decided where to move them when they get too big, and smelly, for the bathroom. We will have to wait until they are big enough to defend themselves from rats. Our previous clutches have been mothered by a bantam who would fight off a lion if necessary!
Something is taking the duck eggs again. Can’t work out what it is. Tempted to install CCTV in the duck-house but we’re somewhat reluctant to contribute to the surveillance society.
By the way, the bees seem to be happy again following last week’s debacle and appear not to be holding a grudge.
We are having problems sourcing our latest batch of Tamworth weeners. We are particularly keen on Tamworths because they are a lively, rare old English breed. They have fallen out of favour for commercial pig rearing because they are slow to mature and can be a bit lively. It is thought that there are less than 400 breeding sows in the UK. Despite their reputation as world-class escapologists (remember the “Tamworth Two”) we haven’t suffered from any successful escape attempts to date.
The toads in the polytunnel assure me that the supply shortage is due to Donald Trump. Apparently he has bought up the entire world’s stock because he has become convinced that bacon sandwiches are the best preventative measure against Covid 19. Whilst, obviously, I scoff at such arrant nonsense, and certainly don’t want to give succour to a delusional Donald Trump, I have to admit that I regularly eat bacon sarnies and have so far remained virus-free.
Seriously though, if anyone knows of anyone who has surplus Tamworth weeners available in the next month or so, please let us know.
On the Wild Side:
Probably one of the easiest and most effective things an organic growing can do is install a pond. Over the last few decades modern farming methods have seen countless natural ponds filled in. This is a tragedy for bio-diversity. Ponds support an abundance of wildlife from insects to amphibians, birds etc. We constructed a large pond on the patch and we have been visited by mallard ducks, heron’s and even by an otter. We also have newts and toads who love to eat slugs!
A pond doesn’t need to be big or expensive. The pond we put in the back garden is an old bath-tub and it supports a surprising amount of plants and wild-life. And of course there is the joy of simply sitting and watching a pond. Something is always going on. As my Bristolian Grandad was fond of saying “sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits”. A bench by a pond is perfect for both.
As I write a cheeky squirrel has just brazenly knocked an apple off a tree and made off with it into the woods. The annoying thing about squirrels is that they don’t wait for things to ripen so always beat us to it. They do the same with hazel nuts and will strip a tree before a single nut is edible for us humans.
Yesterday I spotted a lizard sunbathing on a rock. Unfortunately it shot off like a rocket before I could take a photo. We have quite a lot of slow-worms but we rarely see lizards on our patch.
Tip of the week:
You will no doubt have noticed that the garden centres are almost completely devoid of seed packets. According to our local centre, they are not expecting much re-stocking until at least February. However, like me, you no doubt have half-used packets lying around. Some seeds come in vastly over the top quantities. Let’s face it, how many of us need 2000 carrot seeds? I am going to sort mine out and try to buddy up with one or to friends to see if we can fill in any gaps between us.
Enjoy your garden and may your slugs be barren and unfruitful.