Free-Range Living

WINTER'S A-COMING -------

Here in the UK midlands on the eco micro-holding (small smallholding) in mid October the weather's on the turn, with some 'arctic' conditions apparently coming in. Every season seems to have its own particular delights - and challenges - at least providing variety in life , which you certainly notice living a semi self-sufficient sort of life. Talking of which, the runner beans have just about finished and will be taken down, probably later today, and put on the compost heap which will then be 'capped' with soil and a new one started. They've been a bit of a 'hit and miss' crop this year and lasted a pretty average three months - the record here is four days short of five months. Ah well, 'c'est la vie du jardin'. On the plus side, flowers have done very well this year, and late, too, with other stuff such as winter veg plants growing strongly - a little too strongly, even, with the spring harvest purple sprouting coming out now in October. Others have reported second flowerings of shrubs and suchlike.

Bigger---

There's not been too much to do, growing wise, leaving the accent on getting stuff done in preparation for the winter - they're predicting another fairly severe one for here. One major job has been renovating the conservatory, replacing rotten wood, adding cladding and quite a lot of brush work - a bit of a 'drag-on' pain, but now it's done, very satisfying, which always seems to be the case when 'making something good' , possibly/probably even more satisfying than just going out and buying a new one - ? The other on-going work has been house painting- only one end wall and bits and pieces, but it'll still be nice not to see a paintbrush for awhile. Again, though, satisfying, seeing the miraculous transformation from 'rough' into 'pristine'. Hands-on work and achievement seem to 'satisfy the soul'-?

Smaller----

Smaller autumnal jobs need to be done too - logs being now brought in to fill up the log basket, now the wood stove's needed again for the evenings, outdoor tomatoes collected 'green' and put under paper to ripen for November tomatoes- can't remember when they've been so full of taste as this year - topping the last basket of onions to go into store; nearly three trays of them this year which with luck will last the year through, and the last of the spuds dug up - only a moderate crop, though, this year due to blight. The seed catalogue recently arrived says 'Charlotte' (earlies) and 'Cara' (maincrop) are blight resistant, so rather than as normal growing a mix of varieties, may well give then a whirl next year.

Scrump-----

Still, quite a bit of produce still coming from the veg patch. Yesterday's lunch, for instance, - lettuce, land cress (like watercress), onion, tomatoes and gorgeous peppery-tasty Milan purple-top turnips all freshly picked, surely one of the keys to the best tasting stuff-? Add some extra mature cheddar cheese, and a couple of cream crackers with (real) butter- crikey, food fit for a ______?! Besides the beans to take up, the green manure patch of wheat will need to be dug in, along with a neighbouring patch with a healthy crop of weeds - all grist to the mill. The weather here today outside the conservatory is pretty dull, which means the solar installation's not overworking, although it's still doing enough to power the halogen electric heater to keep us warm 'for free', along with, of course the natural radiation coming into the conservatory. According to one national Uk centre of 'alternative' technology, though, supplementing conservatories with additional heating is a sin, according anyway to a stentorian notice placed in their own conservatory- though surely a reduction in energy used by, say, working in the heat supplemented conservatory rather than fully heated office, is better than nowt?

Today, with luck and a prevailing wind, quite a sizeable load of 'waste' wood should arrive, arranged through a local contact over a pint of decent ale, and for virtually free. Stacking and sawing it will keep us out of mischief for awhile, but worth it - one in the eye for those big energy companies currently being accused in the papers of over profiteering- that'll put the wind(power) up them.