Savouring the Seed List

December is the month for planning our new year vegetable growing as we look back at what has done well, what hasn't done so well and what we still have in the seed box...ermm okay I confess there are seed boxes...and then the icing on the cake -  the email that announces the new Heritage Seed Library list of seeds for members to choose from. This wonderful organisation keeps the seeds of generations gone by safe for future generations, it encourages current gardeners to keep varieties alive long after they have dropped off the commercial seed lists, and is made up of amazing Seed Guardians who grow on crops just to ensure there are sufficient seeds to share and other marvellous folk who collect, cherish and collate the seeds ready to send them out over the next few months. The focus is on open-pollinated varieties - that is varieties that will grow true from seed each year and that means you can then grow from your own seeds in future years if the variety does well for you and, most importantly, tastes good!

SO the big question is - what do we choose? We get to pick 6 varieties for our membership fee from a list of dozens and dozens of varieties. From sorting our seeds last month I know we only really need beetroot, carrots, parsnips and maybe some leeks but whilst there is only 1 variety of leek this year, there are 2 varieties of beetroot on the list and 7 of carrot so choices need to be made - interestingly there are no parsnips this year so obviously it was a problem crop for other folk over the last couple of years too. And we definitely don't need any bean or pea seeds but then again there is a beautiful crimson coloured climbing bean called Portuguese that is screaming out pick me, pick me I'm pretty pick me!!

So my friends, watch this space, some decisions need to be made this weekend and decisions aren't my strong point these days!

Beautiful bountiful beans don't really need any new companions, but...

December Bookshelf

So what did I make of last month's pile? The Talent for murder continued to prove an interesting read and whilst I may well dip into the author's other books at some time in the future it did take me a while to get into. As anticipated the Nora Robert's Shelter in place was a brilliantly enjoyable read that got devoured over just a few days but unfortunately I just couldn't get into the Adriana Trigiani so took it back to the hospice book exchange shelf and started Katherine Arden's The bear and the nightingale instead. This beautifully written book is the first in her Winternight trilogy and I'm already hooked - I've a feeling the other 2 will soon be featuring on my bookshelf. It's rooted in Russian fairy-tales and is wonderfully atmospheric and thoroughly suited to a Midwinter read - all I'm missing is the log fire to curl up in front of!

As for the rest of December's reads - I still really want to make a start on the non-fiction pile so will pick up the Wendell Berry once I have finished The bear and the nightingale and then I think it will time to turn to the spooky mystery of Barbara Erskine's Sleeper's Castle. I've loved her books ever since I first read The lady of Hay many many years ago so this will be a real treat.

I've feeling that might well be it for books this month what with Christmas company, troublesome jigsaws and new crafty projects to try but we shall see.

December's Bookshelf...

New challenge

Catching up on other people's blogs has become a fun part of my winding down routine in the evening and tonight I stumbled on the "Winter Photographic Scavenger Hunt" challenge posted by Eileen on The Bracelet of Days blog. So folks, I'm going to give it go. There is a list of twenty headings and we have to find a photo to meet each heading between now and the end of March 2019. I have copied and pasted the list below so you can see what you are going to get as the months go by, assuming I manage to stick with it:

1. At the end of the day
2. Pool of light
3. Fastener
4. Nail
5. A group activity
6. Water dispenser
7. Horse
8. Chocolate
9. Peel/peeling
10. Holly
11. Dressed for the season
12. Glitter
13. An instruction
14. A crossing place
15. Flight
16. A measurement
17. Orange
18. A natural feature
19. A carved object
20. A method of communication

Watch this space!

December has arrived....

And all about the house it smells of fruity spicy cake....

Christmas Cake baked and cooling in the kitchen today

And sounds like...

And whilst the cake cooked and the music played we did battle with this...

Impressionist paintings do not make easy jigsaws!

Happy December All.

Willow withies for weaving

Willow stand last weekend - before it's haircut

Willow cutting day arrived with a beautiful sunny start and much less wind than yesterday so I wrapped up warm and filled the flask whilst J loaded up the tools and we headed up to the plot.  I love this job each year, not only is it very much a free crop but it's also a relatively quick job that can be done no matter what the weather has been like for the preceding week. The original withies were given to us by a fellow plot holder who worked clearing canal and river banks following a flood about eight or ten years ago and we popped them in not really expecting them to do much - it was the wrong time of year, we grow on sandy soil and the planting place used to be the road-stone heap for the rest of the site before we took on the plot. The withies really wanted to grow though and now we have a wonderful shady screen for our shed, a seemingly never-ending supply of bean poles & weaving material and a great wildlife stop-over to boot. Even this year the stand of willows have put on around 15ft of growth and in previous wetter years the poles have been known to be over 20ft tall!

Last year's sticks dried & ready for use

Cut pile growing

Some of the smaller (5ft and under) whips will be going to the hospice with me this week for use in the craft corner - the person in charge has already looked out simple to make stars and hearts ready for adding to folks Christmas piles. I've also popped a few short sticks in the pile in case anyone wants to make fairy wands!

First bundle ready

Drying pile

J turned some of the bigger whips into a couple of circular plant supports for me to use in the garden here and these join the sweet-pea wigwams and Christmas decorations he's made in previous years. We stacked the rest of the crop on the plot to start drying out (never use fresh cut willow as a plant support as it has a tendency to grow into a lovely little willow tree!) and brought some smaller whips back for me to play with over the next week.

Half way there

Job done!

A wonderful day made even better by my first spotting of a raven circling overhead - it's croaking call was unmistakable and such a joy to hear!

One of J's large plant supports and my mini hoop effort

November plotting part 2

Last Saturday we took a trip to the plot so J could collect some of the fallen leaves ready to make that magical ingredient that all organic gardeners treasure - leaf mould. The perfect ingredient for mulches, potting composts and seed sowing in the Spring, it takes a year or so to rot down and can't be bought in any store. 

Whilst he raked and swept and filled a cubic metre compost bin with the finest autumn treasure, I took a little stroll along the path and collected pictures of the creamy hazel catkins and russet coloured alkanet leaves, the last of the fading blue cornflowers and deepest pink sedum and the bare skeletons of the wonderful old gnarly bullace that sits in our hedgerow and the apple trees dotted across the plot. As I pottered about and then snuggled up in the car under my blanket to wait for J to finish I started to feel a bit like Frederick the mouse gathering colours and feelings whilst all the other mice gathered grain and nuts for the winter but rather than weaving stories I hope to use some of the photos to help my painting efforts over the coming months. December is nipping at our heels and the seasons are definitely turning - tomorrow is willow cutting day...

Whirlwind Week

Not quite sure where the week has gone! The weekend was fun - J potted up the pansies grown from seed and then shuffled a few of the pots around outside so we'll be able to see them flower from the back door later in the winter. He also popped a couple of seed feeders on to hooks in the front porch so I can see the birds from the front room. These are a lovely addition to the repaired stand in the back garden so I can add garden bird spotting to my list of winter distractions. Hopefully they'll find the feeders soon and I can pepper future blog posts with cheery pictures. We also started a new jigsaw but this one may be even more of a challenge than the previous ones - it's an impressionist painting with all the fuzzy colours that that implies - it'll keep us busy for quite a few weeks I think!

I've had a couple of medical appointments this week with some good news from the consultant on Wednesday - looks like my current treatment is working and keeping the cancer under control so I'm on an even keel for a while with no treatment changes for the next few months if all goes to plan. Hopefully this means I can focus on improving the strength in my back and legs and getting out and about a bit more. Actually Wednesday was a really good day - I had the chance to play with some glass paints at the hospice and came home with a little tealight holder that I had decorated with an owl. This was really therapeutic and quite simple to do once we had managed to get the template positioned on the inside. Then I could trace round the edges with a liner and fill in the spaces. I'm really pleased with the result but you can judge for yourself as it's in the last of this week's snapshots.