First signs of spring

In the depths of midwinter, when the trees have been stripped of their leaves and the land is lacking in the colours of summer, it is almost revitalising and hopeful to see the first signs of spring emerging.  Not that I have anything against Winter; I love living in a country with seasons. To be snuggling in warm wooly jumpers, scarfs, hats etc, and being outside on glorious crisp fresh winters days is, in my opinion, truly good for the soul. But, it is always nice to know that a New Year is just around the corner and Mother Nature shows us many signs.  Be this the first shoots of a bulb sprouting its way up through the earth or a tiny bud forming on the plant, it is a welcome reminder that spring will arrive once again, the days will lengthen and the land will continue to provide us with its bounty.

The first shoots of Ramones which will soon cover the woodland with a pungent white carpet and an early sign from all the various bulbs we planted.

I digress....

Yet again there is rather large space of time since I updated anything on here; in theory I love the idea of regular, even (dare I say it?) daily updates-so far, that's exactly what that remains; a theory, one suited to someone who is not me, someone far more organised and dedicated than me! That's no reflection on my organisation or dedication, more that blogging has not yet reached anywhere near the top of my 'to do list'. Must try harder.....

One thing that does dictate my posts, or lack of them, is relevant content.  The Woodland is such a large project, started from the utter beginning, that not only does each task take a considerable amount of time, but that a lot of our plans and ideas cannot be achieved overnight, or even in a calculable period of time (grrrr!-The grumble is only my expression of lack of patience, I'm afraid im quite an impatient gardener).

So I've decided that, to sustain the life of this blog, I shall have to digress....

Henceforth, I will be adding activities and such like that, whilst not directly undertaken at the woodland, are an important aspect of mine and my familys' life and which are relevant to the whole ethos of 'the good life'.

One of the main reasons I began this blog was as a personal document of our woodlands' progress; I see now that I, my family, and our daily lives are an integral part of this process.  Life, just as the Woodland Project, is very much a learning journey; our experiential knowledge shapes future growth and great lessons can be learned from the seemingly simplest of tasks. 

For now I would like to share some pretty, if rather belated, pictures of the Woodland to fill in the gaps from May to July.  We haven't made a great deal of alterations or undertaken any major projects there since laying the hedge and building herb corner; however, Mother Nature has been busy indeed. 

Ramsons; During May, at the woodland edge of the meadow, as far as the eye could see, appeared a white carpet of wild garlic; the slightly pungent, yet not overpowering, smell as we walked through meant the thought of food was never far away.

Throughout May, the shaded, moist soil conditions obviously made the perfect habitat; It was a veritable foragers feast and I collected hearty amounts for culinary use.  See recipes 'Hummus' 'Wild Garlic Pesto'

More Pictures

Just a quick update on the Woodland and some pictures.

First blooms on the trees.

We aren't expecting fruit from the hardwood trees this year however, we have planted plenty of soft fruit bushes that we hope will provide us with at least a pies worth. 

On the search for edible wild food, and my new found interest mushrooms ('cos Im a fun guy!!) we found a sizeable clump of 'Jews Ears'. I'm a little sad to say that we didn't pick or attempt to cook with these; apparently they are popular in Chinese cooking, used to flavour soups and stews. As they are commonly found throughout the year, on living or dead wood especially Elder, I may attempt something next time. 

One mushroom I couldn't resist trying, after research to ensure safety, was the Oyster.  

With its unmistakable decurrent gills and faint aniseed like smell, I was most excited about this find; unlike husband who was most dubious that we could possibly all catch our death with my next culinary foray.   Sautéed in a little butter, these delicately seafood tasting mushrooms lived up to their name  and a tasty supper was thoroughly enjoyed.

Elderflower Champagne

The time of year has arrived to make Elderflower Champagne.  Last year we tried this recipe and with a few amendments it worked- Yipee, so we will be giving it another go 

www.channel4.com › ... › Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipes‎

It is hard to say the exact quantity of Elderflower we used, we were working with the motto of 'the more the merrier' and this year we must've picked a great day to collect them as the trees were positively bursting with flowers.  We ambled around our local area, armed with a large collecting bag (not plastic as these tend to make any contents hot and wet in the sunshine), picking the whitest most delicately scented blooms we could find. Ive read that at certain times of day the aroma changes from banana scented to that of cat-pee-make of that what you will. 

We then placed all our ingredients into a large (new) bucket and it's sitting in my dining room, covered with muslin cloth, near the patio window, happily fermenting in the warmth of the sunshine.  It does give off a very distinct aroma, like that of Lychee, quite perfumey and delicate.  I recall that we added additional champagne yeast last year, as a boost for the natural yeast and to aid fermentation along. I will check on the progress in a few days before deciding if that's necessary this time. Then it will be decanted or strained into plastic bottles and kept in our shed for a few weeks. A quick google search will identify many tales of exploding bottles, hence we use plastic bottles and put it out of harms way in the shed.  Last year, to my amazement, the bottles would swell with the pressure of the carbon monoxide inside and I would release this with a twist of the bottle tops.  One thought with this though is how this will affect the final fizz factor when the brew is ready? Surely one 'de-gas' too many would result in a flat champagne?  Think I need to read more about this.

Some Elderflowers

 Hopefully, our 'champagne' will be ready in a few weeks, just in time for my birthday, which would make a lovely celebratory tipple.  Much of my reading around this champagne suggests that the alcohol content is variable, with a maximum of 14%.  Last years' brew did have a definite alcohol content, but I doubt it was anywhere near a strong wine or 14%.  Without going to the expense of buying a kit to test this I wouldn't really know.  That said, the beauty of drinking this is, for me, the knowledge that I have succeeded in using natural wild food to create it. 

Fingers crossed-I will keep you posted.

Broody hen

Well, I am very excited to announce that we have got a broody hen!!

This has only happened to us once, last year, in the three years we have been keeping backyard chickens.  Sadly, before I could get too excited sly fox paid us a devastating visit see post 'Ups and Downs' 

Anyhow, the broody one is a warren, which Ive heard is unusual to go broody? So, after watching  her sitting on a clutch for a few days-so I was sure she wasn't teasing me, and not having a cockerel, I went to purchase some fertile eggs.  In my dream of the self sufficient living etc, I like the idea of breeding and raising chickens, both for eggs and meat but also for sale; in my farm shop of course!  This raised the question of what eggs to buy; where do you start?  I'm quite a novice yet, I don't mix frequently with anyone who keeps more than a few chickens for eggs let alone breeds chickens, so I wasn't at all sure where to start.  The idea of raising some table birds has been discussed before and I would also really like some bantam chickens (see post Ducklings); so it was decided that I would go back to the breeder that we bought our girls from and go from there.

Much to my husbands amazement, I returned with 12 bantam eggs; I say amazement because his reaction went something like

"I thought you were buying 6 table birds? what are we going to do with 12 bantams?"

( Proof that if I don' take the children and husband then I am either likely to make a random decision or get my own way!! )

Why dear husband, we are going to begin our foray into pure breed bantam chickens. As said, We now have a clutch of 12 tiny eggs, two are brown-Old English Game, one is white-Sussex and the others are a lovely blue green- Araucana.

As mentioned I am new to hatching and so Ive been reading around the subject again.  Lots of conflicting advice.  Do we move the hen and her eggs and risk freaking her out and breaking the broodiness? Or do we leave her where she is?; in the nest box in the henhouse, and hope that she copes just as well as she would in nature or if she was a free range bird?  We decided to leave her where she is; partly because we haven't set up another area suitable for her.  If you have any experiences of this then I would appreciate any comments or advice?

I am working on the basis that the incubation period for a standard size breed chicken is around 21 days, with bantams often hatching earlier-around 18 days, and I will update this page when there has been any developments

Fingers crossed for her, I do hope it goes well.

Spring has sprung

The meadow is looking lush and green. There is an awful lot of doc and the balsam has made a small appearance, but we will not dwell in that and take measures if and when it becomes necessary!

The soft fruit bushes, currants, gooseberries and blueberries are all bursting with the first signs of new green growth, as are the fruit trees we planted. There is even a tiny blossom flower on one-fingers crossed we may get a harvest this year?

I'm equally impressed with the daffodils and narcissus bulbs, despite being planted several weeks beyond what I thought to be the preferred planting time, they have flowered nicely.

All in all it's a lovely sight to behold and I can't help feeling like the luckiest lady to have such a beautiful place.

Cold frame propagation

Today I finally fulfilled another of my dreams and purchased a cold frame.  Not a very expensive one, but one nevertheless. Yay! Now I can, in earnest, join the realm of gardeners who attempt to squeeze a few extra weeks out of mother nature either end of the planting season.

Husband has never been too enthusiastic about my owing one of these.  Think he  possibly views them as another addition to my hoarding habits; rather like the amount of garden pots I accumulate, and most recently glass bottles and jars of all shapes and sizes (but that's another story in itself!).  Personally, I think he should much prefer an outdoor propagator than having the windowsills crammed with seed trays, so really I bought it as a kind gesture-honest!.

I was mightily pleased with myself when it came to assembling said cold frame too.  Having not been blessed with the greatest of spatial/logical awareness, being generally rubbish at jigsaws and such, I was the very proud erector of cold frame within a matter of minutes; possibly 60 of them but still good going I reckon!

And here is said cold frame......

Complete with cuttings; they didn't come included in the flat pack- I did those myself in anticipation!

It is quite a bit larger than I anticipated, (oops!)  in fact it is probably the size of a one man tent, which is great news for me and my seedlings; if husband is very cross about the new garden accessory, I could comfortably sleep in it!

So, now that I have a real space to begin sowing tender seeds whilst there is still a nip of frost about, what shall I plant?

At the Woodland, we are currently building a terraced area up into the embankment ,in a sheltered corner ,that I am planning to fill with herbs and such like.  So, I have taken some cuttings from established plants that overwinter quite nicely in the garden.  This is not something that I have done before but after a little reading decided that it didn't sound too tricky and, if successful, a great (free!) way to get some new plants.  I have taken a small amount, mainly herbs; mint, lavender, oregano, rosemary plus some hydrangea and clematis, thinking that I will allow them a few weeks in the propagator and if they don't appear to have died then I will consider it a success and take more!

My method;  starting with healthy, established plant specimens, I cut off several pieces of around 4-5 cms.  I stripped the lower leaves from the stem and dipped them into hormone rooting gel, I then potted them into small pots filled with seed and cutting compost and watered them in gently.  They are currently in the propagator, I will update on their progress.