Monday morning, late summer. It's 10:30am and a chilly 8 degrees outside. It's a grey, drizzly, rainy day, there is snow on the mountain and I'm seriously thinking about lighting a fire. The teapot is full of hot tea and Hugo and I are still in our pjs :: a lucky day off from the morning school run.
Not that I'm complaining. At all. This is my kind of weather. Although plans to get stuck into the garden today will be put on hold. Which is a shame because I have a lot to do out there:
:: dig up my crop of pink fir apple potatoes - urgent, with all this rain, they will rot in the ground if I don't get them out pronto
:: feed this bed and sow some broccoli and kale seeds
:: layer two new raised beds with straw, compost, manure and top soil ready for planting winter picking greens
:: weed the paths, again.
:: search again for any signs of ripening tomatoes. Probably pointless.
Despite looking messy, the garden is quite productive at the moment, we're harvesting zucchinis, cucumbers, rhubarb, butter beans and black beans, perpetual spinach, ruby swiss chard, parsley and basil and potatoes.
But curses, once again this very mild summer has meant the tomatoes are very late, and now with this cold snap, they might not make it at all. Nothing for it but to build a greenhouse ready for the next growing season.
Actually we're planning quite a bit of work in the garden over the coming months, in an attempt to increase the food we grow at home. Along with the greenhouse, we've plans for a bigger chook run to increase our flock of girls, who are getting almost geriatric in egg production terms and a netted berry patch.
That's enough to keep us busy over the coming months. If this rain ever stops. No matter, the tea is still warm and I don't mind a lazy day indoors at all.
