Reflections and resolutions

I think it's true to say that 2011 didn't really go as planned or hoped. Far more of my time and energy went into the day job than I had anticipated, to the detriment of my health, well-being and balance, and my back, IBS, and chronic fatigue symptoms have been dramatically worse as the year has worn on (although attempting to cut out wheat from my diet has helped a bit with the IBS latterly). The dodgy back put paid to a lot of plans for the garden and growing-my-own, and I am having to think carefully about 2012 to ensure I don't get lumbered (no pun intended) with crops which I have sown but can't tend. And I have had to give up on the idea of a smallholding and sheep any time soon.

The growing realisation that unless I do more creative work, and get my day job down to the hours I am contracted for in order to have time and energy for creative work, I am going to be very unwell and unhappy in the near future has been a wake-up call this autumn. No doubt the recession zeitgeist has contributed too, but I have been thinking increasingly about simplifying and minimising my life, moving from being a consumer to a creator. This might sound a bit grand, but the ongoing battle to keep on top of my clutter to enable me simply to use my workspace has left me feeling overwhelmed by all the STUFF in my life - so much of which does not seem to have been acquired by any conscious process! So - the plan for 2012 is to consume less - to ask more questions about whether we really need it before it gets bought or otherwise comes into the house. And, conversely, to own less - my aim is to finish the year having got rid of at least one third, and preferably half, of my STUFF.

This will be a tall order - especially with the books. I pick a random book of the bookcase in my room. Myths and Legends of the Celts by James MacKillop. How long have I had this? About 5 years, I think. Have I read it? No. Have I ever consulted it? No. Am I really likely to read it in the next 12 months? No. But it looks really interesting! Grrrr. Amazon Marketplace, here I come!

A lot of my clutter results from working at home, with my head office a 34-mile round trip away. Obviously, I want to make sure that everything I am likely to need to have to hand is here. And the nature of my job means I generate a huge amount of paper, training manuals, books and filing. Some things I can no doubt get rid of to the new shelves which I have just requested for head office. But a lot will need to remain, and my challenge is to stop it multiplying and taking over every available space. It's the area which will demand most discipline. I might manage the one third reduction, but not the half, as this would compromise my effectiveness if the things I need are not here where I need them.

Clothing should be easier - I have got rid of a huge amount already, either on eBay or to charity shops, as my weight loss over the last year has meant I am now about 3 sizes smaller an most things I owned a year ago just don't fit. However - I seem to have about a hundred pairs of black socks in various stages of degeneration, which will need to be edited! Again, a significant amount of underwear is now too large to wear again, and must go. I seem to have 3 large drawers full of assorted underwear, but can never find what I need for the day.

One room at a time - bedroom, office, guest room, boxroom, kitchen, living room, utility, garage (leave the worst till last - and all the stuff heading for the dump will have ended up there anyway!).

Simplify the vegetable gardening, in line with what is now possible with a bad back and a partner who loathes gardening.

Make time to get stuff out of the house - to the dump, the charity shop, or listings on eBay or Amazon - no point decluttering a room if the output ends up cluttering the hall or garage instead! Realistically, I am going to have to spend half a day a week on this for the foreseeable future.

I think back to how lovely a house is when it's empty, or when you stay in a hotel - the mental clarity afforded by clear surfaces and only having the things around you that you actually need. I have always loved William Morris' dictum, to have only those things 'which you know to be useful or believe to be beautiful' - I just seem to have got lost somewhere along the way.

So, Mr Morris, 2012 is going to be your year - and if by next Christmas I do indeed only have things in my home which I know to be useful (as opposed to 'might come in useful one day'!) or believe to be beautiful (including having had time to actually make some art) then 2012 will have been a huge improvement on 2011.

New potting table results in flurry of activity!

I have finally got a potting table - this means that I can pot, sow and generally mess around with compost without hurting my back with repeated bending. Many thanks to Emma who offered a melamine-covered table on Freecycle. It is in the little yard area just outside the back door, with a pot-graveyard underneath it, all very convenient. As a result, I have finally got round to potting up the tomato plants which I started off in the little growhouse, I don't know how many will survive the transplantation as it always seems so brutal to disrupt them, but I had 12 healthy plants to start with so hopefully I'll still have enough for a good crop. The variety is Tiny Tim, which is suitable for growing in pots. They are all in large terracotta pots along the back wall of the house.

I also sowed some corn salad, aka lamb's lettuce, which we both like and are currently consuming in industrial quantities from the supermarket in expensive bags. I'll sow some more in a couple of weeks so that we have a succession.

A few days ago I put the second lot of chard into bed 3. The chard in bed 2 is up, but slow, as it was last year. In bed 1, the Little Gems are fine, but the pak choi got slugged again, so I'll give up on that! It's nice, but not worth the fight with the slugs - they always win. I've also now got broad beans successionally in all three raised beds - they last ones haven't come up yet, should be here any day!

I think that will be it for this year - salad leaves, toms, chard and broad beans. Next year I might try carrots in pots!

Right - back to making supper, sadly not from home-grown ingredients this time :(

Pictures!

Went out with the camera this lunchtime to take some pictures of the Acer palmatum Okagami, and the quince blossom.

Germination

Germination is breaking out all over. In raised bed 1, the pak choi and little gem lettuce are now up, as are about half of the broad beans. Cue frantic watering! A few of the sweet peas are up in the mini greenhouse, as are all the salad leaves - had the greenhouse open to the sun for a few hours today, and they grew before my very eyes!

Next lot of sowing is scheduled for this weekend - need more compost first!

Meanwhile, the guerilla rhubarb is up again with a vengeance, and has been cut for the benefit of Karen (my wonderful cleaner, who loves rhubarb crumble) and Pixie. So glad to have good homes for it, as I am not desperately keen on it myself, and it's a lot of hassle to prepare.

Moley is still going strong...

The rowan tree

The microscopic rowan tree has surprised me by suddenly producing lots of flowers - four trusses so far - so maybe we'll see some berries this year! It always amazes me how the tiniest rowans seem to be able to carry the weight of great bunches of berries. The idea of the rowan tree was partly to provide bird-food, so this is good. Talking of bird-food, must go and re-fill the seed feeders, the sudden spate of greenfinches this morning has finished the last of the seed off!

Salad veg has germinated in the greenhouse, but still waiting for the sweet peas. They always seem to take for ever!

The mole is excavating a great swathe across the lawn. If Matthew has his way, its days are numbered, but I am holding firm to the belief that it has a right to live in our garden, even if its activities are seriously inconvenient! Does anyone know how long moles live? This is the second spring we've had this one. And since next door's excavations for their new garage, our garden is now pretty much landlocked, so it's unlikely to be able to dig its way out to somewhere else - I think we're stuck with it for its natural lifespan...

A whole lot of sparrows have just appeared - don't get many of them, so it's always nice when they appear. The pair of bullfinches have been around a lot over the last week or so, such handsome birds. All we need now is a hedgehog, and we'd have a right little nature reserve here!

Quince!

Very exciting - the quince tree has blossom buds! I counted 20-odd earlier. Brave little tree - I'm not convinced it's strong enough to carry fruit if it manages to set any, but full marks for trying!

The first salad leaves (Salad Bowl) have germinated in the mini greenhouse. And 11 out of 12 asparagus crowns have sprouted spears - many more of them than last year, too.

First sowing of the year

I see from my gardening diary of last year that it is exactly 12 months to the day since my first sowing last year! The warm weather tempted me out today to do some sowing of misc things for the mini greenhouse.

I have sowed three varieties of sweet pea from Kings Seeds - Tara, Ethel Grace, and Alan Williams (three more will go in at the end of the month). Also tomato Tiny Tim, and four large pots of salad leaves to get the season started - lollo rosso, Salad Bowl, rocket and a mixture of oriental salad leaves.

I also sowed the first of the broad beans Bunyard's Exhibition into bed 1 (the raised be nearest the house), together with some pak choi and Little Gem lettuces. Little Gem did well for me last year despite severe neglect, but pak choi got slugged, so we shall see - if it's not a success this year, I'll give in gracefully and concentrate on other things!

I really need to get some large troughs for the salad leaves - the Factory Shop had some last week, maybe I'll call in on my way home tomorrow and see if they still have any. Six would be good - two for tomatoes (rather like growbags, but more orderly!) and four for a succession of salad leaves.

More will go in at the end of the month - I have a list! - but so far I have filled two and a half of the four shelves of the mini greenhouse. More sweet peas, more toms, and the chilli which is my fun sowing of the year, will account for the rest, I think. When the sun has been on it for a couple of hours, it's appreciably warmer in there than outside. It will be interesting to see what effect it has on germination times - I recorded those last year, so have a benchmark - last year's were indoors, but in very dark conditions as I just don't have enough windowsill space in this house (and what there is tends to be rather prone to being jumped on by Sophie! - for whom I have also sown the latest indoor mini-lawn of cat grass!).

The trees are all looking good - the quince especially is well on and covered in lovely downy leaves. Given the hammering they had during the winter, I am quite relieved. The dogwoods are in leaf too, which looks great against the red stems.

The Acer palmatum Okagami which I bought down in Dorset last year, and which I potted on in Feb as per instructions from the nursery, is looking well too - lovely deep wine-red leaves, which is what it's supposed to do! I really must get round to getting it a proper pot soon - the blue glazed one it's temporarily standing in (simply to stop it blowing over) doesn't suit its new colour scheme at all. Cue a visit to the garden centre!

Mini greenhouse!

The mini greenhouse has arrived! An eBay bargain, it's a 4 tier Gardman - very sturdy, but easy to put together, took only a quarter of an hour by myself. It's now in place at the back of the house, getting all the afternoon and evening sunshine. Very soon (poss next weekend) I will have to get on and do some sowing...no excuse not to, now!

First post of the season!

This blog rather ground to a halt last year, so I am going to try to be better at keeping it up to date this year. My back problems caused me to have to give up on a lot of things last season, and although it is rather better this year, I now know that I have severe limitations when it comes to gardening, and must be sensible about what is achievable.

Th autumn clearing up never got done, as it snowed at the end of November, and that was that really for a couple of months! I am attempting to enthuse Matthew about bramble clearance, as it really does need to be dealt with, along with clearing the large pots, drilling drainage holes in a couple of them, weeding the patio, and a few other jobs I can't do myself because they involve bending and/or lifting.

The mole is back - again, as last year, when the snow melted, the molehills became apparent. Am trying to prevent Matthew from calling in the mole catcher, as I really don't want it killed.

I am awaiting the arrival of my Gardman mini greenhouse - I went for a 4 tier one in the end, had toyed with a 5 tier one but decided that this might be more likely to blow over, and also replacement plastic zip-up covers (and indeed fleece covers) are easily available for the 4 tier size but not for other sizes. The idea is that the growhouse will go against the back wall of the house, and benefit from the fact that the wall soaks up the sun from about lunchtime, and radiates for quite a while after sunset. Last year I found that I had insufficient windowsill space in this house for seedlings, and would definitely need some greenhouse space if I was to grow anything much!

As soon as the growhouse arrives and is assembled, I will get on with some early sowing - sweet peas and some salad veg - by the end of March, with more sowings planned for April and May. I am hoping the sweet peas will actually grow this year! They were very disappointing last year, mostly I think due to low light indoors in the early stages.

The raised beds need weeding too, and then some time in the next few weeks I will get the broad beans in. The asparagus bed is pretty much clear of weeds, and the first fingertip-sized spear of asparagus came up at the weekend, which is very exiting. Next year we cut our first crop!