Bon voyage alliums

At last, some of the plants that I've started this year have travelled down to Leitrim :-)

Today, Sam took the garlic, onion sets and leeks down with him in the car.

I still won't be down until next week - but they are hardy enough to manage until then.

Sam was down last week, working on the vents for the heat recovery system and setting up for the plumbing. He didn't take any pictures. Mind you, pictures of tubing / piping might not seem to exciting - but I'll remind him to take pics this week.

Here's what the car looked like before he went down.

Garlic and onions in the boot.

More garlic (including 2 elephant garlic) on the back seat.

Some leeks .. and some more garlic (with more unseen in the footwell) on the front passenger seat.

That should keep any vampires away for a while. I didn't mean to plant THAT much, but every time our shop bought garlic started sprouting, I just had to plant it, especially the scrawny ones that are hardly worth peeling. So, garlic is in good supply.I might add some of the tiny ones to the flower bed and keep the 'proper' ones (2 cloves of Flavor) for the vegetable bed.

There are still a lot more seedlings to be moved down. This picture is just SOME of them. I fancy sticking to my planting plan, even though I'll have more ssedlings to bring down next week. I've also purchased some more flower seeds (tagetes, poached egg plant, nigella) to sow in situ soon - to divide patches of bed and make the place colourful.

Here are some of the broad beans waiting to go down.

All we need now is to get the Bongo van cheered up and running again. Otherwise it'll be a few trips in the car, especially with ducks and cats, which could be quite a juggling act.

I'm sending the Bongo Van good energy and trusting that Sam can get it sorted when he comes back at the end of the week.

Meanwhile, I'm busy trying to source paint - and we need a LOT of paint that is benign to us and nature and also affordable - and source other materials, while I have good internet access.

I reckon we can have the phone line in soon - a good neighbor came today (impromptu) and helped Sam feel the telephone cable down the piping . Luckily it was sorted easily (he put some flexible water pipe down it and ran the cable through with it - then removed the water pipe).

We'll need to remember the rope when we lay the piping for the electric - the ESB won't touch it if you don't.

I'm really looking forward to getting the phone in, as the mobile signal is very weak and I fancy conversations that last until the end without breaking up or dropping. It will make ordering things a bit easier when we're down.

And the electricity - well - it'll be party time when we have that in - and can run the well properly and easily run gadgets, lights and things other than tools (which naturally get priority with the generator).

My fingers are crossed that the good weather will remain (or at least return by next week), so I can go re-aquatint myself with the garden whilst basking in cheery sunlight. The sunshine lately just makes everything look lovely and lush and gorgeous. Long may it continue.

Seeds - sprouting to eat and testing viability

I love seeds - little packets of potential, each and every one.

In fact I'm sure that my excitement at seeing growth burst forth those seeds is part of my enticement to sprout seeds to eat, like these green lentils, that are just starting to put out their first shoots (or is it roots?).

Anyway, it genuinely does excite me every time I see my seeds come alive.

At this time of year I have to resort to putting them into the airing cupboard at night to encourage them.

I always have something in my seed sprouter. As well as green lentils (which taste mildy spicy) I like a steady supply of alfalfa -

Here it is ready for consumption (usually in salads or smoothies)

I also liked sprouted beans, these are some adzuki beans I'm sprouting in an old cotton tea sock.

Mung beans are also a favourite. There is something very fresh and alive about eating these tender wee shoots. They are also very nutritious.

Luckily, the time has come when I can do more than sprout my alfalfa. I have a plethora of seeds thats I've collected and part used over the past few years. I'm not sure which are still viable, so I test them by sprouting them.

I soak them in water for 6 - 12 hours and then pout them in a container on some damp kitchen roll and put them in the airing cupboard for warmth.

I can already happily note that my pea bijou and cherokee trail of tears beans from 2009 are still viable. I'd nearly given up on my Jacob's cattle bean (below) but even they are making a belated .. and slightly begrudging attempt to come to life.

I have many more to try and I think its better to do it now, than try to sow them in the spring, find out what isn't viable, order more and wait for delivery. This way, I'm pretty sure of what will grow and what won't. It also keeps me busy in these 'lean' sowing times, before things really get busy in March.

Of course, I couldn't resist starting some onions from seed today. I've decided to pre soak them overnight although I don't know if they need it, but there's no harm in it.

In the clear glass we have onion batalan and in the pink glass we have long red florence.

Last week I started some broad beans (Super Aquadulce) - which I'm sure do benefit from pre soaking, as it really helps them swell and take up water. I'm sure it gives them a head start.

I had to start them off in the house, in an unheated propagator. I tried starting them last year in the glass barn, but my first sowing was eaten by mice.

This time, I'll wait until the shoots appear before putting them out or in the barn.

In the picture below, if you look VERY carefully, you can see the very first signs of shoots coming up. I'm starting to salivate at the thought of them already - silly me.

I'll do some successional sowing of my broad beans this year, as they were very popular last year and I'd love to extend the season. I'll start them off in modules and probably plant the first batch in containers (they did well in containers last year) and, fingers crossed, I might be able to transplant the second batch to the Leitrim garden .. or put them in containers that we could bring down to Leitrim, if we get to start building again.

The date for the planning decision is set for the end of January. I've asked the engineer and councillor to talk to the planners now, so if they have any issues with the new reports we can sort it now. Otherwise, their favourite game is to wait and send a letter asking for further information on the decision due date, thus postponing the decision (they must have done this twice already).

So, fingers and toes are crossed that we get it sorted this time. The environmental impact report is glowingly good, we've made more changes to the reedbed spec, including better drainage around the bed, and added a willow bed to the sewerage system to comply with their new regulations (that came in after we'd built the reed bed and had the plans for it approved) .. and we've been waiting since the end of September 2009 to get this sorted. (At the time they said it would take 6 - 8 weeks. Things really do move at their own pace in Ireland).

It really would - will ? - be lovely to tell you all that the 'adventure' is resumed and that we'll get down to resume the build and the gardening in Leitrim this Spring.

Until then, I can keep planning the details .. and dreaming of having our own home and garden again.