Ready To Spring Into Action

We've had two sunny days in a row up here in Castlewellan - bliss.

Sally has been taking advantage of the good weather and has taken to sunbathing on the doorstep. Good move methinks.

I have been joining her as often as I can. I'm nursing myself through a cold right now (I rarely get them) and although it is cold morning and evening the warmth of the sunshine is delightful (and with all the sneezing and nose blowing I haven't really been fit for much else).

I'm glad to be on the mend, for its really time to spring into action with the house building again.

Our official letter, the one they send a month after the initial decision - giving time for people to comment etc, was apparently sent out today. That will be 'the end of it'.

The couple of days of sunshine has been a morale booster - I'm dreaming of a sunny and warm Spring and Summer, with picnic lunches on the grass and moments of caught sunshine inbetween flurries of activity and general getting on with things. (Sally will be morale officer - usually found snoozing, as below)

We'll return next week - Sam wants the letter in his hands before he starts anything!

There are stud walls upstairs to put up, taping and jointing for me to do, the reedbed changes to sort out - it won't be dull, thats for sure.

Leo, another doorstep sunbather, is head supervisor - and cats are no pushover, so the work will have to be good.

In between my snufflings and sneezings, I've had moments of pure excitement - that we'll have a home again, that we can actively make progress and be where we want to be.

Until then, fingers crossed that there will be some more sunshine for Sally to enjoy.

Of course, it wasn't only the animals soaking up the rays. I've been tending to a few plants too. Here are the broad beans that we'll bring down to Leitrim to plant out.

Here's some garlic that will come down with us too.

Here are some saladlings that I sowed late last Autumn, as a trial. Now, there isn't a lot there, but they are coming on. There's pak choi that I might use soon and I'll probably pot on the lettuces and other wee orientals.

I did a similar trial, sowing last autumn, in the glass roofed barn. These are really coming on well (even though there isn't a huge amount, its good fun to see how well they do). Again, I have a mix of orientals - pak choi and mizuna, some lettuce and corn salad.

I also started some broad beans inside the barn early in the year and I've kept them inside until now. I'm not yet sure if I'll keep them in, for a very early crop, or harden them off - so they get to experience the great outdoors. I've interplanted them with some white viola - just for fun.

Earlier in the year, I sprouted some peas, to test their viability, and I used the tips as pea shoots. I decided to stick the remaining shoots in a pot in the glass barn. I don't know if they'll grow well - as the tips have been trimmed - but I intend to find out.

Last, but not least, are the tomatoes and peppers that were started indoors. I repotted them today and I'm hoping to transfer them to the glass barn now, before they get too leggy.

Next time, I'll post some pics from our last trip to Leitrim .. and soon, that will be our main focus again - thank goodness.

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.

How to take down a polytunnel

Well, we did take the tunnel down last Saturday (see previous post), as we said we would, with the much appreciated assistance of neighbors Brendan and William - thanks guys, we couldn't have done it without you.

Thanks also to everyone who offered their help, sympathy, food and suggestions - it all helped.

Here are some pictures of the event, in the hope that they might be useful to anyone having to take down a tunnel themselves or just change the plastic cover - which does need to be done every 5 - 7 years.

First thing to say is that it isn't a task to be taken lightly. It's messy and really does require at least a few helpers and a sunny still day is preferable. Luckily, we had helpers and good weather.

First things first, uncover the edges of the plastic (if you used the trench method, like we did). If you used base plates that you can attach the plastic to feel free to grin smugly and you watch the mess unfold as we uncover our trenches.

When we put the tunnel up, last May, we put weed suppressing membrane over the trenched soil and then gravel over the membrane - to make it neater. In this first picture I'm in the process of moving the gravel and membrane away from the trenched area.

Now we (I actually) have got to the soil that the plastic is buried below.

Next step is to evict the happily sleeping dog (and apologize to her and the plants that their shelter will soon be removed).

Here Sam has removed the plastic from around the doors.

Here Brendan is unearthing the western trench, so we can lift the plastic.

Now the cover is off (I was too busy helping to take pictures of that bit - sorry) and the tunnel is in skeleton form. If you are just changing the plastic cover, you just put on the new plastic and cover it using the soil that has just been excavated from the trenches. If only we were that fortunate.

Here you can see the trench depth - not too big at all, but it held the plastic firm through some rough winds last year.

The ladder is up, so we can start dismantling (it's the royal we this time, I'm helping from afar).

Here are the three lads taking down the hoops - there are already two hoops leant up against the hedge in the background.

All done now, time to survey the chaos left behind. There is a lot of spoil (unearthed clay soil) on the long bed that was beside the tunnel. Mind you it was looking scrappy anyway. To be honest, it all looked pretty dreadful once the tunnel was down and a few plants got damaged while the lads were maneuvering the frame.

Here's the view looking south. Even the planter on the right got damaged as we moved it out of the way in order to remove the tunnel. Yes, there's quite a bit of fixing up to do.

The planting beds were just shaped out of the soil and mushroom compost when I created the beds last year. With the tunnel up the environment was dry and the paths stayed relatively weed free. I have a feeling that now the whole area is open to the weather I will have to cover the paths or they will easily get squishy if wet and weed filled. I may use black membrane and tiles to start with (as I have them already available).

Here is a good example of the benefits of the tunnel for shelter. The two plants together in the foreground are sutherland kale, planted last spring in this borer outside the tunnel and overwintered there. They did well and have some nice new growth even though there is some wind / frost damage. The plant seen behind them is the same kale, planted inside the tunnel last spring. The leaves are all soft and tender and more lush - because of the shelter they got over the winter.

Here are the 'inside' and 'outside' kale again.

By now, I have made progress in backfilling the trenches and re-covering them with membrane and re-instating the gravel. It was harder work than I expected and I really felt it in my arms and back for a few days afterwards.

This is as far as I got with 'making good' before we had to leave site on Monday. There is still a lot of soil to move at the far end .. I'm not looking forward to it (and dread to think what it all looks like now after days of heavy rain).

I had better success on the western side, which I've completely leveled and covered with membrane and gravel.

Here is the south end after some hard graft.

Here's what's left for next time! The rest of the east side.

Yes, there is still work to do to 'make good'. At least then I can re-shape this long bed .. and the bed beside it that has been half taken over by grass. Hopefully things will start to look better then.

At least now we have the pictures taken of the tunnel being removed and so can proceed with the latest round of submissions for the planning authority. All we want is to be able to get back to our build and our land. My fingers and toes are crossed .... but, judging by recent experiences, I'm not going to hold my breath.