31 January 2023

Working on the woodpile (still)

I was pleased and somewhat surprised to have a sunny and mild two days last weekend--normally that sort of weather is reserved for weekdays when I'm at work.  The daughter and I spent several hours in the garden, both having fun and getting work done;  the son also made a brief appearance too, although on his watch the loppers were broken beyond repair (though they were pretty old).

With the loppers gone, and pretty much all of our spare cash pledged to pay for essentials only (we've saved up to replace our single glazed windows with double glazing and so aren't making any other purchases for the next few months), resolving the coppice firewood pile might be a little tricky.  I still have some secateurs and a variety of hand saws--though to be honest I'm a little short on elbow grease.  

So instead of cutting up the long lengths of laurel still draped over my patio, I stripped them of their leaves and stacked them up to dry;  I collected the leaves because I thought they would make an acceptable straw substitute for the floor of the chicken house;  we just so happen to be out of straw.  After coming to this conclusion I raked out said coop--not a fun job--and shoved the big pile of leaves in for the chickens to spread around.  These leaves are thick and glossy still and should make the next raking out a bit easier (the compacted straw/manure was pretty solid).  I'm not done with all the laurel either, so I'll be continuing this experiment while my small flock is still confined (under a poulty housing order by the government, due to the avian influenza outbreak).

Once the laurels are finally all dealt with, I'll move the hawthorn trimmings up to the patio next;  these are mostly narrow diameter, to be cut with secateurs--no leaves attached.  This will be the end of this winter's coppicing.  It hasn't made much of a contribution to our woodpile, I must admit.  Still, it's free;  the trees are excellent wildlife habitat, good for privacy, and grow like crazy.  It's winter, and I might as well do something productive, right?

24 January 2023

Hibernating

It's getting lighter in the afternoons, after a very dark midwinter.  We get very little winter sun most of the time;  even if it's clear (unusual), the sun rises late and sets early.  It's still definitely too dark, but at least we've at the point where it's starting to feel like there will be spring sometime in the future.

We had a prolonged cold snap in December--almost two weeks without a thaw;  we're coming out of another one now, though this one has only been one week.  I like to have a sustained frost in the garden, to set back the slugs and bugs;  if we don't have one I know it'll be a bumper year for them (and a bad year for me).  Thankfully no snow (yet).

On the other hand, a frost means no real work for me in the garden.  I have been thinking about starting some onion seeds (indoors) and maybe the first batch of broad beans;  I need some potting soil.  I've done a little bit of pruning, and have been gradually working on the new batch of firewood:  cutting it to stove lengths and splitting a few pieces too.  However I'm still in hibernation mode, probably for another month at least.

17 January 2023

Grand total of garden food, 2022

Vegetables: 135 lb 6 oz (incomplete)

Fruit: 14 lb 15 oz (incomplete)

Eggs: 457

Some good news:  I beat 2021's totals in veg!  But not in eggs or fruit (though I might have done in fruit if I'd weighed the apples and plums).  Still not beaten my highest total of 201 lb, back in 2017 however.  Note: the veg totals are incomplete as I did not weigh the garlic or corn harvests, among a few others (though only up to about 5 lb at the most, I'd guess).  
 
I'm happy to have achieved a higher total than the previous year, at the very least.  Here's to a productive 2023;  let's get growing!

See previous grand totals: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016

10 January 2023

Food totals September-December 2022

A branch against a fence, loaded with red apples
Some of the harvest (Sparta apples) from September 2022

A basket of apples
Lots of apples (Laxton Fortune variety), September 2022

A homegrown cabbage on a countertop
Nice cabbages too, September 2022

A yellow squash growing on a vine
My one and only squash of 2022, though still in storage for 2023

Vegetables
 
227 oz tomatoes, green and red (mainly red)
1 oz chives
147 oz kohl rabi
71.5 oz cabbage
59 oz kale
125 oz beets
3 oz carrots
4.5 oz achocha
0.5 oz fennel
4 oz baby corn
2 oz French beans

Total: 644.5 oz, or 40 lb 4.5 oz

Fruits
 
23 oz figs
17.5 oz kumoi pears 

Total: 40.5 oz, or 2 lb 8.5 oz

Does not include (counted individually, not weighed):

73 Sparta apples
55 Laxton Fortune apples
24 Czar plums

Eggs
 
56 eggs from 5 hens and two ducks

(Look for 2022's grand totals next week)

03 January 2023

Growing firewood

I'm not quite prepared to do the year end food totals until next week (though I haven't posted the monthly totals here, I've been logging them on paper).  I've had my blogging break, and my life is somewhat on track.  Sort of.  I'll see if I can get back into the swing of things here.

This weekend the whole family got together out back to start coppicing our various hedging trees for next year's firewood (kindling, actually).  I have been saving trimmings from the garden for several years now;  the hedges are hawthorn and laurel, but the wood includes some elder, rose and fruit tree prunings too--among others.  The hawthorn and laurel both take coppicing very well, producing a lot of growth after a big cut--these I try to leave several years between trims, though I stagger the harvest and try to coppice a couple every year.  It sort of depends on which is the tallest/bushiest.

We don't produce enough trimmings to run our wood stove on, but certainly enough for kindling and for barbecues in summer.  No trees are killed for the sake of our barbecue--coppicing is a renewable, free source of wood.