I always find this a strange turn of seasons. Especially because the transition is so vague. Spring is cut and dried. We are so over winter that we are happy to declare the 1st of September the first day of spring no matter how freezing and miserable it is. It is spring people and we just need to wrap up warm and get on with … Continue reading Well autumn aye?!
Currently, in my gardenless state, any opportunity to get up close and personal with any kind of gardening and I’m in. Even a rain soaked autumnal day won’t dampen my enthusiasm, so when I was invited to help pick apples and help get them pressed for cider making I jumped at the chance. I even dragged Hubby the Un-Gardener with me as being cooped up … Continue reading Collecting apples for crushing
I find if I want to figure out how something works it is important to know everything. I’m not very good at accepting things at face value if it means I’m not quite clear on how it works. Except possibly the remote control on the TV. That is way beyond me and I freely admit to asking the kids to switch it from X-box mode … Continue reading Soaking in the Science
I don’t know about you but I needed a break from all that heavy sciency stuff. You should see what I have been looking into for us next! I do have to say it has been a great distraction from the fact we still don’t have a house. There have been a few delays – which to be honest was probably expected. Either way, the … Continue reading Sweet Chilli Goodness
On my journey to understanding my sandy soil from the plant to the soil, we have already found that the plant pretty much sucks up the water from the soil and releases it out of the leaves as water vapour in some kind of super pump delivering the nutrients along the way. There are other uses for the water in the plant, but we’re just … Continue reading The root of the problem
Just to recap – I am on a journey to understanding my sandy soil that has taken me into the murky depths of soil and plant science to find clarity. I am trying to understand the reason behind things, so it makes sense as to why we do things. Just saying plants absorb nutrients from the soil is all good and well when you have … Continue reading How do plants work?
When you have great soil, you don’t really need to give it much thought. Just pop the plants in, they grow wonderfully, you harvest a bountiful crop and then chuck in some more compost and fertilisers to replace what was lost and away you go again. And for most people that is how it is. For me that is how it was. But then you … Continue reading What makes soil tick
I’ve been pleasantly surprised. The sandy soil isn’t actually all that bad. I always thought of it as a soulless substrate that contained very little goodness that needed amending within an inch of its life! I believed those who had sandy soil hand been dealt a bad hand and I thanked my lucky stars I wasn’t one of them. But now I’m one of them … Continue reading The dirty lowdown
There is nothing that makes this girl happy like a load of dirt. Well actually well-rotted manure would do it too! To be honest, a house right now would put a smile on my face and I never say no to chocolate. I’m a simple creature. But as we are talking about dirt, if a load makes me happy, then five loads make me super … Continue reading Dirty Goodness
It is funny the way you get used to things. We’ve been out here living in a caravan for about 8 weeks or so. And in those 8 weeks there hasn’t been a whole lot of activity to be seen, except the arrival of the water tank the other week. It isn’t like things aren’t being done as behind the scenes the project manager has … Continue reading Chopping and changing.
