Following the constant rain of April, May brought very warm temperatures with a couple of 34 degree days. Cue sowing 10 x 50 metre rows of maize and 10 rows of fodder peas as well as tomatoes, peas, beans, carrots and so on. The warm temperatures and long days made the veg patch go bonkers - weeds included - so we had to get in there with an angry hoe and Graham/Dads merry tiller (our unpaid weeder) to give our tender plants a fighting chance. We had deliberately planted rows 60cms apart in order to do the worst of the weeding mechanically with the tiller and the kids have enjoyed helping out finding and squashing the Colorado beetles that were attacking the spuds.
The poly tunnel has also gone crazy and we are about 2 weeks (at the most) from eating our first tomatoes. We have somehow amassed 80 tomato plants in the tunnel and out in the field which will make for a tomato mountain to make Heinz jealous. Last summer we processed the relatively small crop we had into sundried, chutney, ketchup and loads of pizza/pasta sauce but it only lasted until January so this year we are aiming BIG. This is a photo from when the tomatoes first went in;
Although it seems like a long wait until the main harvest, we are already enjoying strawberries from plants scrounged from our neighbours (the production will need to be increased threefold next year) and cherries off the trees that were already here. The peach crop looks heavy (so heavy that we have had to thin the fruit or the branches will break with the weight of fruit) and the plums look great again this year but the pears and apples will not do much unfortunately as we are in the process of rejuvenating previously abandoned trees (a 3 year process).
Al went on his first successful mushroom hunt today; having found only deadly ones up to now which when analysed in the reference book turned out to have names like "False Deathcap" and "Destroying Angel". Off he went with Didier the neighbour to a "secret" spot and came back with a large bucket full of perfect Girolles (Chanterelles) - enough for a few omelettes and to freeze the rest;
One major issue we had in mid May was one of the sluice gates that controls the level of the mill leat decided to disintegrate after a storm. The leat emptied out quite rapidly and we spent the best part of a day with a borrowed swimming pool net hauling fish out of the canal and re-homing them in the lake. We were expecting shopping trolleys and yet more shoes (?) but the bottom of the leat was remarkably clean although the place smelt like the tide was out at Skegness for a couple of weeks.
The sluice gate is a 3 metre high by 77cms wide piece of 8mm steel that was probably 100 years old. One of the re-enforcement braces gave way and the steel literally folded in two and out went quite a lot of water in a very short period. At the time Al was up a ladder above the gate whilst lowering it with the winding handle - that raised the heart rate a little! Al is taking on the engineering repairs and has already picked up the replacement steel plate and is now trying to work out how to raise the remnants of the old gate out and lower the new one in. There is a lot of chin-scratching going on.....
Furthermore on the DIY front, we are very happy with the downstairs bathroom which is now (nearly) finished, complete with Els/Granny's old bathroom taps, reclaimed bath, sink and WC, a renovated and converted kitchen cupboard, a 4euro car boot sale lamp and a home made mirror. Shame the rest cost a small fortune!
On the livestock front, we can report no more escapees; piggy penitentiary seems to be secure. The semi-tame mallards have produced 6 very cute ducklings (now down to 4 as they are terrible mums and keep leaving the ducklings behind). We have to regularly re-unite duckling to mum when we spot that one is on its own; with little thanks other than duckling pooh on your trousers! Our chickens have been periodically broody and have so far produced 6 lovely healthy chicks which will add to our layers.
We recently started hand-grinding maize to feed to the pigs. We found a grinder (car boot sale purchase of course) and began the laborious process of grinding half a tonne of maize (pigs can't digest whole kernels). Bee's bingo wings got an excellent workout but the inefficiency was evident. Al sourced a pulley system that could be attached to the trusty Merry-Tiller and we soon had a petrol-powered corn mill. Bingo! It seems quite silly milling like this when we are living in a water mill but firstly there is no water in the leat and secondly we have no idea on how to operate a stone mill; all in good time!
