Watching the cherries ripen.......?!

So I was in the Courtyard, planting more seeds.

It was a day long task, apart from having to cook lunch and then having a nap afterwards.

I planted loads of seeds.

It came to me when I woke up this morning that if they all come up then I shall have hundreds of seedlings to prick out, but the mild panic of not knowing where I was going to put them should they all grow was pushed away by tea and toast.

(We have just finished our last pot of DIY jam made from the fruit harvests of last year, so I have bought in some oranges to make DIY marmalade to keep us going until the fruit harvest starts coming in.)

And while on the subject of fruit harvests, while I was potting away, I caught sight of the row of cherry trees, the tops of which I could see beyond the Courtyard wall.....

(you might have to make the photo larger to see them)

 

 

..... and I noticed that their branches were chock full of green cherries.

'Wow', I thought to myself 'looks like we shall have a stonkingly good cherry harvest this year'.

And so the day progressed, the sun shone, I baked, and some of the cherries turned red.

But they seemed to be ripening fast, which meant that I shall need to be in attendance in the Back Kitchen to start processing them, but I have lots to do outside, so not to worry, keep on going as is the manner of smallholding / homesteading gals, most of whom will be gaily going round in ever decreasing circles as they try to keep up with all that there is to do at this time of year.

 

And so the day was done.

 

 

My pile of empty seed trays was diminished, and Lester made me an extra work space on which I could keep the filled seed trays.

 

 

Re: Weeds.

 

In reference to the last blog I wrote about being weed free...

well, ....this only applies to Veg Plots 1,2,& 3, and  does not apply to the Courtyard, as you can see, where there is a thick carpet of clover beneath my feet, and an abundance of mallow waiting to blossom. There are also other weedlings around, but since they are putting up flowers I have let them be. When is a weed not a weed?

When it is anything but burdock, thistle, dock, ground elder, or nettles, and these are being kept in control as best we can. Unfortunately the sheep do not help us with this task. They prefer more tastier morsels, like the bark and leaves of our fruit trees, but the strategy of defending the trees by putting fencing wire around each one (about 100 fruit shrubs and trees) seems to be working.

 

Lester attacking / digging up the thistles in the Main Field, which are less that last year, but need to be got up before they blossom and send forth their seed.....

 

 

...and Bonny coming along to help him.

She will get shooed away, though, because she thinks that 'helping' is emptying the wheelbarrow.

She was supposed to be in calf, but she has just had a season, so is not.

This is a bit of a downer, because it will be quite some time before she will start giving milk again.

But not to worry, not use worrying about why she wasn't able to keep in calf,

just put it down to nature.

 

 



But the pasture is looking the best it has ever been now that the sheep are not grazing it down.

 

So today, ....I have been playing the music for the once a month church service in the next village, and Lester has been to gun club and got a lot of bullets in the middle of the 50 metre target.

An afternoon nap,

some heavy discussions about what should be planted where

(we are having a lot of those at the moment!)

and now we are off to water Veg Plot 3 by hand because the pump in the well has just done a demise.

We did have a floating thought that perhaps we should put in a bore hole, but after we found out how much it was going to cost, that thought was quickly vetoed.

The well only gives us enough to water one veg paddock,

but now it can't because of the failure of the pump.

This is another 'Not to worry' moment', as I put forth the idea to Lester that we need to get another pump toute suite.

 

And then he took me out to inspect the cherry trees, and no, we shall not have a harvest yet, because the red cherries which I thought were going to needing processing soon, were actually defunct cherries. What I mean is, that they had been shrivelled up by the recent series of late heavy frosts, but were still ripening nevertheless, but into tiny fruits.

It looks like the harvest will be quite minimal, but it is as it is.

No good getting into a downer over something which we have no control over.

At least we are starting to move towards the time when we shall no longer have to buy in vegetables from the supermarket, and I have found a passion for growing things in the garden, which I always knew I had, but which had been submerged by having to do other things in my life.

 

I caught sight of myself in the long windows of the Half Barn just now.

I had on my very floppy straw hat, a long skirt (I always wears skirts), a mucky t-shirt under which was peeping my long sleeved thermal vest, DIY thick knitted socks, and boots. In my hand I help my work bucket in which were things I needed to use when outside, and my hair was windswept and all of a straggle under the hat.

And I thought to myself, that I looked liked a Victorian gardening lady,

and that I looked like I had always wanted to look if I had but known it,

content, happy, and at peace with the world.

I thought that somehow, after numerous ups and downs in life, that I had finally arrived at who I needed to be. It was a lovely moment, and I felt very blessed.

 

But I dare not linger with you any longer, because Lester will be now watering Veg Plot 3 by hand, so hastening to help my other half out....

Bye for now,

 

Vx.

 

..... (two hour later)..... and the good news is that the pump is not broken because the electrics had switched themselves off!