Hot summer colour ... the daily grind

So it goes something like this... up at 6am...stretch and groan...lather up with sun cream...go pick flowers...cool down in the river, squash cucumber beetles with ferocity, back to farm house for hot tea and breakfast... mull over the plan for the day (an excuse to be inside in the cool) .... go weed something...then go transplant something ... water greenhouse...laugh at dogs being idiotic ...retreat to cool for lunch and rehydrate .. check email ... get annoyed about something on email / facebook / the internet in general ... fiddle around with rusty machinery... weed something else, panic harvest some blooms that didn't seem ready this morning but have now exploded, retreat to the cooler and organise buckets of flowers, wash buckets (getting as wet as possible to cool down), swat a few horse flies, check out the devastation by those pesky deer, root around in the veggie garden for something green and odd shaped for supper, munch on a few peas, maybe even a tomato, chat to neighbours, grumble at those on dirt-bikes... fiddle around with the poly tunnel until satisfied, cool down and clean up in the river (again), have supper, find a cold beer, put feet up, apply Fay's herbal potions to bites, stings, sun burn, splinters and aching muscles...write to-do-urgent list... fall asleep...

June Blooms

It's warm and sunny (and buggy of course) and hard not to get excited (and exhausted) about getting the garden in. For the last week or so Jeanne from Quebec has been staying with us helping Jamie transplant out our flowers, lay mulch, direct seed and weed our lovely perennial flowers, raspberries and blackberries.
It's a joy to be stopped in our tracks by the heady scent of lilac and quite beautiful to see apples and our wondrous hawthorn trees in bloom.

Blooming gorgeous is an under-statement!

The rare red lupins which we seeded last year are just about coming into bloom, they seem to be earlier than the blue/pink/purple ones which you usually see here at the end of June, the yellow ones (also unusual) are not long behind them.

I've started making flower essences and finishing blending some herbal extracts so they will be available for sale soon. (Well that is my excuse for buying decent brandy!)
We've even managed to make time and shift the gigantic pile of soil which was dumped outside the kitchen window for the last 2 years!!

We're feeling a bit sun-kissed and bug bitten but morale is high!

May sunshine

We've just said goodbye to our first volunteer wwoofers of the season, Anna and Franz. It was great to have the extra pairs of hands to help out as we begin to tackle the long list of spring tasks ahead of us and thanks to them I now have one new raised bed (it only took 3 years!)
Thankfully we got hold of a load of good sh*t, it's dark and dirty and our plants are going to love it! (Worm castings from Growing green earthworm castings will be delivered soon).
Over the last two weeks, Jamie has tilled, we've mulched, spread muck, transplanted a few hardy kales and veggies, sown some grains and whatever else we felt like risking. I've been weeding our perennial beds and it's good to see Echinops, Eryngium, Phlox, Veronicas, Peonies, Achillea, Motherwort, Catnip, Vervain, Lavendars and other herbs beginning to grow once more. I've put the dandelions to good use and have a batch of home brew bottled and wine in the making.

 

 

The polytunnel is almost behaving itself and is full with snaps, stocks, clarkia and larkspur.

Our transplants are simply desperate to get out of the greenhouse and into the field so as soon as we've got past this cold spell we will be transplanting as fast as we can.

General feeling is good, and grass is growing like crazy, trees actually have leaves on and we've even got some blossom.

Bertie is the only one sulking since Franz was a rather impressive thrower of sticks and she is missing him like mad.