Rocket, Ozzy and I picked all the crab apples and loads of rosehips for rosehip and apple jelly making. Quite a lot of the crab apples had blown off the tree and been happily devoured by Snowy, a very elderly cockerel. Still we managed to rescue enough of them from the wind and the chicken. We’ve boiled and strained them. The next step is measuring and boiling with sugar, then nervously waiting to see if it’s set properly. This is part of my Christmas market prep. I’m fitting this in with planting for the Spring. I’ve lots of onion sets and garlic to go in the net tunnel, but first I have to clear it which I’m not looking forward to. It’s full of brassica remains and dock. Last year a blackbird kept relocating the garlic. I found it popping up in strange locations, a long way from where I’d planted it. This time I think I’ll cover the beds with green net. The blackbird has also been excluded from the greenhouse by all the repairs. Basically we’re ruining his life, he’ll have to eat seed heads and worms like other, lesser birds.
The greenhouse repairs are going really well. The glass along the sides has been replaced with polycarbonate and there’s a wooden skirt along the bottom. It’s much warmer and sturdier. So far most of these repairs have been done with bits left over from the Polycrub kit. We are now eyeing the net tunnel and contemplating covering it with polycarbonate. It would be a massive job, but now we’ve had this idea we’re finding it hard to ignore. It would be a huge under cover space and there are fruit trees in there which I think would love to be relocated to a climate more like Spain, less like Scotland. There are a couple of apple trees which we might need to move, but even quite big trees can be moved in the Winter. See? I’ve talked myself into another big project which will no doubt take ages and create a huge mess, but the thought of three big undercover spaces is very tempting, think of all the tomatoes! This would be a job for Summer 2024 though, too many other things on the schedule right now.
This week’s Croft Shares will have:
Small – sprouts, broccoli, chard, Shetland kale and possibly parsnips, .
Medium – Sprouts, broccoli, red cabbage, one of the Summer crops, swede, chard and possibly parsnips.
I’m saying “possibly” parsnips as I know there are some decent sized ones, I just don’t know how many. If there aren’t many I’ll put something else in as well.
The Shetland kale forms a loose, cabbage like head, rather than loose leaves like standard kale.