KW-08 We're never gonna survive

Unless we get a little crazy

One day last week, I don’t remember which, the last thing I heard before I went to sleep was the woohooing of an owl; and in the morning, I woke up to birdsong.

when the snows clear, two things happen. You get to see what a mess you left behind last winter. For months, it’s all been frosty white and clean, now, the piles of detritus and half finished jobs reveal themselves! In this not very interesting photo, you can see, if you know where to look, all the over-wintered crops - winter rye, alfalfa, something else I have forgotten, onions, garlic and winter spinach and greens

We’re now 12 weeks out from the last expected frost. It’s anybody’s guess what happens in the weather between now and then - we will certainly have snow again, and at least one, maybe two more attempts at spring before being plunged back to the worst of winter - but we do know two things. Daylight is waxing at 24 minutes a week, and it’s ok to start sowing some seeds inside, in the warm.

So, I have started. Not with much. Patience is important. But, I found a load of quite old pepper seeds, chilli and sweet, so we’re giving them a go, see if they germinate. And aubergines. I’m trying some super early green leafies as well, which is probably wrong - the lettuce family really appreciates going into properly warm soil, and I’m not expecting many of them to come, but I do like a little bit of lettuce in my life, so we’ll give it a shot.

In the coming week, I will start some tomatoes and cucumbers, broad beans, leeks and maybe a giant pumpkin or two.

In the coming weeks, this table will be joined by other tables, all bearing the weight of an ever increasing number of pots and trays.

Mostly, though, I am thinking about soil. In the potager over the last four years, I’ve done a pretty good job of creating soil from nothing and now I’m going to turn my thoughts to soil quality. From the barren wastes of rock and couch grass, we now have pretty decent, thick soil. In the coming years, I’m going to be working on its adjectives. Friable, loamy, fertile, healthy.

there are many reasons I’d really appreciate some dry days, but I bet the pigs want it more. The snow and the ice has all melted into mush and the poor dears are going to be oinking around knee deep in mud for a week or more.

Not in the vineyard, though. Up there, we are still all about just creating earth. As soon as we have some dry days, I’ll move the piggies and muck them out. A whole winter’s worth of bedding and pig crap is going up to the vineyard. But honestly, anything I can dump up there is fair game right now. I have a very large pile of semi-rotten tree bark which I’ll wheelbarrow up there this week. Ashes from the fire, sand from the big pile of sand, tonnes of raked leaves, and as much organic material as I can find. Last year, I used about half of the vineyard, growing essentially on rock. This year, we’re going to use all of it, and hopefully, hopefully, feed those piggers in a self sufficient stylee.

In last week’s newsletter, I accidentally forgot to click the “anyone can comment” button, and for the first two days, only paid subs could contribute. I’m sorry about that! Hopefully it’s fixed for last week, and I’ll try hard not to forget for this one.

But! We did have 4 shares, and 4 new subs. The ratios remain constant. For ages now, every share has always resulted in an equal new subscription. So, yes, if you don’t hate getting this in your mail box every Monday morning, please do tell your people about it.

And so, until next week, I wish you all the best, and with much piratey love

Your Pirate Ben

xoxo