Getting Set Up

There has definitely been a break in writing. There has definitely been a lot going on since delving into the foraging and sustainability interests. That’s not to say it’s been on pause (though it’s been a little bit on pause due to winter).

We’ve relocate to North Yorkshire, which has changed where we go to forage quite a bit. Wales was pretty rich with mushrooms and places to explore. There are of course places here, we just have to find the. However, were we’ve moved we have fishing ponds which are lush with Boletes, which we did enjoy in our spag bol.

I have been a little afraid to explore with the masses of rose hips, though I know I should take advantage of them while they’re about–especially seeing as I seem to catch every cold that’s going around! But I suppose that’s what I get for working in a pub and for being a student.

However, for my birthday, my partner got me 200+ bulbs for the spring, to bring some cheer into the world after all the grey of winter. My birthday is the winter solstice, and thus probably not the best day to be planting things, never mind that it wasn’t a particularly pleasant day.  Christmas, however, was an entirely different matter!

It was a beautiful day, and warm even. Considering that we are now living in the NORTH (as all the roadsides print it), it was very surprising. We were able to go onto the deck and have our coffee overlooking the county.

Once the coffee was finished, we went out to plant the multitudes of bulbes I now had mixed into one basket. My idea was that I would then have a surprise as to what grew where. However, I soon realized that wasn’t the best of ideas, as I was really hoping for daffodils all around the caravan, and in the mix were crocuses, tulips, irises, and a few others. I’m still trying to figure out the solution to that dilemma.

We didn’t get very far. As it turns out the ground is pretty clay-riddled and also it was very cold. I think we maybe, if I’m quite optimistic, planted 20. The next idea I have is to toss bulbs around the ponds so that the paths are bordered with flowers, though that might hinder the ability to fish. I don’t know! However, to relieve some of the pressure of finding where to plant them, my partner is building some planters (and doing a jolly good job at it, too!).

More to my surprise, he found some sort of frames, which work perfectly for raised garden beds. They were hinged in rectangles and everything. All they needed was to be stacked together, dug in, and voila! raised beds!

We have 11 beds set up, and I’m busy trying to decide what vegetables I”m going to plant, where they should go, what pairs well with what as far as soil-nutrients go, and just where on earth I’m going to put my squash tunnel! What’s worse, I’ve dwindled my data down from scrolling through Pinterest obsessively to get gardening information!

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The farm we moved to is amazing. There’s a few problems, as there are with any new location, but they’re all getting sorted. The farmer and his family are so accommodating. Just today they were trying to sort us out with a washing machine and dryer so we don’t have to keep using the laundromat, and said they have a greenhouse they’re trying to get up and a giant 60 foot polytunnel that I can grow whatever I want in.

Next on the list is chickens, and I’m trying to convince my partner that a goat is in order so we can stop spending so much money on cheese!