Every now and again I come across a book or author that is truly fabulous. Usually it has been a book or author in print for ages & often other people have had the same feelings. At the moment it is two works by the Irish writer John O'Donohue (1956-2008). Genius.
I am also really enjoying a totally different type of read - fiction by Julia Stuart. I picked it up from the mobile library on an impulse - attracted by the unusual title "Balthazar Jones & the Tower of London Zoo". Its intriguing subject matter & characters are keeping me up late & I've even skimmed the end few pages - a sure sign of a good read. Without giving much away - I'm sure I've learnt almost all my history from well written & researched novels.
It's that time of year in the gardening calender which is very frustrating. The urge to get out there & "do something" in the fresh air & with the soil grows in direct relationship to day length. Unfortunately the weather does not always slip neatly into the equation. That one glorious day we've had since November saw me out there in the sunshine doing stuff! The cane fruits got planted & a bonfire made & today - well it's raining again!
Not much you can do about rain except to live with it & catch it in butts for the later dry (!!) part of the year. So we've been out visiting, it's been very instructive. Working & visiting our church site regularly it is easy to over-look just how much we have changed it. We visited 2 ancient & beautiful small churches in the region & went on to visit ours - what a contrast. I was struck by how very much alive our place felt - even on a gloomy February day. The vibrant energy of growth & living seemed to permeate the site. In contrast the small C12th church on the hill top was beautifully maintained with some magnificent & nationally important features but it felt dark & sad & heavy. The larger church, also beautifully maintained & clearly well used felt even heavier & more somber - despite the stunning display of purple crocus & magnificent hornbeams next door. Perhaps it is the on-going burials & grieving relations that contribute to the heaviness or the preponderance of evergreens in the church yard? We have had a policy of planting no big evergreens at our site - just deciduous trees - letting in as much light & circulating air as possible - perhaps too much as the bird-hide blew down as did a dead tree in the recent strong winds! I've plans for some wind-break trees.
In-my-bones I feel we are set for a very mediocre summer with a wonderful autumn & have been choosing vegetables & plants accordingly. This year I ordered the new varieties of blight-resistant potato - Sarpo. I was feeling pretty pleased with this choice until I discovered that they are a GM plant - not sure how I feel about them now: though they are GM within potato varieties. As for tomatoes & cucumbers - I'll be trying them in containers protected from the rain . The big experiments this year are celery ( I sorely missed it all last year), melons & Hamburg parsnip/parsley. I am not sure why I have a hankering to grow melons as I don't particularly like the fruit - it's probably for the same reasons I like pumpkins & marrows - they are massively attractive to grow!
Following last fortnight's hectic activity, this week has been a very quiet administrative week regarding the site - I wonder what next week/month will bring!
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