Hurrican wrenches hinges from wall

The visiting hurricane managed to cause a spot of damage here yesterday.  Not only did it force the schools to close early, but also it ripped one wooden window shutter off the wall of the villa.

The shutter came away with both of its hinges and a healthy portion of the plaster and concrete from the wall.

Hinge and chunk of wall ripped away

The hole left behind was about two inches deep in the middle.  The wall in that area seemed to be made of pretty rubbishy concrete with decent blocks toward the top.

I made up a batch of "renovation mortar" and patched it in.

Renovation mortar carefully applied

Hopefully the mortar will set and stop the worst of the winter cold and wet getting into the wall.  I'll look at new hinges and rehanging the shutter in the spring.

Better late than never

Today, having had an allotment since 2008, I got the first ever bill.  I don't have a copy of the contract yet, but now I have at least paid for 2009 and 2010.  And just in time for Christmas.

I think 2008 was somehow for free.  How cool is that?

Root veg in Advent

Although the evenings have drawn in and it's getting fairly cold, there is still a last bit if fun to be had at the allotment.

 

As shown in the trug, there were some handsome parsnips (Albion) to be had and a few beetroot.  The three ugly things in the middle were meant to be turnips, but were sadly rejected from our roast dinner for being too rubbish.  The parsnips and beetroot were roasted in the oven with the joint of beef and were just about perfect.  There should be a few more parsnips to see us through to Christmas dinner.

The rest of the plot is pretty much cleared and waiting for next year.  On the left of the path were the children's beds.  I have spent ages clearing them (mainly ripping out strawberry plants) and will grass it over next spring.  On the right of the path at the back are the remaining turnips.  On the right, just before the bare earth are the parsnips.

Right at the back on the right is the carpet I "found" at the dump.  It is keeping down weeds near the hawthorn.

Pine tree felled - time to get chopping

The pine tree at the plot has been dealt with.  All the annoying side branches have been taken away, the useful twigs have been grabbed for making Autumn/Winter grave decorations (!) and the main trunk has been sawn into DIN standard 30 cm lengths.

The real fun starts tomorrow when we get to chop it up into to stove ready chunks to dry.  Watch out for novice lumberjacks.

What's an allotment really worth?

After suggesting something along might be potentially possible back in 2008, the owners of our the land where we have our allotment have sent out letters offering the lease holders the chance to buy their plots.

Give that my allotment is 220 sqm, it is quick to see they are asking for:

1. 750.00 € for measuring the plot, 
2. 10.00€/sqm * 220 sqm = 2,200.00 € for the land, and
3. legal fees (around150.00 €)

giving a total cost of around 3,100.00 €.  The question is, is that a bargain, a rip-off or about right?  The allotment is in a scenic rural setting on a small hill with around 30 other allotments.  There is no running water and no electricity.  The soil is very fertile and the land definitely can not be built on.  I have worked hard to get the weeds out (to a certain extent), built a shed with a lovely schleppdach (roof extension) and even put in a small raised bed and started work on a brick cold frame. 

The current annual rent is 25.00 € so it might seem better to stay as a tenant for the next 124 years.  The problem lies in the text explaining that owners will sell allotments to people not renting already if the people renting don't want to buy.  So you have to buy the allotment or hang on as a tenant until somebody else buys it instead.

It's a interesting question.  What would you pay to own your allotment?

Impressive roots on Lady Di beans

Fresh back from the sun in Thailand and into blue sky and sunshine at home - just a bit colder.  The first frosts have hit and the dahlias have almost given up.  I collected one last lot today, but I guess they'll get cut back to the ground tomorrow ready for lifting and storing in the cellar over winter.

The Lady Di runner beans were great.  Not only did they provide a plentiful harvest (they were still flowering and fruiting up until today), but they also took the "Special Prize" at the EHS Summer Show (for which I won a pathetic blue door mat.  I blame the prize committee - I wanted the little hedge saw thing).

Half the pile of dug up bean plants resting on stupid prize door mat.

 The compost bin is full of frost zapped dahlia flowers and half of the ex-Lady Di's. The rest of the Lady Di's are piled up on the blue doormat outside the shed.  Maybe I'll burn them on November 5th.

Roots of one Lady Di runner bean plant next to car keys and goji berries for scale

When you look at the size of the roots on the runner beans its no wonder they were so prolific.  The soil is pretty soft at the moment, so the come out okay, but they look a bit lie docks or parsnips.  Can you eat runner bean roots?

Dahlias and goji berries

The dahlias are on top form.  I have to chop some down for home this weekend.

In the picture below you can see the goji berries.  To some people they taste disgusting, to others they taste of nothing at all.  At least they look nice.

EHS Summer Show - another huge success (ish).

The EHS Summer Show on Saturday was pretty good.  We had plenty of people taking part, a handful of visitors from England, a few children and two chickens (Rustika and Mustika).

The point of the Show was mainly the picnic and chit-chat, but there were prizes to be one.

Without going through all the tedious details, Richard S. did a bit too well winning four categories.  Simon B. got the best in show for his apples.  I failed to get best root vegetables for my beetroot (they should have one really but I think the judging panel got carried away with the sheer size of the winners).  I also failed to win anything with my dahlias but that's okay because I love them and we used them for the street party later in the evening.  Happily, I did win the EHS Special Prize (a blue doormat with printed flowers on!) for my Lady Di runner beans.  They are still going strong after nearly three months of fruiting.

Right now I am in Singapore, en route to Melbourne for the rest of the week.  The airport is beautiful and very well air-conditioned.  I don't fancy another long flight though.  Ah well, "Wat mut, dat mut" as they don't really say.

Red onions

In order to prepare some space for the winter chard, I took out the red onions last night.

There weren't that many but they look pretty healthy and mostly free of thripps.  The variety remains a mystery ... they came in a bag from the local supermarket for growing over winter.   I kept them in the shed and popped them in in April after a couple of weeks in the cold frame.

Putty - aargh!

I decided to patch up the windows at the villa a bit ... some of the putty had dropped out over the years.

What a pain!  Nobody told me that the only things putty doesn't sick to are wood and glass.  It sticks really well to fingers.

Goji a-go-go

The first goji berry has appeared!  There are also a couple of other potentials - fingers crossed for a big crop next year.

Judging completed

The bean judgement has been made.  Here are my entries:

I think the judging panel were impressed - their complete set of comments were:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

#429 – 4 specimens – somewhat curved and small – assume not fully mature – not bad snap test (stringless & quite fresh) – appeared slightly wilted

#430 – 6 specimens – very straight and even length (ca 27cm) – good colour – very slight signs of beans in pod – very good snap test (fresh & stringless with pleasant odour)

#431 – 3 specimens – slightly curved – just about mature (definitely big enough to eat) but not very large – good snap test (completely stringless)

#432 – 6 specimens – very large and even length (ca 36cm) – almost straight – good snap test although a little string – perhaps stayed on plant too long before picking (very long, hint of inner bean and long edge starting to look ‘textured’)

#433 – 1 specimens – very long (35cm) – nice piece of haulm left in place – slightly twisted – quite good snap test (hint of string) – suspect slightly over-mature

#434 – 2 specimens – on haulm – one misshapen (narrowing of bean along its length) – suspect uneven watering – good snap test

#435 – 2 specimens – I think the show came at the wrong time for these beans – one very thin and one malformed showing a slight sign of malaise (reddish colouration) – snap test OK but thin part of bean somewhat soft and bendy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The winner will be announce at the Late Summer Show, next month.

Beans getting ready for judgement day

Lady Di runner beans ready for the show

On Friday 5th August we will have the runner bean class of this year's EHS Late Summer Show.  Everyone's beans are peaking now (apart from John's) and the show organizing committee agreed to move the bean day to this week.  My single row has produced a mighty crop so far and shows no sign of stopping.  The infestation of black fly earlier in the year were chased off by the crushed marigold oil I sprayed at them.

One typical runner bean, about 35 cm long

The goji bushes have gone a bit crazy and covered half the path to the compost bins.  They have had more (purple) flowers this year than last year, but I don't see any sign of fruit.  I have no idea when I can prune them back a bit - I guess I'll just make it up.

Goji bushes