An update from the garden

Since March this year I’ve been renting about half a hectar of land on the neighbouring plot and setting that up to produce food. The rental goes for ten years to start with, and then we’ll see how we both feel about it all. Right now I’m feeling magnificent about the the whole circus there. I love having some more space to make a mess on and really enjoying all aspects of the work. Setting up the beds, building another poly tunnel and wood shed…and in some kind of process setting up a small house for the ducks for when it gets cold. I’m building out of cordwood and cob and it seems to be turning out quite ok. Even if I’m a bit careless and sloppy with it. Admittedly.

Since a couple of months now, I’ve been able to live fairy well from what the garden has been giving. Nettles, radishes, turnips and early potatoes in the early summer. Then salads, beets, peas, fennel, carrots…and now cucumber, tomatoes, squash, beans, corn, kale, ginger, etc…and there’s plenty still coming. Freezer is full of berries - currants, raspberries, gooseberries. And I’m starting to get an urge to start fermenting and conserve for the winter. Sauerkraut, kimchi, fermented cucumbers, beans, green tomatoes. The potatoes, leek, Jerusalem artichoke and kale stay in the ground for now to harvest throughout the colder months. And I’m starting up miner’s lettuce, dill, cilantro, cabbage, etc to go in the greenhouse over winter.

Soon it’s also time to start drying and preserving apples and pears. So still plenty of things to stay active with out there. Before winter I also want to build a compost heater to help heating my house that will finish the heating system consisting of the mass rocket heater (that was a true blessing last winter), the new compost heater and the existing heat pump running on geothermal energy.

And the garden plans for next year are already starting to knock on the door. I want to set up a better watering system, maybe with swales. The pond is empty and I’d need to be able to collect much more rain water during the wet days. And I’d like to start up a small food forest in the northern end up the little hill. I didn’t get to that area yet at all. I also will make more beds and paths and propagate bushes and flowers. Plant a small birch forest down in the humid corner, so I can sit in there and pretend that I’m in a Finnish forest…maybe move the sauna tent over there and the experience is getting pretty close.

So that’s a bit of what’s been going on out there. In here, there’s plenty of stuff happening as well. The new Klingra album is ready and the album campaign is about to start. VERY excited about that! And there’s some exciting plans with Afenginn as well, which probably will start manifesting soon. All in all happy days. Stay tuned and in semi-perfect pitch. Cheers!

Below is a similar rant disguised as pictures: