A mixed week...

I'm having a bit of a funny week, its been warm, misty, down right freezing and almost every type of weather in between. And, chickens have been more than a bit cheeky in both coming into the house, hopping into the car when you fancy getting on with something and generally just being menaces - their summer free range days are over (soon).

They are now driving me crazy - can't turn around but you find 5 'mountian-goat-like-chickens' on top of the piano looking very innocently on. Waiting for a tune, no doubt? And the second photo is a chicken LEAVING the house - lol. Pesky chickens and thier adventuring, but they do make me giggle.

I managed to get the tomato window boxes filled at the weekend, prior to planting, for our great 2011 tomato growing adventure. We've planted 10, another 10 to go - 2-3 in each box and they will be planted for growing upstairs in the living room. But, whilst filling them with chicken looking on, of course, it wasn't long before 6 of them had a pad about in the compost, before we got it inside, just to check it was OK you understand, very pernickly chickens it would seem!

The sun at the weekend brought out alot of things quickly, which meant a walk at lunchtime in town around the normal route - with el hound. Peedie - trotting down the path quite the thing whilst I nosied into folks gardens to see whats up and growing well.

The spirea has just burst out into flower, this does well here, early, suckering and pretty robust and a scent to die for.....

Of course, the star of shrub land at the moment here is flowering currant - looking gorgeous and everywhere around the island - very beautiful and a great early flowering shrub - hardy where we are.......

Another flowering beauty at this time of year are Primula denticulata (or Kirrie dumplings as I know them from central scotland) - they are all over the place, purple, through to white and almost blue in some cases - gorgeous - here's a look over a garden near the college where my desk is......

Aren't they wondeful? I love them! One thing that grows well here, and is cut back to the ground in mainland scotland is Fushia magellanica - buds up and growing about to go bonkers..........

And I've been tidying up my veggie plot at work  during teaching at the weekend, (in the sun! wierd weather here) - and lifted alot of a gorgeous alpine strawberry - white fruits, taste like bubblegum - yummy collected the seed from fife but it didn't come true red, it came white and they are all like that - and really prolific - so I listed them on eBay and as if by magic they've mostly sold. Yay for flowers helping to pay the bills in our little homestead!

Next, of course I've a hedge to plant - 1000 mixed species of willow (salix) cuttings (hard wood) about to go into the ground, you'll be hearing my salix symphony quite soon - or should I be asking for some salix sympathy?

After I'm done? I'll be achey thats for sure!!!! But aren't they gorgeous? About 100 cutting in each pot of water! A forest on my table, well at least a 150 m, 1m wide hedge..........! They are being soaked for 24 hours prior to planting to get the stems ready for planting - helps to active the preformed roots inside the stem which this species has - quite unlike other shrubs - clever little willows! By this time at the end of the summer, each of them will have grown into lovely little shrubs about 1m tall.

All in all, a productive, chicken infected, mix of a week!

Hope your week been good!

The return of the tomato guzzling cellist......

The cellist returned at the weekend from her fathers in France, clutching her newly awarded grade 5 marks in her sticky little mitt and donning her 'grade 5' new converse shoes - which for some odd reason as I returned from egg patrol (still 8 eggs a day by the way - even over the winter...(?)) the new converse of wonderus purple were outside the front door - abandoned in the manner of a blown up witch in Wizard of Oz.

I've seen the child since, she's fine (not blown up), the shoes were left outside 'getting a bit of the view at home' well that the explainaton I got! As they were purchased on the nano-micro adventure to Edinburgh, they didn't know Orkney as of yet. Clearly taking in the view then..........? Just home, she was off to get a jumper and more layers on, Orkney it would seem is not as warm as France in early April, who would have guessed that?!

This girl child, when not playing the cello, reading books or generally being very silly is an olympic consumer of pasta - which generally requires homemade pasta tomato sauce to be made and frozen by the shipping frieght container load. Therefore we grow tomatoes to feed this insaitable gannet.

Previously I'd given up on growing tomatoes - no one here really likes them fresh except for me - and until I discovered bush tomatoes I'd always found growing them a bit of a faff. But, bush tomatoes and easy growing go hand in hand. Perfect for your lazy tomato grower. Perfect for sauce making, freezing a la canon ball stylee (link below) - perfect for eating. No fuss food - thats what I require in my life. I tell myself this is because I am a very busy person, realistically I'm just a bit slap dash and more than a bit lazy. I've far more interesting garden type things to do than tend the noble tomato and its 'diva' treatment of tying in, feeding, pinching out side shoots etc. If it doesn't grow with ease, is easily prepared or frozen - then it doesn't have a cats chance in this lazy household. I'm all for the no-faff tomato no diva types. I grow them to freeze them like this........make sauce with them when I need them or have the time. Often made in batches, which are then frozen into portions, available as and when required, to sate the child.

Anyway - the lovely littleblackfox (who thankfully aint dead!) mailed me some hardy ba*tard seeds four of which were for a 'ridiculusly early lettuce leaved tomato' grown for short seasons might do well in the frozen north of the UK? I hope so - and here they are - all four germinated and are up for the task ahead. I've used a very high tech method as you can see - one kids ikea serving dish, plastic - yellow a nice contrast. Four jiffy 7 plugs, 4 free seeds - 4 very healthy plants not very long after sowing. I'm really looking forward to finding out if this variety recommended by LBF will work much better for me.............so far, so good.

Anyway in time for our new 2011 adventure in growing our own food - how many tinned tomato equivilants can we get from a plant? - Latah are now the leaders in this years 'grand tomato growing national'. ............and they are off! How many tinned equivilants will we get this year????

They they are in their new home, having been woken up in their own little jiffy 7 sleeping bags, (I don't do pricking out - but thats a tale for another day) anyway these were then potted into a 9 cm pot - and now they are settling into their convertible exclusively located window box, with a nice view of Hoy and the garden, residing in the living room. I've 13 windows in there, we've alot of windowsills to fill up! I grow in window boxes, don't drill out the holes for drainage and water everyday at least once. I grew my whole crop like this last year and my chillis too. Even a window sill can provide food for a family. Not high tech at all. I grew chillis, sage, lettuce, tomatoes, basil, parsley and a few other morsels only on a window sill (admittedly a few windowsills) but if I can do it on an island, in the north of the UK with a very short season, anyone can! Here is a bit of the jalapeno harvest......and a goodly bit of sage - from one pot plant - sage doesn't do well out in my garden - too exposed so I grew it as a house plant - and lovely it was too! Give indoor growing a go. Functional houseplants really do work hard for you.

Other tomato varieties I'm growing so far are totem (bush), tumbling tom (bush), marmande (diva), andes (heritage diva one), lemon drop (diva), lilliput (bush) and others the names of which escape me right now. Last year I grew 3-5 in a window box - this year I'm taking that down to 2-3 plants per window box - I'll grow them on the windowsills indoors (no tunnel up yet, no greenhouse and NOT A CHANCE of growing them outdoors here) not enough shelter from that pesky wind. Anyway, that lot should hopefully keep the cellist going in home made pasta sauce and make a fair old dint in the 'grow my own local food' budget. The 1.50 for two pots of windowsill basil is already being cropped and frozen as well. I've had 4 crops from it since early March. Picked and put striaght into a tub in the freezer for sauce making as and when required.

The cellist is also a bit of a cucumber monster - so I'm trying a variety called 'Bush space master' a thing I've never found before (not that I've looked), a bush cucumber - prolific and good for patio/small spaces - as mine will be in a window box, indoors I'm hoping this might work too.

Healthy little sucker isn't he? I've named him Horatio and potted him up, soon to find his way into a window box with a great view of life on an island - a fine name for a cucumber I think, alhtough I think he's a girl. Need to check that one out. I've sown many for selling but am keeping a few for home. The cellist insisted, if we can grow alot of things on window sill, why not cucumbers?!

When not playing the cello and abandoning new shoes in the garden, in the manner of a witch blown up in the wizard of oz, the cellist enjoys a good walk on the beach, reading and eating pasta with home made tomato sauce.

Tomato Latah, I hope you are listening. How many tinned equivilents will you provide to make sauce for her?