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Arwen and I had our first brew day in a long while today – certainly the first brew of the year! Our previous two brews were both Saisons, one a with Rye as an adjunct, and the second brewed on the yeast cake of the first, with wheat malt. Now, I’ve finished the wheat saison,… Read more
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Im a big fan of doing things “just because”. My back garden aquaponics system is entirely built out of the boredom of the pandemic leading me to binging random YouTube channels, and finding Rob Bob’s wonderful Backyard aquaponics videos. Choosing to grow a peach tree aquaponically was also somewhat of a whim: I don’t even… Read more
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Today I went to plant the beans and check on carrot progress. I officially hate couch grass. In the first raised bed I weeded, I did not go deep enough. The grass is back, in amongst the chives. I weeded half-heartedly, secure in the knowledge that to really get rid of this stuff I’m going… Read more
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Well, Arwen and I took advantage of some glorious weather and a bit of free time to get the Three Sisters companion plants put into the allotment. It’s a little early for corn to go out, as most sources suggest late May or early June for sweetcorn in the north of the UK, but it’s… Read more
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My wonderful neighbour gifted me chives and I want to grow carrots. So I have planted the chives with enough space for carrots in between. The strawberries will not believe their luck as they have a whole raised bed to take over. We considered getting some more cultivated, larger-fruiting varieties but have decided to see… Read more
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I weeded bed three of four today…and went back over bed one of four. So. Much. Grass. It’s not enough to get the top shallow rooted grass. There are long, deep cords beneath. So I dug deep. The first earlies are also showing green! Read more
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After a slow start, we got to the allotment. Bed two of four weeded! Read more
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This afternoon I weeded a raised bed we tried to grow broad beans. No dig requires more mulch than we have. So I dig. The soil was great, just full of grass. Nick tidied up the tree trimmings from the big apple prune. Read more
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I made a birthday cake for a colleague. I have fallen in love with this recipe. It is the triple chocolate cake from Sally’s Baking Addiction. The frosting is whipped ganache. I had some left over so I made a sheet cake to take to the scion swap on Saturday. Life is full of joy. Read more