Mutterings from the Greenhouse.

They say there are only 3 things in life that are certain, death, rent-day and taxes. Well I would say it's actually Death, rent-day, taxes and potatoes! I have just harvested a halfway decent crop of that lovely waxy salad potato Ratte, which is rather surprising, as I don't actually grow potatoes. No, that isn't strictly true. For that read I don't plant potatoes.
The last time I bought any potato sets was 1999 and yet I have had a reliable crop from the volunteers left in the ground at harvest ever since. Today, I decided to lift some Tulip and Narcissus bulbs that got heeled into the veg. plot last winter with the full intention of moving them into permanent position in spring as I didn't know where to put them when they arrived from the supplier. Needless to say they never got shifted and so the strange but never the less, successful under-planting of the dark purple Tulip "Queen of Night" and my favourite late flowering and scented Narcissus "Pheasant's Eye" with spuds, came to be.
Who says you never get something for nothing!

I have recently got a new greenhouse. To me this is right up there with winning the lottery. My old cedar framed one which was probably over 30 years old when my brother bought it second hand about 10 years ago, finally succumbed to the gale force winds that seem to hit the farm from three directions at once for at least 8 months of the year. It was obvious that the running repairs that I carried out with a screwdriver, a couple of sheets of twin-wall polycarbonate and some wooden battens each time a storm took it toll just would not suffice.
The new one was given to me by the Elliot's at Freams (thank you so much Sue and Peter!!!) and although it was with some trepidation that Mike and Nathan Drake and Sue and I, loaded it onto the trailer in (almost) one rather wobbly piece, not only did we get it home, but Martin managed to put it up with help from Father in Law Paul and me. I would be lying if I said it was with good humour all the time, but as most people can't even figure out how to erect a brand new greenhouse with instructions, the fact that Martin managed it with no directions at all and not even having the advantage of being able to study it "in situ" before dismantling, I can only say that I married a genius!
I did dismantle the old one, dig the footings for the replacement and glaze it myself so don't think I didn't do anything towards the project, but now everything is moved in, including my already too large collection of Auriculas, I am to be found at odd spare moments of the day in the greenhouse, with a mug of coffee, a couple of dogs and a cat or two, just sitting.

( Auricula seedling)

Life doesn't get much better than this, although I suspect it won't be that long before I come out with the
old gardening saying that "It doesn't matter how big your greenhouse is, it's always too small." If I do, Martin will definitely not be up for a repeat performance. Neither, come to think if it, will I!

See you next month, Pauhla

Other articles : November 2002 Other articles : December 2002

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