Rustical

Category: Growing

  • 2016 Lemongrass Plants

    It’s a bit late but today I eventually got around to separating out the overwintered clumps of Lemongrass and re-potting them as single stems to make this years crop. All these lemongrass stems are from a one clump which in turn was a single stick of Lemongrass a year ago. You tend to get around…

  • Polytunnel Progress

    Having caught out with the very late frost last year I have delayed the sowing of outdoor crops by two weeks which has allowed me more time to get the polytunnel better organised. We have used reservoir trays for the tomatoes for a few years now and, by maintaining the compost moisture levels, they have proved…

  • Hurrah for Cow Muck!

    Cow muck is THE essential ingredient for our big pumpkins and giant vegetables. The delivery of the cow muck always heralds the start of a new growing season. We work one year ahead so this muck heap will be piled up and left to rot for use next year. The muck pile from last year has…

  • EU Referendum

    Our Chucks have considered all the information in the £9m leaflet and cast their votes early.

  • Growing our own firewood – 2016

    Many years ago we abandoned the idea of being able to own our own woodland as there is so little of it in West Lancashire in the first place and, of that, it is very rare that it comes up for sale. But, rather than admit defeat, we bought some arable land and field by…

  • Pollarding Ash Trees

    We have quite a few young ash trees which we grew from seed gathered from local trees and planted out around 8 years ago. Whilst the vast majority of our ash trees are being grown to coppice, we have some that are under grazed by free range chickens. Pollarding trees is a bit out of…

  • Harvesting Basket Making Willow

    Having packed away the fresh wreath making ‘production line’ for another year our next job is to get our home grown willow rods cut and into storage for processing as willow whip tips for floristry, straight sticks for crafts and little log bundles for picks to decorate next year’s wreaths. These items are sold all…

  • Ever changing seasons

    Well that’s the pumpkins done for another year. It is always a bit sad removing all the unsold pumpkins but it needs to be done and it is nice to get the space back in the yard. Unlike the pumpkins, the unsold winter squashes will ‘keep’ and provide us with some welcome vegetables throughout the…

  • The 2015 Song For Pumpkins

    The pumpkin parody song for 2015 is ‘Milkshake’ by Kelis. With thanks to Sally & Aymon and Fish2 Photography Keep an eye on Sally’s instagram account for the results of the Saturday morning pumpkin patch photoshoot.

  • Getting to grips with a DSLR

    Still trying top get to grips with my new camera. Yes, I have read the instructions but after so long with a ‘point and press’ the complexity of a DSLR seems insurmountable. Trying to remember the little bit learnt a week ago is a big enough challenge at the moment. I didn’t want to let…