I'm aware from looking at many of my favourite blogs that I've hardly blogged at all lately.I've not felt very inspired to be honest, which isn't helped by my seasonal affective disorder.
With nothing but a few leeks and some kale, there's not much to blog about regarding food production in the garden. I managed to bag some seville oranges going cheap last Friday so I made 8lb of whisky marmalade at the weekend. I added that to current store, which sits inside a bargain I found on ebay just before Christmas - a handmade wood countertop cupboard.
In November I noticed there were still uneaten jams from 2012 in the back of my undercounter food cupboard, so I had obviously been reaching down and just grabbing the nearest pot every time with no regard for dates. In addition I seemed to be operating with less and less counter space as the years roll by. Part of that is my love for foodie gadgets - food processor, toaster, halogen oven, microwave, slow cooker - all of which were taking up space oon the counter as they have no permanent home. I spotted this one after a quick search on ebay and managed to bag it £20. As it sat against a wall, one side has no paint and there is a little tile grout, but otherwise it is in very good condition and painted in a farrow and ball colour. In time I will repaint it completely, but as its condition is so good it is not high on my list of priorities at the moment. In the meantime, most of the foodie gadgets are now put away in the cupboard where the jams and bottled fruit and veg were kept
Although it is too early to plan anything concrete for the garden, I have decided this year I will be sticking to growing what we eat most frequently bar potatoes and peas (because I can't grow them that cheap!) and no extras. Being honest, I grow a lot of different things but only some of them work well, the rest are a waste of space, time and compost.
I want to focus on growing only what we eat, look after that well and actually produce substantial quantities that will provide many meals. Well "doh" you might say, but actually what happens is I take up space growing things that might not do well in the climate or type of soil or conditions I'm trying to grow them in, which means I only get small quantities of the stuff that does do well because I've used the rest of the space to grow something that does poorly.
For example take pots and containers. Last year I realised after years of growing strawberries in pots that I rarely get anything substantial from them because they dry out too fast and I cannot keep them watered adequately while I am out at work. My biggest crops come from those in raised beds so why do I continue to do this every year? Ditto potatoes. I take up valuable space growing potatoes when they cost about £2.00 for 2.5kg and I don't get a substantial crop at all. This year I am ditching the idea of growing anything bar lettuce in containers and no space will be wasted with potatoes.
The other thing that will be happening this year is finishing the house. There are three main areas left to be done - the living room, my hobby room, and the back area of the house. There are lots of small bits and pieces to be done, like a carpet in one bedroom, some tiling downstairs, etc etc, which we will sort out when we find a bargain, but generally it is just those three big areas now.
So, I have just taken annual leave to crack into my hobby room and turn it into a study for both of us. No matter how hard I try, my hobbbies are scattering themselves around the house and not being kept neatly in my hobby room. My knitting machine is in the conservatory bolted down to the dining table, and my needlepoint, knitting and patchwork is spread between the living room and back bedroom. I realised that is because I need space for some of these things and the hobby room is too small to provide it. Martin's hobby room is bursting at the seams with paperwork relating to the car club and classic car memorabilia so what he really needs to be able to keep most of it in filing cabinets. Due to the quantity of modelling gear he has in the back room there is no space for a filing cabinet or two.
I did start taking off the wallpaper in the hobby room while the bathroom was being done in June and got about half way through before I had to stop, so hopefully that horrible bit of wall preparation won't take long!
