Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
Well, summer has arrived and at last, we have had some good weather. We still had the central heating on in early June and wrapping up against a cold north wind which has finally moved round to the south. The patio was cleaned up with a wire brush to remove years of lichen to reveal pink cottage style paving underneath. The chiminea has had a re-spray, and we are ready to eat outdoors… just need to make some friends! Finally got some 2-stroke oil from Amazon (couldn’t live up here without it) and getting stuck into the last of the logs with the chainsaw and maul. Will end up with about 6 cubic metres of Sycamore and Acacia logs with a big pile of kindling. I am really taking to this lifestyle, although it is not the “soft option” and I am running out of belt holes.
The Weed and Feed is getting to grips with the pathetic excuse for a lawn which is more weed than grass. The clay soil is starting to bake hard, so as the weed dies away the lawn looks even more sparse. Getting rid of the weed is the first step to restoring the lawn as the grass can recover later in the year, especially with an early autumn reseed. One good thing about a clay soil is that it holds a good edge where the vegetable patch has been cut out. Another large patch of the lawn will be lifted next spring to extend the vegetable patch, which has become more important to us as we aim for a greater level of self-sufficiency. Fruit and vegetables are an important part of the diet, and prices are getting silly, especially when a lot of the suppliers are local and do not have high distribution costs!
The vegetable patch is well up and running with very few casualties. A Muntjack Deer has been sniffing around and walking over the patch and taken the tops of some Broad Beans. A couple of Leeks were too delicate when dibbed in and given up the ghost. Otherwise, it is looking successful, although later than normal. Just starting to take a salad crop and doing a second sowing and will take the small Broad Bean pods when they reach 2” in length. The spares have now gone on the compost heap as we can’t even give them away as the local gardeners have been selling their seedlings for weeks… just too late this year.
Muntjack Deer in the garden!
The Duchess is grafting hard in the cottage garden and has cleared a border directly in front of the cottage, which was mainly weed. This will be the perennial border, and we have added the plants we brought from Oak Lane. Many of these did not survive the winter in Norfolk but include the Belladonna Delphiniums, which are a deep metallic blue colour, Phlox, Penstemon and the “Suki” Charm Chrysanthemum. These will now be stock plants for future years, and we will set about increasing the numbers to form large clumps. The Delphiniums come good from seed and can also be divided. The others are clump forming and can be divided or propagated from basal cuttings in spring. None of the Dahlias survived, so a trip to B&M in Beccles was required to replenish them. (Not easy to find a B&Q in Suffolk). The cottage garden is crisscrossed, with old brick pathways which are getting cleaned up. In between are a variety of shrubs and curious plants in amongst a lot of weed. The plan is to plant this area with a mass of cottage plants and wild seed and create “managed chaos.”
The southern boundary was a tangled mass of bramble on the other side of the fence, which had grown up into the trees and then festooned down in a 20' high curtain which completely blocked the light to the southern aspect of the cottage. Armed with secateurs and loppers, I started on the inside and snipped my way through the brambles until finally emerging the other side to meet the neighbours in the cul-de-sac behind. This has allowed a lot of light and air into a previously dark and damp part of the garden, which will now become the courtyard. Having created a breach, I now need to widen it and clear the entire southern boundary. However, having now found the neighbours, I am enjoying a lot of pleasant conversation and have even been invited to join the Veterans’ Tennis Club. The Duchess has commented that since the breakthrough the activity level has tailed off and been replaced by warm air from the south!
I recently popped back to Kent for a visit to the Dentist, as you can’t get one up here. I left at 0930, got back at 1810 and spent precisely 10 minutes in the Dentist's Surgery. The main problem was traffic in Essex, which was jammed up between the Dartford Crossing and Colchester. However, as I drove north from Ipswich, the traffic disappeared and was replaced by open fields, a big blue sky and empty lanes (except for the tractor). There is a big contrast between Suffolk and Kent, an idyllic pace of life on one hand and dental hygiene on the other.
I would like to end this month by remembering my friend and neighbour, Don Diffey, who sadly passed away recently. When we first became neighbours, he complained that the ivy on my side of the fence was damaging the felts on his shed rooves. I replied that he shouldn’t have built them so close to the boundary, which he countered by saying they were the statutory 4” inside. However, things got better after that, especially when we had a wood burner installed as Don was a Carpenter. Rosey and I were sad to hear the news. We had 18 good years in Upchurch and send our sympathies and best wishes to Beryl and the family.
UHS is always looking for new members and tries to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables, and flowers or even enter any of the shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.
If you are interested in becoming a member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Membership Secretary Tracy Wells: upchurchsociety@gmail.com
Sean Barry
