Like a school kid having to start getting up early for school again after the long summer holidays, I woke up early this morning and stayed awake when I could have happily gone back to bed instead. It was still dark but I was determined to switch to my rhythm that I had the first time I lived in Spain.
From 6-11am action and 5pm til 9pm action and then bed. This way I get a 9 hour day with a 6 hour siesta, and stay cool in the soon to be 40c heat.
Wake up at 6, Slug Patrol with a morning Bifta and take away the last of the creatures munching on all the plants. at nightfall, and then at midnight, and early hours of the morning seems to be the time to catch them at it.
It is just confirmation to leave things growing in smaller pots until they are much bigger, and then to protect them possibly with the top halves of plastic bottles.
As we dont get rain here im thinking that we can make cardboard circles and leave the plant in the middle poking through and then make a circle of salt around the plant on top of the car board. Salt is quite cheap.
Anyway it's list making time..
Slugs! Cut bottles to use as covers for plants
Make the last growing space under the tree that was rotavated, we have lots of courgette plants.
Hope that the beans pop up soon so that we know where to put the cucumbers. The places where they dont grow, we can use for cucumbers.
Get water into the truck again
Dig out the waterway for irrigation to get to the newest patch and it will pver flow to the pumpkins.
The last one on the list I have started already early this morning after the dog walk and after watering the beans
Clearing out for the water to run down.
Nice and cool this morning, and nice to start before any sun rays had heated anywhere. As you can see this wont be so easy😂
Clearing long grass and random car parts, I wondered how this weed had such long roots..
Turned out that it was something from decades ago, a net.
This sliding door Above was covering what I believe is the main trunk of a grapevine and now it is free to do what it wants and to dominate the chain link fence!
This is an Asparagus Plant.
If you let asparagus grow and dont harvest it, it grows into a really sharp bush and when cut and dry, it makes a perfect barbed fence building material.
When the sun has gone down theres still much to do, this is the most jungle part it gets though and the other part has no trash there 😁
The night before..
..I had baked vegan choco buns to sell them as my main source of income for now. I found this secret trick to making big soft fluffy buns, by making milk bread and using that with a filling of vegan chocolate. NO ADDED SUGAR!
Just after 9 a.m I had ready a basket of buns to go to sell, it's good that I remember to take a picture of them because I forgot how many were sold!
I had the last batch that was perfectly how I want to make them in the future and the previous batch which were smaller and a little bit overcooked.
Meeting Strangers on Quarantine, and just now as I write this, I remember now that its still happening and I completely forgot about it
A few were stepping back when I uncovered the buns to show them.
There are many people living in this Valley but the valley is long, and on a slight gradient. I left at 10 past 9 and walked down to pretty much the last house before considering to knock on someone's door or to shout at the gate. I avoided the places I already know because I haven't met the people there yet that I used to know from before and I didn't want to turn up trying to sell them some buns.
I met a guy who calls himself Rainbow who quote "just happened to have some money on him today" (which means he is one of those who say they have no money and pretend they dont, when they have plenty) but we had a nice conversation. I didn't ask where he was from but I could hear from his accent that we were living in around the same area of England.
He brought a bun, and as we went down the path I met a friend of his a German woman and she wanted one as well. She had no cash on here so Rainbow paid for hers. (See!). I met some people at thier homes, mostly lorrys and trucks, and caught them at the right time as they were in the garden with most of them having kids - so they were many customers.
1 person remembered me just by my face but I cant remember her. by the time I got back halfway up the track I had actually sold out, just after the picture was taken the lonly one found a happy owner!
We have a notice board up by the freeshop so I was telling people they can get the email from there if they want to order any more.
