Fruit of the vine

I recently planted a new dessert grape in the greenhouse. We had an established one until the year before last. It was the well-known variety, Black Hamburg. This produced a heavy crop each year of smallish, sweet black grapes. Two main stems were trained in parallel along the greenhouse roof which also allowed the hanging fruit to be easily picked (if you were tall enough). However, the grape died early in the Summer rather suddenly. I did not observe any signs of disease or infestation prior to its demise. 

Lack of moisture was an initial source of suspicion because the grape was planted in one corner, inside the greenhouse. It is frequently suggested that the best approach is to plant grape vines outside of the greenhouse and to train the vine in so that the roots benefit from natural rainfall and soil moisture. However, this approach is not practical with our greenhouse as it is constructed with large 4' long sheets of toughened safety glass. Greenhouses with standard horticultural glass have much smaller panes which could be omitted or cut into. In addition, there are no louvre windows which could be a convenient route in for the grape stem.  If the loss of the grape had been due to a lack of moisture, however, I would have expected the leaves to begin to wilt and leaf edges turn brown. But neither sign appeared, so it remains a bit of a mystery.

The replacement grape is another well-known variety, Crimson Seedless Red. These, too, are sweet and and on the smaller side but have the added attraction of being seedless. In a matter of a few weeks it has already put on more than 4' of growth which I have confined to two main stems. These will be trained in the same way as Black Hamburg had been. It is worth noting, though, that Crimson Seedless Red is a recommended variety for growing outside in the UK.

Training and pruning is important and continual attention to this is well-rewarded . Every side branch which grows from the vine and bears fruit is pruned to make it bear more fruit. Side branches are otherwise cut out; they soon wither and are thrown on to the compost heap. The branches that are retained will bear much fruit and in time we can expect bountiful harvests. 

An impressive looking bunch of
Crimson Seedless Red
grown in 'Wiki Land'

Potato plantings 2024

I finally planted out the seed potatoes today. I kept to tried and trusted varieties this year except for one I grew for the first time last year and we thought was worthy of repeating. This was the main crop variety Caledonian Rose. I was late harvesting them because of last year's eye problems but when I did, well into the Winter, they were virtually blemish-free. Caledonian Rose proved to be a good all-rounder in the kitchen, too. They also stored very well. This is an important quality for us as we aim to grow enough potatoes to see us through the year. 

So, for this year's potato plantings:-

Charlotte x 2 rows

Red Duke of York x 3 rows

Caledonian Rose x 3 rows

Pink Fir Apple x 1 row

Caledonian Rose
Photo courtesy of Kings Seeds 
https://www.kingsseeds.com/home

When Great Trees Fall

After a welcomely clement weekend it has turned cold again. Yesterday we had very strong winds and intermittent rain and hailstones. Not so nice for us nor for any tender plants beginning to poke their heads above the soil.

We also had a large poplar tree go down on our boundary. This is the third tree on our holding to fall due to the weather since last Autumn. We have occasionally lost a tree during a storm but three in a short space of time is a bit of a niusance to say the least. It involves a lot of chainsawing and clearing up afterwards, and also the task of processing the debris. There is a lot of brush to dispose of whilst the logs suitable for the log burner have to be stored somewhere to dry out and season. With three trees down in a relatively short space of time this is proving a challenge. 

When we lose a boundary tree they usually fall on to the neighbouring farmer's field. He has been most helpful in helping to deal with it, inluding pulling the tree clear of the boundary dyke with a tractor. The trees tend to fall his way because of the direction of the prevailing winds and the way the trees lean. Yesterday's tree, which was about eighty feet high, fell in our direction, however. The photograph below shows the top half of the tree. Apart from clearing the tree there is some fencing that needs replacing as well a metal field gate which took a battering. It is rather a distraction in what is a busy time of the year on the smallholding.

   

At the same time there is a tinge off sadness for what was a substantial tree and the space it once filled. Although I would not regard this poplar as a 'Great Tree' it does bring to mind a poem by Maya Angelou.

When Great Trees Fall

By Maya Angelou

When great trees fall,

rocks on distant hills shudder,

lions hunker down

in tall grasses,

and even elephants

lumber after safety.

When great trees fall

in forests,

small things recoil into silence,

their senses

eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,

the air around us becomes

light, rare, sterile.

We breathe, briefly.

Our eyes, briefly,

see with

a hurtful clarity.

Our memory, suddenly sharpened,

examines,

gnaws on kind words

unsaid,

promised walks

never taken.

Great souls die and

our reality, bound to

them, takes leave of us.

Our souls,

dependent upon their

nurture,

now shrink, wizened.

Our minds, formed

and informed by their

radiance, fall away.

We are not so much maddened

as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of

dark, cold

caves.

And when great souls die,

after a period peace blooms,

slowly and always

irregularly. Spaces fill

with a kind of

soothing electric vibration.

Our senses, restored, never

to be the same, whisper to us.

They existed. They existed.

We can be. Be and be

better. For they existed. 

First asparagus of the season

Today I picked our first bunch of asparagus of the year from our asparagus bed. Always a good sign that Spring is well underway (although today's cold and windy weather did not feel like it). I'll be picking asparagus regularly now for the next six or eight weeks. We have visitors this weekend so they are in for a culinary treat. 

 

What happens to our weaners?

We had two litters of piglets last December, 17 piglets in total. We do not usually have problems dispersing them by the time they are weaned. Often it is to people buying two weaners at a time to grow on for the freezer (we would never sell one on its own unless the buyer already has some pigs). We usually grow on two a year for ourselves  for the same purpose and sometimes we grow on some for people who have asked us to reserve for them a half pig of butchered pork. Others want them for breeding.

It is always especially pleasing if our weaners are bought for future breeding stock. As it happens, for our December progeny, 15 of the 17 have been acquired for that very purpose, mostly to those seeking pedigree British Saddlebacks, which is the breed we keep.  

From an earlier litter, born last July, there was one boar piglet which looked particularly impressive. We decided to grow him on to see if anyone might be interested in a breeding boar when he was more mature. This has proved to be the case and he is shortly moving to Scotland to a British Saddleback breeder.

 

At the end of 2023 there were in fact only 96 registered pedigree British Saddleback boars in the whole of the UK (and 347 registered pedigree sows) recorded in the annual British traditional breeds census carried out by the British Pig Association. Its important that there are enough people, often smallholders, keeping the rare and minority pig breeds going.  

One of the problems with such small numbers is that the gene pool is relatively small and so breeders have to be aware of the bloodline of the breeding pigs they acquire to minimise any problems of inter-breeding. Paradoxically it is growing rare breed pigs for meat that ensures the survival of the breeds.