2023 has started quietly and we have been slowing down the renovation and gardening work. This feeling of "numbness" can probably explain my late post. I am used to "go-go-go" and I constantly find winter months difficult even thought I know that this period is necessary. Shorter days, colder weather, coziness at home by the fire: this all sound so romantic but I do miss the SUN and the green nature around me. This is just who I am, right? Now that spring has arrived, I hope to slowly find my energy back.
This winter, we have had only 1 morning of snow. Time to play with Kira!
Mild winter here with temperatures have gone down to -5 at night and increasing to +5 to 10 during the day.
Until now, we have had nearly no rain.... after the dryness of last summer and no rain this winter I wander how this summer will be.
In February, I had one week vacation. This is a great opportunity to start something big while doing the work in a relaxed and pleasant way. The weather had been gorgeous that week and beside working, I went for nice walk with the dog and I also spent time with friends.
In the first apartment we are renovating, I have been wanting to point this wall for a least a year now and finally I have done it! And it was a pleasant task too. I really do enjoy pointing. Because this is now finished, Mike can go on working on the rest of the apartment.
WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE that we will receive Canadian visitors this Spring: Mike's Mom accompanied by two of her son's (the youngest of the family).
Going back in time: a bit a history on the apartment we are now working on ;)
This is just an idea how this room was when we started the renovation. When we bought this house, the tenant told us that this apartment had not been in used for at least 20 years. When did the last tenant leave? We do not know....
This is what the room looked like when we opened the door the first time after 20 years!
Mike saw that the fire place could be put back into life and he did, rebuilding the chimney up through the roof.
Behind the wall finish we discovered the beautiful reddish stone wall. Do not forget that this house was built on a stone quarry.
Work in progress....
The imminent arrival of family members gives us a deadline which will permit us to move on a bit more quickly.
In the future, this apartment will be presented as a B&B for rent providing a spacious living-dining room (no kitchen), a full bathroom, I full bedroom and a study.
The picture on the left gives an idea of the work in progress for the bathroom: dry wall, electrical and plumbing. The waterproof drywall is being installed as we speak.
In the next blog, I will post a video of the completed work
The garden
Not much is happening in the garden at the moment. I have been sorting out my seeds, planning the seedlings for the coming months. Aside of the tomatoes, no seedling has been done yet. I did buy the onions bulbs and the potato seeds which are germinating at the moment for planting in April. This year I have renewed our potato seeds and bought 3 different varieties (all organic of course!) : Binje (early variety and soft texture), Nicola (average and firm) and Désiré (a late harvest with a soft texture). For each variety I probably have 100 seeds, 300 in total is pretty much what I usually plant. We also have some potatoes of the Ostara variety which were free because they were germinating in bags and thus not sellable for consumption at our store. They are not "seed" but just germinated potatoes which work fine as well.
At the moment, we have mostly leafy greens to harvest like cabbage, kale, nutritious beet greens and some little salads which are surrounded with "weeds" (which are often enough also edible :) )
The nettles are also growing really well at the moment. They are great for remineralization of your tissues and articulations after the winter season. They accompany our leafy greens marvelously.
In the fall, I had planted, in the upper gardens, our usuals: the broad beans and 100 garlic cloves.
This year, we will experience something new: Wheat
Growing our own wheat and surrounding it with foraging peas.
The peas will use the wheat stalks as growing support. They are edible peas which I will be able to dry for the winter months or for the next planting season.
In the company of the wheat and peas, I could put some squash plants which will cover the soil with their huge leaves, protecting it from the warm summer sun.
At the moment, the wheat resembles regular grass :)
I will not make flour from the wheat grain but we could try I guess. I will mostly use the wheat grains as chicken feed.
All the green components will be green manure as amendment to the garden. Nothing is lost here, or at least as less as possible.
Spring is also the time for trimming fruit trees and bushes. I love cassis, raspberries, strawberries, elderberries and all those small colorful fruits we can harvest summer round. I have been trimming all of them just a bit and have amended the soil with chicken manure (composted straw from the chicken coop) and wood chips. This will nourish and also reduce the growth of unwanted weeds in this part of the garden.
And finally the BEES
Last week I did my first spring inspection of our two hives. Everything seems perfect. The colonies are well populated, there is normal brood. I have seen the queens, there is still enough honey in each hive. The bees are now busy making spring reserves of pollen to feed the larvas. All good news. Since the season will be promising, I went to buy more material so I will be able to support the colonies durning the high season. Really excited about the new season to come but I have to admit, also a bit nervous by lack of practice the last years.
This week is officially SPRING: decorate your house with bright yellows and light greens, bring flowers in and welcome MARCH EQUINOX. Love you all!!!
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