May 31, 2025

A few months ago I talked about the craft cycles, i.e. beginning (inspiration), middle (the grind) and end (satisfication and slump). Well right now I'm in the middle and it's piling up, so let me get straight to it.

I have this Japanese-style chair project on my list, which I have the timber for. Progress has been limited; I did cut the timber down to the right sizes, but got stumped because the wood is very curved. Meaning, if I want to glue two pieces side by side, the two curves together create a visioble arch. Not the right idea at all - it needs to be straight, especially for glue clamping purposes. So I’ve clamped and weighed the boards down to try to straighten them out. That was almost two weeks ago… And it’s slowly working. I’ll be away for another two weeks, so maybe by then it’ll be good to go.

I’ve been going to the field a few times, just to check up on things, and give small amounts of water to the high value trees. I’m still on my initial three barrels of water, which I’m trying to use sparingly. I’ve got to the stage now to mentally committing to a bore hole; even if I had a good rain water system, it’s too late to build up any supply for the summer. So am getting quotes. In the meantime, I’ve been continuing making the paths through the long grass. My system of strimming the path, then putting down cardboard then covering with woodchips is working well. I’m almost out of woodchips now, so hoping the arborist turns up again soon. I found a good source of cardboard from my local pub, so that should no longer be a constraint. The field is looking lovely. Great vibes, lots of wild flowers, long grasses, trees, winding paths.

Garlics

The trees are suffering a bit with the dryness. I will definitely have some losses, like some of the raspberry plants never had a chance to take off. Some of the fruit trees like peach and nectarines don’t have any leaves at all yet, so they might not make it. It happens. The garlic and onions are doing well, the bulbs now just need to size up. I was able to harvest loads of wild chamomile that was growing between the garlic and onions. I think the upturned soil here triggered a whole bunch of new wild plants to grow as I’m getting loads of poppies and chamomile, potentially hundreds. I can harvest the poppy seeds after they flowered and dried out. That will be cool!

 

I also picked bunch of broad beans; they were still relatively young so the beans not that big, but if I pick now, I’ll give space for the plants to grow more. I also like to eat the pods themselves. I find that you can boil it to soften a bit, then add it to a quiche. I froze the broad beans themselves. I should get many more harvests out of these plants still.

The blackberries plants along the edges, that I spent ages pruning and taming over the winter, have come back vigourously, more than I expected. I’ll definitely have hundreds of blackberries in August. I probably won’t have any fruits from my trees, none of them have taken off with any speed, they’ll need another year at least. On the other hand, there is a whole row of mature apple trees down a footpath near the field, and a few large cherry trees, which are already producing fruits. They should be ripe in a few weeks. So I think I’ll get some practice in this year processing the fruits and making jams.

cherry trees along the path

Last week I was in Belgium and the sheep got shorn so I was able to clean and dry two new fleeces for the year and bring them home. I can finally continue my Grobbendonk jumper! The wool this year feels great, much softer that the last. I think these must be younger sheep. It might put my jumper off balance a bit, with a softer section, but hopefully its similar enough. I also still have a big bag of Merino wool I bought to spin, so lots of spinning to do. While in Belgium last week, I spent it most of it in tree farm, learning about how they grow their trees, very interesting and will definitely be putting the learning into my field!

I’m away again for the next two weeks, but I prepped my garden with tomato obelisks and stakes before I left. They should be ready to have a big growth spurt; currently they’re maybe 30cm in height at most, I’m hoping they’ll grow two metres tall by the end of the summer, so get growing! 

Garden right now

Lots of time away means things are piling up, but here is what in the pipeline: 

• Sewing - I bought some new fabrics last time in Cannes, I want to make a few outfits. It’s been a while since I’ve sewn clothes so this will be nice to come back to.
• Wicker Baskets - A large stack of willow is waiting for me. The blocker is they are too large (8ft) to fit in a bath to soak. My plan is a dig a trench/trough in my field and fill it up with water to soak there. The ground is currently much to large to dig into it. I need to wait for rain or use a machine. Other option is to build a trough out of timber instead. 
• Japanese Chair - Timber is cut and ready, but curved / wonky. Trying to straighten out before continuning
• Grobbendonk Jumper - New batch of wool is ready. Need to spin and continue knitting
• Beige Blouse - I had forgotten the yarn in Belgium in my last visit, I have it back now, ready to finish off the collar and final sleeve.
• Leftover Timber - Lots of timber from dismantling the cabinet and other projects, would like to make small things like plants trays etc and use it all up.
• Garden and Field - ongoing. As harvests start coming in, I need to figure out how to process and preserve it all. 

I don’t usually like to have so many projects on the go / waiting for me; I have the supplies for all of them and it’s a bit overwhelming, so writing these lists helps! I prefer have maximum 2–3 projects on the go in total, but various reasons… I’ll be away for two weeks now, but then back in London for a long stretch. While away I’ll be doing sewing and finishing beige blouse, so some stuff will get done!

Onwards! 

A homemade lunch I was proud of  - I made the bagels, wild garlic pesto and houmous.

First sewing project in a while

 

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