Three weeks since my last Pennsif's Progress update.
What a HomesteadSlacker I am 😊
Lol, as the young folk say. For most homesteaders slacking is something you rarely have time for.
There are always things to do. Nature doesn't stop for anyone.
The seasons progress, the crops grow, the weeds prosper, the harvests come, and the rain arrives just at the wrong time.
And the animals they just want to be fed...
The Chimney
Alongside all that never ending day to day stuff our chimney has been leaking worser and worser and worser.
We've been patching it up, but now the bedroom ceiling is starting to sag just a worringly little bit.
So now the scaffolding is up (£450 / US $600 !!) and the builder is rebuilding the chimney properly. It is made of slate and stone with an earth filling - no mortar - no wonder it was leaking.
Not sure yet what the builder's bill will be but it is one of those jobs that really has to be done before winter. Alas it is not a job I can do myself 😞 - rather too far out of my skillset to do a proper job.
One cool thing about having the scaffolding up is the great view from the roof - I've never been up there before. It would be a great place to set up my ham radio rig 😎
The Garden
Out in the garden the crops are still flooding in. Tomatoes by the bowl full, courgettes (zucchini) by the box full, potatoes by the wagon full.
Then there's cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, runner beans, broad beans, French beans, onions, garlic, carrots, marrows, chard, spinach, sweetcorn, cucumbers, lettuce, rhubarb and herbs of many, many varieties.
And the chickens are still laying at least half a dozen eggs a day.
Isn't producing your own food wonderful...
As the harvests come in and the beds are cleared it is time to see what I can plant for the autumn, winter and spring.
This year I've got the polytunnel and the greenhouses so I am really hoping I can ramp up the off season production.
I've already got more carrots, turnips, onions, bunching onions and lettuce in the ground and growing well.
I'm also planning to get more beans, brassicas and chard going.
Any other suggestions for what to plant now...?
New Fruits
One of my goals for this year was to increase and to diversify our fruit production.
We're two thirds of the way towards our goal of planting 100 fruit trees - mainly apples, cherries, pears, plums but also a few more unusual ones like apricots, medlars, mulberries, nectarines and quince.
Alongside the trees I've been trying a few more 'exotic' fruits. Two of them are now coming to harvest.
One is Cape Gooseberries or Physalis (Physalis peruviana). We tried three of these last year but they weren't planted early enough to bear fruit successfully. I left them in the greenhouse over winter but the frost got them. I was clearing them out in the spring when I noticed one of them had some tiny green shoots.
I potted it on to a bigger pot and with its earlier start it has grown fantastically and is now bearing dozens of fruit. I don't know whether I will be able to overwinter this again.
I also planted two new Cape Gooseberries this year and it looks like they will yield a few fruit as well.
The other new unusual fruit is the Fuchsiaberry. This is actually a specially bred version of the standard Fuchsia that produces much bigger berries. We got ours from Thompson & Morgan. I am not sure if this strain is available elsewhere but the berries of all Fuchsias are edible.
Fuchsia Genii is a standard variety that is supposed to produce good berries if you cannot get the Fuchsiaberry. I have some of these as well but they have not reached the fruiting stage yet to compare them with the Fuchsiaberries.
That's it for tonight. I want to catch some of the Minnow Mayor’s Town Hall on MSP Waves Radio with @aggroed and guest @stellabelle.
I have just last week found MSP Waves Radio. It is a project of the PAL Network and has some excellent programs. Do check it out.
If you found this post useful or interesting please do upvote, resteem and follow. Thank you.
You might also be interested in some of my other posts :
SteemTowns - connecting the virtual with the reality - would it be possible?
Pennsif's Progress - The Days are Numbered // Day 941 : When Nature Calls, The Rabbit Runs
[all images provided by @pennsif]