The quiet is starting to froth…..

The joy and multitude of things achieved when you have kind help and encouragement.

I'm running behind - well walking slowly in fact 😂. That's just the way life is at the moment. And yet with many hands and all that. The feeling of finishing something is wonderful, yet the feeling f finishing something within some form of ‘normal’ timescale because you have help is STUPENDOUS!

• Monday

Our woofers, yet again, are proving what a joy it is to host people. They are a lovely family who are so encouraging of what we do and so eager to learn despite us thinking we have nothing to teach.

We started off with seed sowing. I copied tiktok and we made some seed snails reusing posting envelopes, planting a mix of things to eat and coo over. Wider packets for long rooting sweet peas, smaller ones for cosmos, helicysum and mushroom punnets for Scottish kale. We also planted onions, Scottish yellow tomatoes and more.  This may be the first year of many where I got to my seed packets before the mice do.

• Tuesday

I am not a tidy anything, let alone a tidy gardener. But there is that day in early March, when the sun shines and spring could be springing, but to actually see anything I just need to cut this bit back and pull these spent stalks out, oh and maybe make the path less slippy by cutting back those leaves. We even got as far as sprinkling the Steading courtyard beds with wood chip. The sprinkle will become an inch or so when we get round to emptying the compost bins and chipping more of the fallen tree.

• Wednesday 

The dry spell continues. The willing workers started weaving our compost bays. Three sides of willow and hazel, split in half by planks that can be removed to facilitate easy turning.

I disappeared to do the shopping for our first business event of the year, the annual Scotland Climate Cafe coordinators get together.

• Thursday

Jess, the creator of the trademarked Climate Café and one of BBC's women of the year in 2023, is quite the inspiration. Her idea, spawned in Dunkeld, now has sister cafes all over the world. It was wonderful seeing the projector in use in the Silo for the first time. The lack of internet apparently allowed more focus due to less distraction :)

Lunch was a hit with Anna Jones and Melissa Berg recipes fuelling participants. I used Scottish produce where possible but it struck me how all three recipes had flavours and origins in countries that are being the hardest hit by climate change.

• Friday

Before falling in a heap, we finished the static parts of the compost bays. Just need to make the hurdles for the front. Planted a few trees and started the fencing around the Hathaway copse. Phew.

Did you enjoy this? If yes please hit ALL the buttons :) See you next time.

Bugs (big hugs)

Keesje

PS. This all sounds very up beat and it is! Watching the videos, you might think I’ve made up my tremors. But it’s only a snapshot. My tremors can be pretty persistent and my speech is hit and miss. Good news is my neurologist appointment is tomorrow!