Good morning lovely people,
Victor's shopping habits are seasonal. At this time of the year, it tends to be agricultural equipment, compost and seeds rather than any new trousers from Hacket. Winter eating habits always deter his fashion instincts so Kitchen Garden investment always gets his full attention.
The damage from Storm Eowyn has now been repaired. The forest will be eating well with two huge trees, chopped and laid to rest. Edging boards in the raised beds have had their annual fix and we’re looking good. Even the wild garlic and fair flower leek is bursting into life and on the menu at Cannonball Restaurant along with the most delicious individual Beef Wellington; need I say more? We’ve just bought the first round of spring seeds, now sitting cosy in Nonna G’s living room. The greenhouse is still too cold for this trench of growing so they’ve been upgraded from our lounge to her space as the light is so beautiful in this part of the house. I don’t think she’ll mind.
Scotland beat Italy in the Six Nations this year but it’s a draw in the garden.
The kitchen garden in Lasswade took several years to establish. We had no local knowledge of what had been there previously tasked with converting what had been an ornamental garden into a production garden. We only found out last year that the garden had been a 1980’s Beechgrove Garden project. It was so overgrown when we took over 15 years ago it was difficult to see what really was of value.
The Oliveto in Picinisco on the other hand is slowly revealing its hidden treasures. Left hidden for more than a decade.
Thankfully we’ve been able to tap into the expertise of the local factor who had helped the previous owners Father. Without his knowledge we would be wasting so much time and resource.
Victor has had a turn at being Indiana Jones. He’s our raider of the lost vasca, or water well. Discovering four “vassce” or water troughs fed from a natural spring that has channels (still to be cleaned) that naturally flow down the fields to water the olive trees. An irrigation system that was installed over 60 years ago is slowly being revealed and will be serving the soil well over the coming seasons when the weather gets hotter, with no need for artificial watering. Nature knows best.
These discoveries are a reminder of what we have in front of us but sometimes aren’t able to see the real value.
Age is teaching me that it can be the quietest in our team and our community that may have the most to share. I’ve also learnt they may be the ones who need our help the most. We all need to find the skill to discover the secrets of the good parts of the Beechgrove Garden and the Oliveto without losing what’s hiding right in front of our eyes.
Keep well and happy looking for the hidden gems. New and shinny isn’t always best.
