To Every Season

Each year at the autumn equinox, on March 21st, Farmdoc tilts the solar panels on our roof by the number of degrees latitude we are from the equator - ie 41 - to capture the maximum amount of sunshine during the winter months.

Then, at the spring equinox, September 21st, he climbs back onto the roof to lie the panels down again, ready for the warmer weather.

It's been too wet for roof climbing lately, so this morning Farmdoc took advantage of a clear spell to lower the panels. We're ready for the summer now.

Then we spent some time in the vegetable garden: spring cleaning and planting seeds of carrots, radishes, peas, beans and broad beans.

Sometimes I think that as a writer I see symbolism where there is none. We did these things today because they needed to be done and the weather was briefly fine. Still, it did feel healing, after yesterday's events, to be moving with the seasons, and looking forward to spring growth and summer harvest.

As You Sow

Now that the new hothouse has had enough time to settle into position in our vegetable garden, we decided to go ahead with some planting.

Last week we bought packets of seeds from The Lost Seed Company, which is not far from us in Sheffield, and which specialises in rare, open-pollinated, heritage and heirloom seed varieties.

We were impressed by what Kerryn Martin, the 'proprietor and grower', says on the website and on the seed packets:

'It is my passion to open up to you the smorgasbord of seed available, to restore what an industrial world has taken away, and to do this in the most natural way possible.'

This afternoon we planted seeds of basil, beetroot, capsicum, two kinds of lettuce, pumpkin and tomatoes in some old ice cream and margarine containers. We'll plant the other seeds we bought directly into the soil in the garden.

It poured all day today so we left the newly planted seeds outside the hothouse for a few hours to get a good drenching, before we moved them indoors where they can develop, undisturbed by frost and birds. I can't wait to see how successful we'll be at growing these vegetables.

Tonight we ate one of Farmdoc's amazing pizzas for dinner. Of the toppings on it we only grew the spinach, garlic and herbs ourselves. It's exciting to think that at this moment those funny looking seeds are settling in, unafraid of the dark, preparing to put down roots and send up shoots that will become our summer harvest.

People With Glasshouses

Farmdoc and I have been talking about getting a hothouse since we first moved to Mole Creek, nearly seven years ago. We have such a short summer growing season here, with frosts well into November, that by the time our vegetables get going it's autumn again and they are running a race against winter.

When we first laid out the vegetable garden we even left a hothouse-sized space.

For all these years Farmdoc has been researching makes and models and we've made trips to a number of outlets to examine various options but somehow we never seemed to get around to buying one. Then our friend Dorothy, who is moving from the area, said she would sell us hers. So this morning John and Dorothy arrived with the hothouse in tow.

It took a bit of work to hoist it over the vegetable garden fence and into position.

And then it had to be concreted in.

Finally it was in place and set up ready to receive the seeds of our summer salads.

I don't think it'll take us as long to fill as it did to buy it. Right now we're making lists of vegetables and herbs that will benefit from a head start.