Off to Rowan...

No - Sue hasn't chucked me out...!!

But as we have a couple of weeks with no-one staying at Rowan Cottage (which is bizarre, as May is usually fully booked...) I am off there tomorrow for a couple of days to do a bit of maintenance work. The van is loaded with mower, tool boxes, ladders and paint. I just need to pack my bag.

I'll be packing my walking boots as well, as being on the south of the island for a day or two gives me the chance to explore some bits of Skye that I wouldn't normally get to from home.

Incidentally, this little van is brilliant. It's a Citroen Berlingo, the 'new' shape. It has the 90bhp 1.6 litre diesel engine, which provides excellent 'go' and I average around 52mpg. The load space is so versatile. Here, I have folded the passenger seat into the footwell so there is ample length for my ladders - and if necessary, a passenger could still squeeze onto the tiny middle seat.

Allotment update

It's been such a perfect weekend's weather, so I completed the job of weeding the strawberry bed.

The plants were babies last year (taken from the huge, elderly and overgrown plants I inherited with the plot). So with luck, we should get a decent crop this year. If we do - they will be turned into jam as neither Sue or I are too fussed about eating fresh strawberries! If they don't crop well, then they'll be coming out, as they take up a fair bit of space, and are rather labour-intensive...

The big bed beyond the strawberries is destined to be the Brassica bed this year. Here they are in their seed trays in the cold frame. They have some growing to do... (can you spot which seeds were the cheap ones...)?

Finally, I decided to start the runner beans off in pots in the shed, as we are still getting overnight frosts at the moment. There's 10 of a dwarf variety, which I will plant in tubs. The rest are a tall variety, and I will grow them up poles - if we get a summer storm, I don't think they'll cope, but I reckon it's worth taking a chance.

Perfect weather weekend

Skye is being blessed with the most stunning weather right now, while parts of the UK are getting torrential rain and even flooding in places. Sue has been down at Aird View, tidying the garden there, and I have been down to Rowan to do a turn-round, and then have been busy again on the allotment (next post - so I can keep my allotment news separate).

Looking towards Strollamus (Rowan Cottage) over Caolas Scalpay

Evening walkies above Dunvegan Woods

We have two people staying here at The Barn just now. One is a professional photographer, and they went off at 3.00am to go up to The Storr and watch the sunrise. Craig has posted one of his photos on Facebook, so I'm sure it is OK for me to copy it to here...

Sunrise today, over the Sound of Raasay 

(Photo by Craig Cooke)

Allotment news

These allotment posts are mostly just for me - they will provide me with a record of what I did when, which should be useful to me in the future. I guess they just might be of use to other vegetable gardeners too...

Anyway - latest news is that I have planted the onion sets, and also some rhubarb seeds - bit of an experiment this one. Rhubarb plants are very expensive - I paid £9.00 each for a couple of plants two years ago. One has since died, and the other has never flourished, though seems to be doing better since I moved it to a less shady spot. So, if the seeds manage to produce a couple more plants for me, it'll be a bonus!

The brassica seedlings in the seed trays in the shed have all germinated, and are looking ready to be moved outside into a sheltered place - I'll use the cold frame again I think - which I was supposed to have rebuilt for this spring, as it is so rotten, but just haven't got round to it...