There has been very little in the way of rain here in the south of France during what is normally our wet season so i was quite excited when i saw our weather forecast looking like this today.
Two weeks of rain would be such a dream!
Why? Because we have done most of our spring planting already so this would basically mean there is nothing to do on our land and i will have two weeks for inside and computer based projects, of which there are many outstanding!
Beyond our own garden the land here is very dry and everything will sing with life again after such a wet period.
It also offers the opportunity to store rainwater for what i suspect is going to be a very hot summer with periods in which there will be no water in the canal.
Fate would have it that a very good friend in the village gave us a 300L container just a few weeks ago so at once i set about digging it into the ground to become a collection point for the water at the entrance to our Spiral Garden, right where everyone can see it.
The corrugated roofing piece i have used to catch the rain was sitting around in a local forest, waiting for this moment, like so many other now essential items around our garden.
The bamboo i have used to support it is from our bamboo forest, just beyond the Spiral Garden. I cut it sparingly and always with the upmost respect, making sure to bless the strong green shoots with my hands before cutting them from their mother root system.
The container lid (seen at the end there) can still be placed on the top when it is full, to prevent mosquitos from breeding.
I considered the possibility of adding gutters to that shed you can see above our land. It wouldn't be too hard to catch a bunch more rain and channel it into the container.
Or perhaps i could add another corrugated piece on the opposite side of the container?
For now i will simply observe how fast it fills and if i am not satisfied by its progress i will improve its effectiveness.
This is the first rain water catchment system i've ever built so am excited to get back there this morning and see how we did after a night of rain!
It should also be noted that @drrune predicted this rain in his rune reading last year. He felt like it might negatively affect our region. Indeed, the land is so dry that two weeks of rain would create flooding and potentially landslides. Though i think we'll be okay here in our village.
Mulch mound update
Back in February we made mulch mounds on our highest and driest land to create a situation in which our plants don't need watering at all.
The film to describe how we did this (incorporating electroculture techniques) can be seen here.
This is how they look today and as you can see they are still rather bare!
This is due to a mystery animal (we think it is a badger) who keeps coming back and eating the things we plant while also trashing the mounds, somehow turning them completely upside down and basically making a total mess. Not one single pea, artichoke or leek has survived. Plus a bunch of other things i don't care to mention.
Our only solution is to keep building up the barriers around this land and do our best to make it impenetrable. The trouble is, every time we think this is done, the badger proves us wrong. Amazing creatures really.
So are they coming because we have mulch mounds? Or perhaps is it for another reason? Speaking to Doris our garden neighbour, i am told this is the first time in 30 years badgers have ventured this far out of their natural habitat the forest. So i suspect they are here not because we have mulch mounds but rather because the lack of rain has messed with their normal food routines. And two weeks of rain will likely correct this problem.
Some things have survived at least, like these beans at the end of the first mound here.
At the other end you can see kale, lettuce, rocket, peppers and a borage.
So we do still have a few things in there, but more will need to be planted.
Looking around the land yesterday i came across this orange poppy which really made me smile as not only have i never seen an orange coloured poppy before but also because this is the first time poppies have grown on our land. And you can be sure we didn't plant them!
Constantly amazed at how nature does this. Buttercups too are popping up everywhere this year, for the first time ever. A local lady told me this means our air is cleaner than normal. Perhaps due to the effect of all my electroculture antenna?
There is so much life here it is almost impossible to list all the different varieties of plants.
Ginger shooting out here.
This lavender was no bigger than one of my feet when we bought it a few years ago. Now it's big enough to sleep in!
We have a small forest of beans under the cherry trees and i must say these seem more healthy than any beans we have grown in the past. Likely due to the magnetised cable in this bed.
Just as i was leaving i noticed our elderflower tree in bloom so stopped to pick around 20 heads for a yummy cordial (mixed with water, sugar & lemon).
It will be ready to drink after 24h infusing the flavour of the petals into the water.
The scent is so sweet and delicate, a perfect refreshing drink for the hotter days ahead. Though don't keep it too long as it will start to ferment and become alcoholic! We usually freeze a few bottles for late summer.
Pine nut abundance
We love pine nuts in this house but their cost is outrageous so we don't eat them much. I didn't think much about this situation until Luna found this cone on a walk in the winter and gave it to me as a gift.
She knows i love gifts like this and i kept it outside on our courtyard table. You can just about see it there under the spider plants.
The cone was wet when she gave it to me, sealed up tight like this.
But once dry, it opened.
And inside were its seeds!
Probably not all that amazing to those who are familiar with pine cones already but for me it was a first and i was in awe at this mechanism which continues to operate even now. When it's dry the cone opens. When it's wet, it closes.
For how many years will it do this i wonder? And what is the mechanism behind it? Surely some great lessons for humans here.
Upon opening those glorious seeds we had our delicious pine nuts.
But never one to let an opportunity for future abundance pass me by i planted 20 of them immediately and this spring 12 of them sprouted.
Am unfamiliar with how baby pine trees look so spent a lot of time marvelling at them. There was a special kind of symmetry going on because we had 12 plants and each one had 12 needles.
When i watered them small balls would settle in their centre like this.
The next layer of needles can be seen appearing here.
These trees are not much different to electroculture antenna and i can see now why they are such a special variety of plant, producing such incredible tasting seeds.
They are closely related to cedars which is interesting to me due to the Ringing Cedars of Russia series i am currently looking at. Will be writing a post (perhaps in the rainy period!) on Kin's Domains, a new way of living which has grown from Anastasia's wisdom in these books.
Am looking at these now imagining two rows of six trees either side of a path which leads to our home on the outskirts of a beautiful food forest.
"You may say i'm a dreamer, but i'm not the only one."
The rabbit house
In the last few days the children & i finally got round to building the rabbit house. Needless to say it was constructed with pyramid angles in mind (because this will benefit their wellbeing). Copper wire will be added to increase effectiveness.
Made with scrap wood it's pretty basic but should do the trick for two rabbits i think. The top will be covered with a block which stops the rain from getting in.
Still need to add a window on this side and a door on the other.
One section of the roof opens up like this for convenient cleaning.
Last night Luna painted half the roof, leaving the other for Esteban.
Esteban is however not all that interested to paint his side as he is currently obsessed with the piano, spending most of his time here. His personal compositions and ability to memorise the pieces he is learning continues to impress me so i let it go.
I will paint the other side!
He was at least interested to help build this magnificent lego wall which is required to stop the kittens getting out of their area. They are very small and camouflaged against this rug so there have been a few near misses with stepping on them.
Their allocated play zone can be seen here with an old sculpture of mine on the table (created at University) overlooking everything.
So i think that's it for now.
The sun is up and i'm off to check how much rain we caught!
Love & Light everyone π±
