There is a small rogue piece of hoggin that that still needs completing in this picture from the Woodland Way into the main raised bed area but with the laying of turf and one further good application of hoggin to come the Potager has been completed ! I am also really pleased to see that the glaring French Open clay court colour of the surfacing has dulled down considerably in just a week or two to a much milder grey/pink colour that tones with the lovely sandstone of the barn. My synapses have calmed from the "hoggin wobble" of a couple of weeks ago.
Also of great excitement, following an emergency session of the works committee my proposal to retain symmetry with the posts and wire pertaining to the "pommier espalier" won the day by a vote of 2-0 with the Head Gardener very much having the deciding vote .The "Avenue" has been born.
My original plan had been to have the posts running down the actual turf but as things stand I believe it looks better like this. There is room for 8 fruit trees to be carefully trained on the three tiers of wire, I have been pouring over You Tube videos of various Californian types wielding secateurs but I need to consult the very worthy RHS tome on pruning. It could be a job for the Head Gardener that one. I can already imagine the trees in blossom creating a beautiful view down the Birch Grove in a few years' time. It really works. I think it will look fabulous in a decade. This is the scale of time we are now dealing with.
You will also note the addition of diagonal support posts to prevent the whole training assembly just falling over now that the wires have been tensioned. I think the overall effect is very fine. The addition of the second set of posts and wire in front of the hoggin area for the glasshouse to the right of the path should serve to create a nice "garden room" containing the beds of cut flowers, soft fruit, asparagus and the cold frames in front of the 8 x 4 metre glasshouse. That is the last great capital project on the Oaklands list. The next stage will probably be a 20 m pond with a larch deck which is to be dug on the old tennis court terrace on what is now the meadow area. Once that "build" is done we can really get going with the intermediary wild habitat between the wood and the formal garden. While we have broken the back on garden works we are by no means finished with diggers and bed shaping and hoggin. There is a fair amount of the "bones" of the final garden plan still to be put in. We are currently debating whether to keep pushing on this Autumn or to wait until 2021 and give ourselves a rest. Much will depend on our landscape company's availability. They will have an order book that has been pushed back by the crisis. We suffered an enforced break of 2 months to our works which should have completed by early April and that must have knocked on.
In the meantime it has created time for legions of vegetables plants to gather in the conservatory for my return. I am owing an explanation of my Brassica plans. I have never unleashed cauliflower in anger - Early Romensco seems to be doing well.
My old favourite from last year in Dubai, Cavolo Nero, "Black Magic" has has been called up for duty in more temperate climes.
There are number of Cabbage varieties. A conehead variety, "Advantage" and "Drumhead" - a red cabbage that I never had much luck with in Hale years ago from memory. Red cabbage is being planted in the hope of a nice of nice leg of pork in the late Autumn.
I did read somewhere that you should plan back from the plate to the beds and sowings and that seems sensible. Grow what you know you like and what you want to eat. I have two big drivers for my life at Oaklands going foward. Firstly restoring the wood and creating habitat that will really give a boost to wildlife - we will balance out the formal with the wild areas around the hinterland of the property. Secondly, I have a real desire to stop spending huge amounts of money on flights and builders and on all of the colossal "drains" of the life that we have for now - this split life - and to live more simply. I want to eat as far as we can only what we can grow and collect from the "few acres" we have. The thinner I get and the more vegetables I eat the more I realise I only need 1500-1800 calories a day (and maybe a glass of wine in the evening !) It will be interesting to see how far I can get to take the "cost" out of life and to live more simply. I guess the leg of pork with the braised red cabbage will have to be bought in !
Finally I was heartened to hear of the appearance in the barn porch of a little collection of waifs and strays.
I made a big order of both Cardoons and Globe Artichokes for the Potager from Thompson and Morgan in February, As if by magic another box of Artichokes has appeared on the step. There were half a dozen missing from the original delivery but they have showed up in good time and are now looking ready for perenial service in Potager..
6 days to go and then I have a 4 hour check in and testing marathon at DBX to fly home for what should be a 3 week break. I will be quarantined at Oaklands for 2 of those weeks and then tested as I land back in Dubai and quarantined for a further two weeks with a test for "release". So in essence the standards in Dubai for getting out are far higher than those in the UK ! So yes please do bring on the "Air Bridge" to the UK but you will need to improve your standards at the UK end. Love us or hate us there are 100,000 UK citizens living and working in Dubai - many of us here without our families working to support loved ones back home. The current set up means that we have to choose to not see our families, to lose our jobs or to undertake a month of quarantine at either end for a trip home with maybe a few days when we get out of the house. I haven't seen the boys for 4 and 6 months respectively and the Head Gardener for 3 months. It is now a good time to come home. I see the howling in the papers as to how we "foreigners" are a threat. I am flying in though from a country that has a working app and contact tracing system and quarantines backed up by calls to homes to ask after symptoms and wellbeing. Something that is safe and workable will need to emerge for travel home otherwise expat life will be become unlivable for many - and the expatriate diaspora extends to millions. Enough of the virus - I am ready for a schlep home. I am a very patient World traveller these days. I will just have to take a punt on getting a flight back in during July. I have no plans other than to work from my study, eat good food and work in the garden for the rest of June. Unfortunately we have missed Chelsea and our annual trip to the Royal Opera - years ahead for that.
Below the Head Gardener sporting a very useful Sneeboer ladies spade and a trolley load of grasses. There is a tidal wave of other planting going on at the moment with the decorative beds also. All good things come to those who wait seems apt when it comes to this stage of the plan.
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