Rain and wind, more and more

 

The weather on this side of the world has been pretty abysmal as well. Constant rain and wind for weeks it seems. So I can't really prune in the vineyard which means I have turned my attention to the polytunnel. The soil we bought from the County Council is awful. Black oily stuff that sticks to everything and doesn't want to wash off. It's from Croagh Patrick and has shale in it, so I'm assuming the slick stuff is shale oil. 

I removed it from the first raised bed in the Autumn, and now I've dug away four wheelbarrows full of it from the second bed. I laid nicely decomposing seaweed that's been lying outside the polytunnel since this summer at the base (I need a little more to add a good layer). Then I have a couple of fish boxes full of compost to mix on top. That should do it. 

I bought seeds from a new outfit called Seeds Ireland that does only organic, genetically unmodified and naturally pollinated seeds. That means you can save seeds from the plants you grow to grow again and be reasonably sure they will perform as well as the original ones. I like that idea.