Monday, January 17, 2011

Two months at Shoestring Cottage

Since we moved into Shoestring Cottage we have been dragging away trailer loads of greenery from the very overgrown back garden and have commenced planting.  Of course since the whole idea of Shoestring is that everything must be done on the sniff of an oily rag the plants are mainly cuttings begged from my dear mum, or el cheapo seedlings from the local hardware store.  No matter, we have harvested the first tomatoes and some beans but the courgettes are refusing to set fruit - why is that? 
A very obliging cafe has provided a never ending supply of coffee grounds to mulch the soil.  Apparently this could result in acid soil so we will need to keep a careful eye on that, but so far the results have been very promising - lots of baby earthworms already appearing and a much better texture to the soil - or is that my imagination?