SUN, SEEDS & BLOSSOMS

The weather seems to be getting a little warmer now, which is great.  I think the clocks change this weekend and it's Easter.  Today we saw temperatures of around 22 here in Sa Pobla, a wind has got up now which is still a little chilly but really the weather is lovely.

We still haven't planted in any more plants but we are hoping to catch the farmer over the next few days so we can begin.  The plots are ready and the chickens have been out of their pen to pick at the insects for us.

The winter jasmine is blossoming and smells heavenly, the other blossoms out are the irises, hawthorn and the orange blossom is beginning again.

Winter Jasmine in bloom.  Very heady scent.

Iris in bloom

I have now planted a few seedlings.  Touch sensitive mimosa for kids to amuse themselves with, some Helichrysum (dried flowers) and some hollyhocks, we'll see what happens.  As we didn't have any suitable bags of soil we sieved some so I could plant the delicate seeds in it.  The soil here is generally very stony and rough.

J sieving soil

An old Mallorcan garden sieve

Helichrysum seeds planted.  Hope they take!

Touch sensitive Mimosa seeds - a couple have already begun to peep through!

The rooster is treading on very thin ice, and he was nearly dispatched with on Wednesday morning.  Unfortunately we were a little preoccupied with errands so he's been let off the hook briefly.  We cannot keep him now, he is attacking us too much, so he has to go.  He will make a good sunday roast or a good soup.

A couple of pictures below to show you the scenery on a stroll out today.

UNPREDICTABLE MARCH

Not much to report at the moment.  The weather is very unpredictable with it being about 18 degrees one moment and the following day only about 12 or less.  Apparently we are expecting more snow on the mountains and I have reports from Puerto Alcudia of snow falling yesterday! yikes. The sun is out here in Sa Pobla for the moment, but there is quite a lot of cloud about.  

No new planting as yet, perhaps in another week.  We had our first cauliflower yesterday for lunch - delicious although it was a bit small.  

The hens are still laying, which is great and I am supplementing their feed with blended veggie cut offs, stale Weetabix and a few oats, they seem to love it mixed up with their corn.

I'm happy to report that the rice husks are proving a godsend on the ground and so far neither the hens or us have any problems with the dust from it.

There are many spring flowers out on the island now and it is very beautiful.  Almond blossoms, large headed daisies in whites and yellows and the poppies are out now also - lovely.  

A stroll across the Albufera

View down one of the lanes on the Albufera national park.

On a walk in Puerto Alcudia

The irises coming out.

Our first cauliflower this year.  Small but perfect - yummy.

Puerto Alcudia, lovely sunny March morning

The cats all snuggled up from the chill.  Adolf, Samuel Sprat and Pipla.

MOULDY OLIVES!

The olives went mouldy!  I'm fed up about that really.  We completely forgot about them due to so many other things going on.  When I lifted the lid of the olive bin to see what was waiting for me...there was  a load of mould! yuk. So we dumped them on the big pile ready to burn at the front of the property.

The weather has been terrible recently, one minute we've got snow on the mountains, the next minute it's 18 degrees! no wonder so many people here have bugs/flu/coughs/colds etc. Here are a few pictures from last week, I went out to see how everything had fared due to having a frost.  We don't get many frosts normally.

Frosty lettuces were the order of the day!

The severely pruned quince bush was covered in ice.  This is because when we have frost the farmers keep their water sprinkler systems on all night to stop the crops from dying.  The quince tree got attacked from the potato field.

The orange trees also got hit by the sprinklers!  We had icicles!

Icicles

This is our nispera tree.  It produces small fruits similar to a pear but with big stones inside.  Not my favourite but many people here love them.

 View towards the snow capped mountains.

Whilst talking with one of our local farmers (rice producers), he stated that rice husks were great for the chicken coop, especially when it is wet and muddy!  So he said we can help ourselves whenever we want to.  We got a sack full, he already had prepared for us and I went about sprinkling them all around the the coop.

Sack of rice dry rice husks.

Close up of husks.

Husks sprinkled onto the muddy earth.  When it rains it is not so nice in the coop, but a little straw did the trick before, now we have husks.

 Me at work in the chicken coop.

Still on the subject of chickens... Our cockerel has now attacked C! This time he cut C's shin - it's darn painful when he does that let me tell you.  So C came swearing and cursing into the house stating that the cockerel was skating on thin ice! Soon for the pot.  He's a beautiful creature to look at, but he likes to attack anyone that goes into the coop, we need a more friendly one I think!

I have made more lemon curd.  The first lot was so good, I'd completely forgotten how good it could be.  It went down a storm at our chief taster's home in the town, so as long as there are lemons, I will make lemon curd.

No new plants are in at the moment, mainly because the weather has not been the best for planting.  So I am hoping in the next week or so we can get some new lettuces/cabbages/cauliflowers etc in.  

To finish todays post here are a couple of pics from a very wet day last week!

A small bird nest found in the old farmers garage next to the finca.

C and J walking across the Albufera, Sa Pobla.  A very wet day indeed.

Rain clouds across the fields.  Albufera, Sa Pobla.