Brain storm

One of those nights where you wake up around 2am and can’t get to sleep because your brain is in a hyper mode. I tossed and turned for hours with thoughts and plans and too many things on my mind. Exhausted now and it’s only 8pm. But we had a day away from gardening by going climbing at Le Pouzin further south.

And when it gets dark by 5pm you really can’t nip out and do anything more for the day. So instead here is a list of 3am thoughts:

Remove old quince branches from the artichoke bed and the stones that are in the middle of the plot
Clear around all the fruit trees and apply fish blood and bone fertilizer
Shovel the gravel that is lumped in front of the jostaberry bush and spread it as mulch about the herb beds
Remake artichoke bed
Clear all leaves from courtyard and garden and compost in special bin
Empty and move the blue water butts from the lower potager and take them up to the top potager
Pump water out of the trough into the water butts. Defying gravity as you do so (haven’t worked that one out yet)
Plant a row of asparagus
Cover the row with a weed suppressing fabric (with appropriate holes cut for the asparagus plant
Wind big hose back into the safety of the cellar
Investigate the weed proof fabric M. Pontgerard has left for use (75m I think)
Put this fabric onto the lower potager path and secure
Find source for bark chips
Dig last of the trenches for the electricity cable in front of the lower compost bin

And by then I finally fell asleep exhausted.

Water in the lower potager is sorted by dint of a tap in the underground cellar nearby. And a 200 foot long piece of hose. The top potager is a different matter. I have been puzzling how to get water up there. And what the previous owners did. I think they pumped water (somehow) from the trough in the courtyard uphill a hundred feel and into some conveniently placed water butts. Or did they have a way of diverting the slow drip overflow from the water source down diagonally to the top garden? Must ask Bernard if this can be done.

Weed suppressing fabric had my brain whirring in a particular way. To cover or not cover the asparagus. All the books mention careful hand weeding of the crowns in the first year to prevent them getting crowded by competing weeds. But will I be that diligent with all the other chores that will need to be done? And frankly, it is one of those out of sight out of mind issues. Because you don’t look on the top veggie garden, you tend not to go at the weeds or water as often. I didn’t get up there from August until last month and that was just a rough weed. So if I can design the weed suppressing fabric properly, maybe I can avoid ruining my crop before it has a chance to romp. This is a long-term project crop. We won’t get any asparagus spears for three years at least.

And then there was the issue of how much fabric I have. I think there is a roll of 75 metres. Will it be enough to cover the steep blackberry slope above the pool and the courtyard gravel garden as well? I don’t think I can countenance another summer of endless weeding in the courtyard. Not when there are ten other acres of weeds just busting out everywhere else. So I will measure the distances if I have time. Add that to the list.

You can see how one loses the sense of proportion on these sleepless nights. None of these tasks are really important. Well, the water issue is. Now that the water tank is full to the brim there is a small but steady drip of an overflow. Right now it is dripping into the two courtyard troughs – which are full.

I have to find a way to pump out the water (leaving enough for the lads to use mixing some cement for their wall work) and accept that because we won’t come back for three weeks then there may be an almighty flood. I guess I’m going to have to put the pipes back that snaked all over the property when we first came here. And where do I place them? The previous owners kept sheep and therefore used their excess water to top up a drinking trough on the first terrace below the house. Maybe I will water the orchard. Who knows? Must take advice.

I only have until Thursday this trip (unless I change the ticket) and there just won’t be enough time to get all this done. Especially as we need to buy sinks, taps and tiles for the new bathroom building work (which starts tomorrow). And I will have a bit of painting to do for the new shelves, which Bernard is building in the kitchen.

Sigh. Time for a beer and dinner and hope I get a better and less list driven night’s sleep.