Garden shed clearing - out with the old, in with the new.

Every gardener knows that the garden shed is worth it's weight in crops as long as it is kept tidy and ordered. There is nothing worse than not being able to find your trowel, spend 15 minutes digging around for the hormone rooting powder or stumbling over the mound of unwashed plastic pots that litter the floor. Unfortunately we are as guilty as many for not keeping this precious work space as pristine as it could be. The potting table on the side of the shed was deteriorating fast and the whole shed beckoned for a little tender loving care.

The garden shed was one of the first things we built when we bought La Pasera as it was a key component in our plan to grow as much as our own fruit, vegetables and salad crops as possible. We have treated it well structurally with regular coats of water repellent stain and regular tightening of battens that protect it from the strong Costa Verde winds. It is sealed around the base regularly and the roof felt is good quality which when put all together, helps us to keep it water tight and in sound condition. However, this past two years we have been a bit neglectful and it was not long before we noticed that the wood was beginning to suffer in places and the seals were letting in small amounts of water, so time to spring into action and get it sorted.

We completely emptied it, washed the pots, threw the rubbish, sorted out lots that could be recycled, cleaned all the tools, swept it for cobwebs, painted it on the inside, repaired a couple of pieces near the base that were beginning to rot, painted it outside, re-sealed it and put everything back it. Suddenly it's enormous!

Re-painted and re-sealed

Waste not want not...

Never one to throw re-usable things away (hence the clutter in the first place), today Luis' brother Oscar, who is visiting from El Salvador, and I used the wood we cleared out to build two new planters. With a bit more sanding and a couple of treatments of preservative they will make a great addition to the garden for spring bulbs.

Clearing out and tidying the shed makes you realise how important it is to keep up with those jobs that you think will wait another season. As the seasons come and go, it is easy to let standards slip but keeping up with these sorts of chores really does make life easier in the long run.

Making a new fruit basket in Escriño style

For a couple of years now I have been on the look out for a new fruit bowl, ever since our last one got broken (but it was recycled and re-fashioned into a birdbath). You might think this is an easy task but the ones I saw were either too fragile for their size, too small, the wrong colour, too deep or just not up to the job. In fact we have been using an antique plate originally designed for meat. As my quest for the perfect fruit bowl grew tiresome, Luis offered to make one in Escriño style using rye straw and rattan...perfect. This meant I could commission the correct size, depth and shape.

We have featured Escriño baskets before when Luis learnt how to make them on a short course in Palencia. That time it was a bread basket, this time something more substantial was required. We eat a lot of fruit throughout the year including commercially bought, home-grown and foraged so we needed something that was sturdy, strong and capable of holding substantial amounts.

Escriño is an old tribal craft technique that binds together straw, grasses or pine needles with either strips of willow, rattan or any other binding material. This style of basket can be found in all parts of the world including Africa, South America and Asia. This small basket (below) is from Luis' brother Oscar who brought us it as a gift from Venezuela, of similar construction but much smaller and finer.

The rye straw was grown by Luis' family and the binding he would use was rattan cane he uses for bergere chair weaving. The spiral of straw is measured by a gauge made from a cut-off thimble. The shape is formed as the spiral of straw is woven. The final weave is finished off with a rattan weave that adds a design element and added strength to the basket. These baskets are seriously strong and are rock solid once completed. The technique looks relatively easy but it takes a lot of patience and skill to produce anything worthy of display.

After many hours weaving his magic, sometimes on a sunny terrace sometimes in the workshop or even the lounge, we now have a wonderful, perfectly formed and functional fruit basket that should last for many, many years. Now to plant the seed that we need a new waste bin for the bedroom.....

How we restore cane seated chairs in Bergere cane work. Part 2.

If you follow our blog you will recall that In July we posted about restoring cane seated chairs. These Victorian chairs had seen quite a lot of wear and tear over the years and sometime in the 20's or 30's had their seats replaced with plywood when the cane had broken.

We purchased these and many other chairs back in the UK to restore here in Asturias. We will take them to a local street fair and market later this month where we will demonstrate cane work. We will also take several other cane or rush chairs and hope to sell them.

I cleaned and restored the chair frames and Luis has re-caned them in a seven weave pattern; the stronger of the possible patterns. The chairs have been waxed and with care and attention they should last another 40 years before they need restoring once more. I wonder if Luis will still be doing it then?

The restored chairs - repaired, cleaned, waxed and re-seated.

What, already? gathering fuel for winter..

We have a couple of woodburners that heat the studio and the house so a good supply of heat-producing dry wood is essential. We have just taken delivery of another load of mixed wood including cherry, oak, ash and eucalyptus. If you have a woodburner you'll know that dry wood burns hotter and slower than semi-green or unseasoned wood.

More people seem to be selling wood recently and those that have fallen trees on their land are now processing it rather than either leaving it to rot or burning it; a sign of the times I think. We coppice hazelnut on our land for use as bean poles and stakes but then will burn them as starter wood the following year or add them to the fedge (fence/hedge) if we have enough with used twiggy pea sticks.

A truckload of wood fills half of the wood store more or less. The woodstore holds a full winter and spring's worth of wood with some left for the following season. We plan to keep it replenished as it empties so we can keep ahead with dry wood.

The fedge that surrounds the compost bins and shed is really taking shape now that it has been colonised by wild plants and grasses. It really is teaming with wildlife including for the first time, nesting wrens. Just don't tell Wentworth and Gawber....

Beach-combing for driftwood on Santa Marina beach

Each year in winter the beach at Santa Marina, Ribadesella becomes littered with tonnes and tonnes of driftwood and river wood. It is an amazing sight. After the pristine sand that the beach presents us with for 10 months of the year, from now until Easter time, the beach is awash with wood.

Most of the wood comes down the Rio Sella during periods of high tides, heavy rains and rising river levels. Other rivers and tributaries also contribute their fair share of wood in its many forms. There are however, some strange and incongruous finds that tell another story.

Ribadesella Council make a start on clearing the beach 

This week we made a trip down to the beach with the specific intention of finding wood to replace the cat's scratching posts that we have in the garden. The existing ones were originally from the beach a few years ago but with lots of use and natural decay they needed replacing.

Think before you throw your plastic

Needless to say we had a lot to choose from. Amongst the detritus washed ashore were single flip-flops, plastic bottles, way too many plastic bottles, a pair of badly scratched Tommy Hillfiger sunglasses, a yellow rubber duck and too many pieces of cast-away rubbish.

This year we have seen many more local people collecting firewood from the beach, a good use for it for those who are able to process it.

Our finds included several pieces of oak and chestnut that we will use for mosaic art, a carved and decorated piece of a grain store (Horreo) about 150 years old we think, a piece of oak with a carving of a bear stood on a rock, two fine scratching posts, a weathered and characterful plank and a well-washed and almost polished tree-stump.

Notice the antique nail in the top left hand corner

We will find uses for all this reclaimed treasure and enjoy it in the process. Beach-combing, well wrapped up on a fine winter's day, there is nothing better. We may be back for more, we have until mid march when it is cleared by the local council in readiness for horse racing on the beach that takes place around Easter-time.

Preparing the garden and vegetable plot for winter

At this time of year there is always lots to do around La Pasera. The garden needs close attention in relation to cutting back shrubs and plants that are out-growing their space, plants need moving and weeds need weeding out. Each year we make a note of what needs moving due to the wrong growing conditions, lack of space or wrong position. There aren't many plants that need moving but inevitably one or two need attention in the coming weeks. In addition, it is an opportunity to refresh and stimulate new growth next season. Never be afraid to cut back hard, more often than not it works well and results in luscious growth in the spring and early summer.

The extensive cutting back gives us lots of organic material which is of course, composted for future use as a soil conditioner and nutrient. This is an important resource for us especially now as out neighbour farmer is no longer keeping dairy cattle (due to new EU laws....) and therefore our regular supply of manure has dried up! Thanks Brussels.

The pond has needed some attention this year due to the vigorous growth of water-lily and oxygenating plants. After removing some of the plant growth, leave around the edges of the pond to give any inhabitants such as water snails and beetles an opportunity to find the water again. In the next few days we will secure a net over the pond to prevent an excess of leaves getting into the pond as the trees shed in the next few weeks. An excess of organic matter can make the pond murky and promote algae growth.

Earlier on in the season we sank a small bundle of barley straw into the water as the water became very green but remained healthy. The barley straw releases a small amount of hydrogen peroxide as it breaks down thus killing of the algae. Harmless to the pond life, it seems to have worked.

Starting out with only four fish, they appear to be at home in their environment as we now have about 20, that is after giving the Donkey Sanctuary 6-8 for their pond - apparently, Marleen has mentioned that they too have numerous new offspring swimming around.

The vegetable beds are worked on a rotation system and it is always good when one bed can be cleared completely and dug over. One bed has been dug and green manure (Oats) have been sown and is already showing through. This will be dug in during late winter prior to planting up with spring vegetables.

Restoring Rush Chairs

Luis has just spent the past few weeks rushing a set of dining room chairs for a client who has a holiday home in Asturias. There were eight chairs in the set plus two others - a huge amount of work that has taken him about 150 hours. Drop-in seated chairs are much more difficult to handle and therefore take more time. In addition, we have had difficulties in sourcing rush which turned out to be of poorer quality than usual so he took a lot of time selecting and discarding material that wasn't up to standard. Using a combination of Spanish and Dutch rush to complete the chairs, they have turned out well and look great.

Our supplier in the UK has stopped importing rush and Spanish rush is also proving difficult to source. We know there are still commercial growers and suppliers in the Netherlands so we are busy making enquiries via our friend Marleen from El Paraiso del Burro who is originally from Holland and who still has many contacts there.

Reduce, re-use and recycle

Our green credentials are open to question on so many fronts however, where possible we try and have as little impact on our environment as possible. We were recently given the opportunity to have a tour of the Cogersa Plant near Gijon and Aviles. This is the main processing plant for refuse in our part of the world. This came about as we are a part of a pilot scheme they have intiated on composting. After a few presentations from key people within Cogersa and from a regional government representative, we were toured around the plant and exhibition. We were impressed with their efforts - especially the sheds for composting massive amounts of green waste - equivalent to 4 or five football pitch sized buildings. Another highlight was the demonstration of Falconry by the resident Male and Female Falcons used to control the potentially huge population of seagulls. They were flown and enticed the dive to catch a lure.....very impressive birds. The refuse processing plant currently puts into landfill any waste it cannot process - this site is almost full and European Law prevents further sites being considered. The only solution being considered is an incinerator.