The storm

Our little village of cottages is on the hills overlooking Oslo. It is the perfect spot for watching the rather changeable weather roll inn over the city. Today we have a storm coming, sort of unusual for summer.

The day started out with rain. Soft, quiet rain. Then the rain stopped for a few hours befor this rather black cloud rolled in.

Now, the rain is pouring down, with the occasional lightning and thunder. It is not windy yet, but they predict a storm tonight. Maybe I have to brave the weather and go out to see!

Peas

Peas are one of my all time favourite vegetables. I have childhood memories of stealing peas from our neighbors patch (sorry!). Small wonder, peas was the first crop I planted for myself in the garden.

This year, I've planted two different varieties. One was supposed to be about 150cm high (now measuring around 250cm!) while the other should stop around 75cm.

The tall ones was planted first and has for about two weeks provided us with large pods with delicious peas. The second batch has just started flowering and I hope they will bear fruit before winter sets upon us (which is in about two-three months, so there is hope).

A pleasant side effect is that the plants, leaves, pods and peas are great photo subjects. If the wind doesn't blow too much...

Growing things to eat

When we took over the garden, it was well established with strawberries, raspberries, plums, apples and red and blackcurrants. There was plenty of flowers as well, but it turns out they are not my department (Eline takes care of that). Everything was a bit overgrown.

Our two apple trees was first out in the general cleanup. Some really serious pruning has done the main tree very well. Not to sure about the front tree yet.

The raspberries was our first project. We had an eclectic collection of red and yellow berries in a jungleish configuration. A lot of digging revaled a bunch of healthy plants, several large and magnificent stone slabs and a nice, rectangular bed for a new raspberry regime. We covered the soil with fibre cloth and bark and planted nice rows of raspberries. The cloth may have been a mistake since only some of the plants have produced shoots for next years crop.

For some mysterious reason, all the raspberries we replanted have turned out to be yellow. Whatever happened to all the red ones are a bit mysterious.

Last summer I made jam from the yellow raspberries. It look very much like korma sauce. Especially since I put in a glass that used to contain korma sauce!

The first autumn I planted a grape vine called Frank since he is a Frankenthaler. Frank is doing well. He was striken to the ground by heavy rain and winds, but with a new brace he is still thriving. This year, we even have the beginnings of a bunch of grapes!

Another pet project is growing sugar snap peas. This years crop has been huge! Now we are eagerly waiting for the garden blueberries to actually turn blue! They are looking good so far.

Country Amateurs

Our alltoment garden was established in 1929, 80 years ago. The house was originally built by amateurs with materials from old shipping crates for cars etc. Since then, the house has been extended, refurbished and maintained mostly by amateurs.

I myself am a complete amateur. We have fixed up the main room (paint, wallpaper, changed cabinet doors, installed hot water tank) and the bedroom (paint, wallpaper and built beds). I am actually impressed with the work.

This summer has been pure joy. Long spells of warm sunny weather. Lots of fun in the garden. And then the rain started...

The small house does not feel any larger after a few days of rain. And one night going to bed, we discovered that the rain seeped in through the roof into the shed on the back wall... Lovely...

Up onto the roof. Into the dark. And rain...

I did not really know what to look for. But even a complete amateur could not miss it: some of the corner coverings had started to crumble. Up onto the roof with everything waterproof we could find. A small sheet of plastic, a couple of plastic table cloths and a couple of loose roof gutters. Luckily the quick fix helped!

Our local hardware store had the necessary tools and after a dry day or so the roof was ready for some fixing. It was almost dissapointingly quick! Since then the weather has been quite nice. Still, I am sort of hoping for a real bout of rain during the summer. I do not want to wait until autumn to test if the roof is yet again waterproof!

Country life inside city limits

I am a computer scientist. In live in Oslo, Norway. Downtown, within five minutes walk of everything. Nicely urban.

In August 2007 I got a an allotment garden with a small house (cottage, really). This is my first country house. This is my first garden. This is the first summer spent in my house in my garden.

The garden is about 400 square meters. When we took over, the house and garden had been empty for almost two years. It looked and felt like a secret garden!

2007 was spent fixing the inside and getting some control over the garden. 2008 was the first garden season. I got a grape vine (Frankenthauler) and planted a lot of sweet peas, a childhood favourite of mine. The summer of 2008 was already planned, so we missed most of the summer last year.

Now I am experiencing country life for the first time, staying in the garden throught the summer. A great experience with some unexpected side effects.