Fine autumn weather, as yesterday. Planted out about 25 more wallflowers, a few hollyhock seedlings, 20 bought tulip bulbs (2 black) & about 15 of our own, & about 30 daffodils, some bought, some of our own. Cut leaves off marrow to let them ripen. I have left one on each plant, one of them a very large one.
8 eggs.
Still, sunny & fairly warm. Ground a good deal dryer. Planted out 10 Canterbury bells, about 20 sweet williams, 20 carnations, 25 wallflowers (flame). Continue tomorrow if not raining. Added some more to compost heap. Staked some of the crysanthemums° etc. T. has not got the stakes yet so cannot finish off hen-run. Yesterday snapped the handle of the spade, but it seems one can get a new handle without having to buy a whole spade. Made a little apple jam, experimentally, but does not seem great success. Have made about 25 lb. of jam altogether.
8 eggs. Sold 25 @ 3/- score.
Very still, warm & fairly sunny. A very few spots of rain in the evening. Ground greatly sodden, & a lot of chrysanthemums loosened by the wind. Dug trench for broad beans but cannot yet get the ground into sowing condition. That piece (beyond the runner beans) is full of lumps of fine clay. Took out some of the worst & dug in some sand & wood ash. Changed the manure into a larger container as I want the other for leaf mould. Moved the henhouse. Brought in the onions, which are extremely poor, & hung them up to dry. Only 10 large bunches, of which only 3 or 4 will really keep. Picked up a few walnuts but there are very few this year.
Yesterday made 2 lb. blackberry jelly. Note that 21/2 lb. blackberries = 2 pints juice = 2 lb. jelly (actually a little left over).
5 eggs.
Continuous & mostly heavy rain till about 4pm. Violent wind strong enough to loosen some of the rose bushes & lift some broccoli plants almost out of the ground. Staked some of the latter, otherwise too wet to do anything out of doors.
5 eggs.
Picked about 21/2 lb. blackberries. Finished making the pit for rubbish & treated the first two layers with Adco. Weather misty, still & rather cold.
6 eggs.
Misty & still. A very few drops of rain. Beech nuts now ripe. Skinned & took the pith out of a largish marrow (about 18” long), & note that after doing this there is only about 21/2 lb. of flesh. Bought Adco, 2/3 for 7lb, which is said to be enough to make 7 cwt. of compost. It appears however that you must not put woody material among the rubbish, nor very large roots. Began digging shallow pit for compost. The briquettes burn fairly well when used together with coal, so shall make arrangements for making some more. Evidently the method is to mix clay & water till it is sloppy, then mix in with your coal dust, using only so much clay as is needed to bind the dust to a very stiff paste. Moulds must be very strong, as the stuff has to be tamped down forcibly.
7 eggs. Sold 15 @ 3/-score. Total this week 38. (NB. Started cylinder of calor gas today).
Some more rain in the night & a little this morning. Some sunny periods, & not cold. Finished the flower garden. Planted two rows cabbage (36 plants). Cleared the place where the gooseberries are to go (it is too early to move them yet). Made experimentally a few briquettes of coal dust & clay. If successful will make a mould & a sieve for making them on a larger scale. Evidently it is important to use only fine dust, also one must have a large metal receptacle for mixing in.
Tonight found a kind of phosphorescent worm or millipede, a thing I have never seen or heard of before. Going out on the lawn I noticed some phosphorescence, & noticed that this made a streak which constantly grew larger. I thought it must be a glowworm, except that I had never seen a glowworm which left its phosphorescence behind. After searching with an electric torch found it was a long very slender wormlike creature with many thin legs down each side & two sort of antennae on the head. The whole length about 11/4”. Managed to catch him in a test-tube & bring him in, but his phosphorescence soon faded.
5 eggs.
Pale yellow, very wriggly. (legs relatively thinner than this.)
Some rain in the night, the day overcast & rather muggy. A light shower or two in the afternoon. The ground is still very dry a few inches under the surface. Dug over all the flower garden except the small beds. After the earth has settled the new flowers can go in.
6 eggs.
Rather cold, violent wind. Picked up the first ripe walnuts today. There are very few, however. Spread the manure. Hoed leeks. Spring cabbages have not taken root very well, owing to the drought. Uprooted the onions, which are very poor.
6 eggs. Sold 14 @ 3/-score.
Made about 3 lb. apple ginger, which I am afraid is a little too gingery.
Fine and chilly. A very few drops of rain in the afternoon. Finished clearing out the garden & transplanted a few small plants which were in the way, so tomorrow the manure can be spread.
5 eggs. Got 6/6 for the two cockerels (ie. 7/- less commission). This works out at about 8d lb.
[NEWSPAPER CUTTING]
Making Coal Bricquettes. – Coal bricquettes are made from coal dust mixed to a paste with clay and water and pressed firmly into wooden, tapered moulds, hammering the mixture well down and then turning out the blocks to dry while others are made up. A.C.C. (Kingsbury). These will store for any length of time and are an easy and economical way of using up waste small coal.
Orwell Diaries 1938-1942 