Progress

Weds 14 March 2012

The rain stopped, and Gerasimos returned, 8.30 sharp, and finished the levelling.  It didn’t take him long.  Constantine didn’t come, but provided telephone support when we got worried.  Which we didn’t need to, as Gerasimos kept the job neat.  Not entirely level, but neat. 

I found these new flowers on a patch of untouched ground.  Snake-head Iris.  Not stunningly lovely, but a new appearance for us.  

So I protected the main pocket of them with these sticks.

We also needed a soakaway digging.  We’re not entirely sure yet whether to continue with the compost toilet, or use a flushing water closet.  The compost toilet takes a lot of electricity, our model does, anyway, and it may be impossible to be off-grid and have this toilet.  On balance, we’d rather be off-grid, and use a soakaway – at least the water is going into the ground, and will be picked up by trees – the big olive and the new fig we’ve planted.

Either way, we need a soakaway – just in case, and also for kitchen sink water, which is too greasy for putting on the garden – so gerasimos dug one for us: 2 metres by 2 metres by 3 metres straight down.   A flowering bush of broom was very close to the soakaway site, so I hugged it to demonstrate I’d like it to survive.  No worries, I think he said.  Anyway, it did survive – that’s it, just this side of the digger back wheels.

 

This little sprig of broom is right on the brink of the large site, and has, so far, miraculously survived too.  Very impressed.  Did you know that the latin for Broom is ‘Planta Genet’?   Which is where the Plantagenet kings of England got their name.