Up early

I woke feeling cold and had to scrabble around for the duvet. I decided to get up anyway.before the sun rose. At 5.30 I slipped down to the lowest terrace to fork up some hay. Half an hour later I was in a muck sweat with a flotilla of little biting flies looking for a way though my herbal mosquito defence- seems to be mainly ginger.

Later tried unraveling 100m of irrigation drip pipe. Kinkability or what under the blazing sun. I eventually got it more or less fettled and turned on the high bore tap. Then looked for internet help on water consumption. Depends on drip section intervals but someone said 13 gals per Hour for a 100 foot section with 30cm intervals.

So that’s about 150l per hour for an 100m section. Or 0.15 metre cubed - a normal tap will flow at about a metre cubed per hour.

A presumably v effective way to irrigate in half hour or so bursts in the cool of the morning. But requires plants to get their act together and be in the right place on the drip line. Needless to say it is slightly more random at Starveacre Farm.

Also depends on Manon de source up the line not stealing our water!

Last time I made an irrigation innovation - the 3,000l tank - it rained for two months. Apparently a polar vortex it about to wreak havoc from 9/10 July so the drip pipe will doubtless be redundant for some time.

PS I bought a caper plant for €4 to try again. And the Redstarts appear to be raising young on the old nest from last year behind the bathroom downpipes. Poor things.

I’m drinking a fizzy white wine from the Veneto - Verduzzo. Very little taste to it but gamely accompanied grilled zukes and friggioni peppers and a breaded beaten chicken breast. The former from the garden. The latter from the butcher in the village.