Well, you may have thought us rather moany last month but in fact the average rainfall in Portugal was 272 mm (10.7 inches), making it the second wettest March since 1931 (the rainiest being in 2001). It was also pretty parky: it was the coldest March since 2000, with an average maximum temperature 2.6% below normal. So there you have it: cold and wet! At least the drought (since April 2017) was officially over. Meanwhile this month hasn’t been fab but when the wind has dropped and the sun’s come out it’s been wonderful and we’ve been making the most of that: a mixture of working outside and lazy barbecues… Those of you as fascinated by meteorological matters as Richard is can check out his weather page on the site.

So first up has been pruning the olive trees. We have both to admit that our pruning skills aren’t great, and although we’ve attempted to keep on top of it all there are a number of grand masters in the garden that we are reluctant to touch. Not only are they too big for us to cut but we actually like them although our neglect has meant some now look rather scruffy and aren’t growing that well.  Luckily our friend Barbara, armed with chainsaw and lopper and a lot more confidence than we have, came to the rescue. She also gave lots of advice about how to do it ourselves which we hope a) we can remember and b) we have the courage to act on. Seeing her hidden high among the branches with the chainsaw was rather alarming. As was the result on a couple of trees too!

Richard, you can see, was helping out from the safety of ground level…

The good thing though is that olive trees are very forgiving and whatever we do they’ll bounce back. You may remember at the beginning of the year we planted over 30 saplings and all of these, bar one, seem to be doing well with lots of leaves, they’ll be great in 5 years time!

The constant rain has meant the grass has grown extremely tall. There are areas where the hens refuse to go, no doubt concerned they’ll never get out again. So the second main job of the month for Richard has been strimming, not a small feat now that we also have the field next door. And for me that means raking, my least favourite job. The cut grass is great for mulching though and most has been used around the small saplings in preparation for the scorching months ahead.

Having to be inside more has meant opportunity to take on my latest hobby: natural dyeing. Since discovering that many of the ingredients for this are to be found not only in the nearby woods and fields but also in the garden means I haven’t looked back. There are already baskets and jars and pots full of bark and lichens and roots all over the kitchen and under the porch outside.

I’ve been quite excited about the colours achieved but Richard says, “Well done, another shade of brown.” But nice shades of brown, I think 🙂

Richard has also rescued the vine that was sprawling in the field we bought, he’s built a wooden structure for it to grow over so no doubt another attempt at wine making is on the cards. Steps have also been made through the dry stone wall from the field into our garden for easy access.

So we’re looking forward to May, and so are all the plants in the demi-poly that are waiting to be planted out, and saying goodbye to the April showers.