Rather happily, most of the small seedling olives I mentioned in a recent blog are showing signs of living up to their billing as an early producing hardy variety capable of nudging the balance of probabilities a little nearer to making olives a viable crop in previously marginal regions like south west England. I really must learn to write shorter sentences.
Most of the 100 or so seedlings are flowering, rather splendidly in some cases, even though they’re only 18 inches or so tall. I should confess a few things at this point that I ‘forgot’ to mention before: all the seedlings suffered the rather unSpanish ignominy of being carted off out through the front of the polytunnel (the doors were actually locked at the time) in last October’s flood, and having been located at various points down the field, plonked upright and generally tousled up a bit, they got a good sitting on and scuffling about by the local rabbit populace. No, I really must learn to write shorter sentences.
You may well be wondering what on earth I was doing through all this, and perhaps what right have I to have a wedge of land and plants to mess about with if all I do is mess about with it, but give me a break…I’ve got another job, a family, 3500 grape vines and endless trees to look after and I was writing a book at the time, and it was raining and I was etc etc… somethings don’t quite get optimum treatment the whole time. It’s the Otter Farm way. So bugger off with your ‘wondering’ (unless you’re wondering nice things that flatter my ego of course)…