We have a confession. When we first moved to The Secret Acre we had lots of parties and events, from Wassails and Apple Days to folk dances and birthday bashes. But then came the Covid hiatus, and since then we kind of got out of the habit, until one of us suffered a big birthday last year.
With that birthday restart behind us, and a significant anniversary looming this year, we did our best to rediscover our full-on party mojo.
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Since ditching fossil fuels for our driving six year back, we are now on our third generation Renault Zoe with a 200+ mile range, which does for all our needs, and thanks to the Zappi charger and the Solar Panels our miles are mostly completely free.
But one thing we haven’t in all that time, is take the electric car abroad. Until last month, and a French holiday in La Rochelle, when instead of taking the train as usual, we decided to take the ferry from the beautiful wildlife haven of Poole Harbour and drive down. Queue a return to range anxiety and worries about using an unknown network!
How did we get on?
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No Twin Peaks like mystery here, just the dedication of one man to help reverse the decline in Barn Owls numbers locally.
Long before we moved to The Secret Acre, a neighbour had started erecting Owl nesting boxes in the area, to help the population recover.
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May always sees a flurry of activity, with one eye on the often-unpredictable weather, as carefully nurtured greenhouse seedlings start getting hardened off in cold frames and then planted out in freshly prepared veg beds.
With the early, and always beautiful, Calla Lilies blooming, we started the month, as is traditional, getting in this year’s dubious potatoes in, and not forgetting to keep a record of which varieties are where!
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Sounding a bit like a prog rock concept album’s track listings, The Portents of Spring, has surely been followed by The Arrival of Spring.
The asparagus bed has duly started sprouting, making a delicious addition in the kitchen to the already prolific wild garlic and rhubarb.
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As our wet winter drags on, slightly lighter evening, snowdrops, crocuses and the green shoots of bulbs, all give us hope that eventually spring will be in the air.
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They say misery loves company, and it wasn’t just a punctured tyre we suffered recently at The Secret Acre.
Storm Chandra at the end of January turned one row of our new ground mounted solar panels into the lesser known airbourne variety!
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I’m no expert, but I would say the garden tractor tyre has picked up a puncture!
Eagle eyed readers will have noticed mention of a dog in both our Christmas greetings and in the tale of our recent sheep invasion at The Secret Acre.
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Three cheers for the Apple Cider Vinegar – at last!
Just when we were about to give up, we successfully bottled 15 litres at The Secret Acre this winter.
We first, and last, successfully made Apple Cider Vinegar back in 2017, using it the following year for pickling all sorts, even radishes.
But the half dozen attempts since then to replicate that initial ‘beginners luck’ success have all failed.
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The Secret Acre 