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                         a   S T A M M E R  project              

2008 April 26 & 27, Saturday & Sunday

These are really some of the best days to stay on the terrain, especially after the abundant rains of last week (a neighbour had measured 160 litres). Temperatures reached about 25º C, with just a light breeze. Many flowers started blooming of which the most conspicuous are: Thymus vulgaris, Hypochaeris radicata, Iris germanica and Helianthemum violaceum.

Overview looking north. The Common thyme has just started to flower.
Sunday 18:33
 

Pink and white Helianthemum violaceum, yellow Hypochaeris radicata and violet Thymus vulgaris.
Saturday 9:43

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I reached the top of the foundation wall, at about 50 cm. I am quite pleased with the result. Being a complete layman myself and having to work with very irregular stones, the result doesn't look too bad.
On the image on the right you can see that the wall tapers slightly to the top. This seems almost an automatic tendency while laying the stones and favours the stability of the wall.
The next photos show the patches of mortar that will serve as level reference points for the adjoining areas to be filled with lime mortar.
The exterior sides of the wall will be treated subsequently with mortar to give the wall a better look and some more stability.

The piling of stones has ended. Grey mortar patches are the reference points for the final layer of mortar.
Looking north-east.
Sunday 18:14

Virtual representation of the garden house design.
Looking north.

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Here are some virtual images of this multifunctional garden house. The brown walls are raised with 'rammed earth', the white walls are made of straw bales and plastered with earth. The roof is 'green' and will be planted with Sedum species.

Exterior area: 20m2
Interior area: 14m2
Maximum height: 2.8m

Looking north-west.

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This hand mower we bought for 10€ in a second hand store. We intend to use it relatively frequently on an area near the caravan (and the future house) where it will stimulate low growing grasses and herbs which must stand the increased trampling in this area. It will also be interesting to see what species will be naturally selected by this measure.

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We were not the only active creatures on the terrain. The Natterjack toads (Epidalea calamita) had done their job well and as a result the first pond was full of tadpoles. I wonder what these pioneering animals eat in the absence of almost any plant life in the pond although I read somewhere that they have quite some sand in their stomachs, indicating that they filter the water and extract nutrients from the dirt. Really amazing how 'nature' provides these solutions and introduces the right species for the right situations. We couldn't have done better.

Tadpoles near some plants of Iris pseudacorus and on the right the recently bought Acorus calamus.
Saturday 9.23

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Like last year around the same time, we found again a nest of a Rock sparrow (Petronia petronia). This time on the ground where it was amazingly camouflaged especially when the mother bird was sitting on top of it. There were already three hairy creatures present.

Nest of the Rock sparrow.
Saturday 7:19

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A little bit too active was the neighbour's horse. It broke out at night and went straight to the pond to have a nice bite at the fresh green leaves of Yellow bottlegrass (Setaria pumila).
(PS 6 April 2009: This grass is not Setaria pumila but the much more palatable Lolium perenne (English ryegrass))
 

The systematically cut Setaria pumila. In the centre the recently bought Lysimachia nummularium.
Sunday 8:38

introduction
floristic catalogue
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gallery 1: 2006-2012
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>> 2008 May 24
<< 2008 Apr 19