On 21st October, Jiva visited and brought some foodie items including a couple of mangos, both seeds I potted and today, to my surprise as I clearly didn't notice for a while, it looks like I have a sapling, which at best is 5 weeks old ?????

It seems to have popped out from nowhere, hence maybe it's bend having been growing under the soils. Note the leaves have little to no chlorophyll.

There are three specific trees and a number of 'wild' ones.

They mostly came from my initial sowing of seeds in the far north west. 1 Noting that rodents where eating them I planted one elsewhere with protection. That is now a 23' tree producing many nuts but only a few of any use.

2 One I planted on Kaia's grave, and 3 one that Gavin grew from other seed was planted on my dad's grave this year: the walnut having died.

There are also a few that have sprung up, maybe from squirrels burying some.

2025

Harvest

Interesting:~ https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/oct/26/how-to-make-chestnut-liqueur
October 31st Made a right mess of the crop. I kept a few kilos in a plastic tub and most of them wither rotted or became infested with some creatures, there were lots of eggs in many. Altogether I haven't got 800g from 4Kg ie.20% and after checking those many are not edible. It seems as when left there is a turn where they go hard and even cooking doesn't help in some cases. Generally difficult to remove the inner skins, so really a 90% plus failure on my part. ✘

October 30th After a few messy baking runs I may go by the following: Italian Guide
However with the ones sitting by the stove for the last couple of weeks are very dry so I have just removed the outer skin after scoring with a Stanley Knife with about four mm of blade protruding.

October 24th Collected another 500g grams mostly from the far trees. The fallen leaves have covered a lot, so this is a bit late. Could do with clearing around the far trees.

October 9th Collected some 3Kg under the 'main' tree and another 500g grams on the 7th from another tree.

• I have removed the peel from some now, 230g and they look fine, but may soak and rub them down tomorrow, then dry and store �

  

  Very easy to peel when 'fresh'

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2023 October 20th Today I scavenged the ground under the 'main' tree and collected some >1.5Kg : will see what weight that is when they have dried for 2 or 3 weeks. Later further a further <1.5Kg from trees to the west. There are three trees two of which I can see I planted/sowed the seeds as there are plastic tubes attached to them which were to protect the seeds and saplings from rodents and deer etc.

From Latin: "voluntarius," which means "of one's free will" (but does that include enticement, request or involvement with another.)

It has been a long standing term 'volunteer' with potatoes, as often small ones are left in the soil and sprout of their own accord. Well this has happened with a few peas as clearly I didn't harvest the pods early enough. Some dried and a dozen or two seeds have sprouted.

What is quite surprising is that most of the peas had at least a four inch deep root and I mean not the small horizontal bits but the main shoot. So as long as the soil is friable and not too packed it would imply that when I sow I could sow deeper and maybe not worry so much about birds scouring the obviously turned soil.

Now I am thinking of the term volunteer and realise how my thinking is estranged from the common. I wrote my ideas on the word charity was back in the 1990's and here I find the same philosophy works with volunteer.

First I must state I would not ask for help if I can avoid such and if I do I will pay over the odds. Volunteers as in how people want free labour is a form of abuse in my world. No matter that the 'worker' considers they benefit from the experience, the company of others or the 'greater good' such arguments fall on deaf ears, and as my mother has said "there's none so deaf as those that don't want to hear". Co-operation between a few people is sensible but not labour within and towards some larger conspiracy.

Yes people conspire to do work, but these peas and potatoes are not conspiring they are true volunteers growing as they will purely for their own goals, not those of the gardener, farmer or ultimate consumer or benefactor.

Now saying the above, I have gathered the volunteers, peas in this instance, and located them in a small area so they will be easier to exploit. Poor peas, either way, volunteers or not, they will be used and consumed.