I have been shopping, from a good supplier, Coastal Succulents, Cacti and Alpines, based in Somerset, they are not the cheapest, but they do have some very different plants. I am hoping betty's new hair will grow and look as good as the advertised photo, it has already grown loads. The string of pearls worked but it was time for a change.
Poppy Patchwork
My little bit of this big World
Sunday 28 April 2024
Strange.....
Friday 26 April 2024
Meanwhile
After suffering with backache potting on my seedlings last week, I decided I needed to use my potting tray, it's been in the greenhouse for years on my bench, I moved plants around to make the space usable. I sorted my leek seedings into one per unit and had no issues with my back. It was lovely to be inside the warm space, surrounded with plants. I will need to start moving things outside soon.
My runner bean plants are doing well, they have stayed looking strong and even got a bit of growth. My beetroot seeds have sprouted, no sign of the parsnip's yet, the small pot has 2 cauliflower plants in, I'm trying something different.. Our broad beans have small pods on, they have been in the ground since last autumn, the onions growing down the middle are looking good.
My two buckets with carrots in are both doing well, not sown at the same time, so at different stages, I have another pack of seed to sow, probably early next month, we both love small carrots. This season I have purchased better brands of seeds in hope I get the harvest I want. My bucket with peas in have shoots, I was not going to grow any as they take up room and frozen peas are so cheap to buy, I am using another spare big bucket.
The tulips are on their last showing, the wind will finish them off, these white ones are very tall, the frilly ones in my cider jar have lovely mixed colours. I am definitely going to find more for next spring, their blooms have been a joy in the past month. Both these pots can be seen from my chair, they are positioned well.
I don't have much to do outside, everything is up to date, my growing area is so small, it's easy to keep on top of everything. It's a case of watching everything grow, the nets are keeping the pigeons off the new plants, the only item letting me down is a yellow tomato plant, it's just stopped growing, I might just purchase a plant. Once the white tulips have finished and their leaves die back, I will dig out the bulbs and reset the pot for my big tomato plant, it should grow well in that spot, it's a sunny spot, it's in a big pot in the greenhouse for now.
My bedding plants are all coming along well, I will soon need to plant the purchased plug plants I have grown on, my potted seedlings are filling out. I did order some plug plants offline, due to me last week from a big name supplier, I complained I had not had a delivery date and was informed, they are not ready to be sent, so why say delivery is within 5 working days of my order, I have no idea when I might see them, it's a plant I've not seen locally.
Wednesday daughter and Molly came for a visit, we walked to our local bistro for lunch, Molly is waking most days just after 5am, daughter has tried everything to keep her in bed, she is waking both brothers, which is far to early for them, we hoped lunch out would be a nice treat for daughter. Thursday we popped to a different nursery, the owner does deliveries of compost, grit and other stuff in our area every Friday evening, so it was good to go and look at his plants, a few came home with me, great prices and good quality plants.
Wednesday 24 April 2024
Home
I got myself 4 good books to read from the local charity shop, this one was gripping, I do like her style of writing, with police officers from other books and stories, it's not part of a set, each book is a stand alone story. This was very clever and built from almost nothing until the crime along with others were solved, always with a twist or two, a brilliant final chapter. Book 25 read this year.
Both Molly and George do loads of interesting things at home, most of these task are for George to help with his coordination and skills, but Molly loves to play as well, learning is always so much better when it's fun. Molly is almost 3 years old, George is 5 later this year. I help mummy as much as I can, it's a hard time when your younger child is overtaking and Georges disability is showing. He is a clever little boy and with an older brother Will and Molly, he is always included and picks things up well, with their help his talking is getting much better.
It's a much better time for me, the cough is almost gone, just at night and not too bad, hubby caught it, but he has got rid of his, so we are both happier. Grace is sleeping most of the day and all night, she is only eating her wet food, over the weekend she was in the garden with us enjoying the warm sunshine, she is fading before us, not in any discomfort. Every morning I go to check on my runner beans, which are doing well, they have not faded in any way and are upright and healthy, phew, hoping here I have got away with the early planting. We are not doing much this week, the weather is again dull and cool, no plans before Friday, so a lazy ish week.
Sunday 21 April 2024
Inside out
This past week has mainly been dry, loads of blue skies and even sunshine, but the icy cold wind has made everywhere except my greenhouse feel really cold. My pots with geraniums and begonias which I over winter inside my cool greenhouse are growing again this year, it's still far to early to pop them outside, I still have my covers on the begonias, to get them growing a bit earlier.
I have taken the plastic cover off my little greenhouse, now it's a shelving unit, it worked well through the cooler months, I have cucumber, pepper plants on top shelf, and the flowering plant I cut in half, now two plants, 2nd shelf are my calendula seedlings, 3rd shelf all the bedding plants I purchased and potted up,
The cold wind kept us inside most of the week, my cough, whilst not as bad as before is irritating in the day time and keeps me and hubby awake at night, so I'm not very happy at this point. Saturday was a warm day, we were both outside most of the day, I sorted some of my seedlings, and started a few more flower seeds, I had to reconfigure my nets on my veg bed after planting the beans. My broad beans have tiny pods, I watered both veg beds, it's been a dry windy week, so they needed a good soak.
My back is still sore, I am using my potting table in the garage for storage, I purchased a builder mixing tray, which keeps all my mess together, but bending or even kneeling does not help, it's like having a big mixing tray, and works perfectly other than an aching back.
Today we have been invited to a neighbours BBQ, we will pop around for an hour, there are always a nice mix of people there. It will be nice to sit in a different garden, where I'm not looking at things to do.
I will do a craft, book and family post next time, at this time of year so much of my time and this blog is all about the garden and with veg beds this spring, I have more than ever too do, which is OK, because I love to garden.
Friday 19 April 2024
Bags, buckets and pots
I like to use different things in our garden, this container was purchased for a flower pot, but it works better as a water bowl, the birds love to land on the pebbles for a drink, I have other places they use for bathing.
Thursday 18 April 2024
Repurpose
I have spend loads of money finishing off our new layout garden getting the veg section sorted, normally when in the garden I do like to reuse bits, I also save stuff, just in case. I have had some small black fencing left over from around my butlers sink with my grasses in, having stored these for ages, I am now using here in the front of this rhubarb bed.
I had these bigger loops in the bed, I purchased them for the back of my now rhubarb bed 3 years ago and then used them in my tall raised bed, I then put them in the front of my rhubarb bed, but they did not look right, too tall. Sunday I used hubby's hacksaw and cut off the loops, I can now use these as cloche frames, I was going to purchase some to make a run, I already have netting or fleece, these are the perfect height to protect my seedlings and will make a nice run.
I love lights in the garden, neither of these lamps were cheap, both are years old and I've had good service from them, but the solar tops have gone, rather than purchase new lamps, I have got these smaller ones and popped them inside a very cheap way to prolong the lives of the lamps.
I have the underside of our old outside round table as half hoops, the chains holding up the nets are from cheap hanging baskets, the baskets I cut the outer ring off and use them upside down to protect my young plants, purchased from B&Q years ago, again much cheaper than cloches.
All my raised beds were made from our decking planks, which only had been down a few years, hubby used wood from the frame to join every bit together, he even reused the screws. he made more into raised beds for our neighbours, the rest of the planks are beside my greenhouse, just in case.
My ponds were made reusing containers and pebbles I already had, sadly I did waste money on a pond liner, which did not work. I am always looking at what I have, as much as I can spend loads in the garden, I do love a bargain or a recycle and as I have said, I throw very little away.
The one main thing I now do is when purchasing new I buy quality, for years I got cheap obelisks, which maybe lasted 2 years, this time we paid much more for ours and they are solid and will last years. I tried to save money going for a bargain, but it's not cheap over time.
My biggest savings is to purchase off Facebook market place, I have had many bargains over the years, I prefer second hand bits to new stuff outside. I got most of my clay pots from one person who was clearing their grans greenhouse, I also love old chimneys, which I reuse as planters.
What's you best garden recycle.
Tuesday 16 April 2024
Sunshine and sandals
Saturday 13 April 2024
Improvement
Our first thoughts are we are both happy with the finished design, and the standard of work done, our landscaper made suggestions, which we took on board, after all he is the expert, he digested my plan, understood what we wanted, and created it and all on one level. I have done work before in the garden and then later changed it, no chance of that here, sitting on the patio side of the garden last summer helped us to see how we can now use all of the area. My growing area, which we can close off when the children are here, is perfect, we made the veg beds as big as we could, ensuring the paths between were not to tight, reusing everything from the decking. I am excited to be growing vegetables, I have most everything I need. One sad note as I looked through my garden purchase list, so much of my seeds and bits came from Wilko's, I am missing their shop in town, Wilko seeds are sold at The Range, but the store is not local.
I have had comments about how tidy the garden looks, I'm outside every time I can be, even on cold days, I don't pop out when it's raining, we have a cat and she use the flower beds, Grace is getting older, so I do need to go out and clear up after her regularly. We have lots of different beds, so it is easy to tidy a bed quickly, I am always picking up leaves and bits, I adore dead heading when needed, it always leads to more blooms. Our garden is my healing place and my work in retirement.
Thursday 11 April 2024
Little things
George is much better and went to nursery on Monday and today, Molly has been very clingy to mummy and us, which is OK, she is still young, she acts much older until something upsets her, then we remember her age. They popped over to play in our garden, this space is made for children to play, my makeshift greenhouse door works well as a gate to keep them out of my end of the garden, it's real purpose was a clothes airer, which had brackets to hang on a wall.
Grace has changed so much in the last month, she is now very vocal, every time she wakes up she wails, both hubby and I are ensuring we are home as much as we can be, so Grace has company, she follows me everywhere, wailing until I sit down so she can get on my lap. She is not eating much dried food, so we are feeding her wet food twice a day, she is a small cat and as always, skinny, I have started brushing her every couple of days, she is not cleaning herself so well, she dribbles when she is sleeping. We are now fearing the worse, each morning we check her basket for signs of life, she will be 20 next month, we have been at this point before and she came back stronger.
Inside the greenhouse things are growing, from my own seeds, to smaller plants purchased in strips, now in bigger pots, as I call them geraniums and begonias coming back, I've cut my bougainvillea back in hope it regrows this summer. It's full in here, but it's my happy place, my chair is back here, I can hide in here for ages. It's the first place I check each morning, looking through the glass in hope all is well, I don't mind it messy in here as I fill the space with growing things.
The weather is all over the place again, after a dry sunny weekend, where the warmth of the sun was so good, and the rain showers fewer, again the temperature has dropped and the wind is strong and loads of storms, it's so difficult to know what to wear each morning, loads of layers. The high tide and stormy weather on Monday night caused flooding on local roads, all nearer to the coast, we have not had local flooding for years, we are just 10 minutes walk from the water, far enough for us to be safe. The wind whilst strong has done no damage locally and our garden is OK, our Magnolia has lost most of the blooms. Yesterday was again cold wet and grey, I did walk to our village market, loads of lovely plants, but he has put his prices up and he's not great value anymore, even our pet shop had nothing new in.
On a wet afternoon I decided to sort my paperwork drawer, I have all my personal bits in one place, hubby sorted the household folder a while ago, mine was overdue, I disposed of MOT, and tax from 10 to 20 years old, and loads of receipts and booklets for things I no longer have, anything newer I refiled, I do feel much better to have it done. I working on my 2022 book, I'm importing my last month, then a couple of checks and it will be ready for any good publishing discounts, I will then start on 2023.
I've finished the back on my knitting, but no other crafting, the garden is calling, even with everything sorted, I can find things to do, in the evenings Grace is sat on my lap, so I'm not doing much, not even reading, often I am tired after being outside all day. I did manage to get some house work done, I still need a spring clean throughout.
Monday 8 April 2024
Green weekend
I planted my 2 lupins which are now huge, and a white aster in the red rose bed, they should fill the back section with the foxglove and Alcea, all grow tall and full. The front of this bed will be bedding plants, if my seeds start to grow, I've not used old seeds and I'm using good compost, so why they don't shoot is beyond me, probably lack of sunshine. I have used the dreaded slug pellets in this bed, I've tried other natural products, but they did not work, and after the cost and effort to grow these, I don't want to lose them.
Saturday was the most perfect day, I had a lay in, I'm still catching up on my sleep, we walked to the village, I popped books back to the library. The local pet shop had their trays of bedding plants, at £1.40 for 4 to 7 or 8 plants, great value, I got 4 trays, these I will pot on, and plant out once they are much bigger. I only have a begonia corm left to plant, it's for my cider jar, but the tulips are about to bloom, so it can wait a few weeks. I worked in a T shirt all the time outside, the breeze as promised was warm, we had lunch outside with a well earnt cider shandy, we were in by mid-afternoon as the rain threatened, nice early shower and a treat of pizza for tea, followed by an early night.
Sunday after stripping our bed and remaking it, the morning was lazy, laundry on the line, blowing itself dry, the sunshine coming through the window called me outside, I have potted up the strips of bedding plants I purchased, they will be ready to go outside in a few weeks, the runner beans are now growing, I was worried, now I'm happy, my greenhouse is full. I moved the red rose from the side bed to the back bed, it's just not thriving, moving another plant to the raised flower bed, I added some good compost in hope the rose grows in its new spot. I feel good, completely up to date outside, all I need to a good clean inside the house. Our Molly and George visited in afternoon, and played outside for ages, load of giggles and laughter, perfection.
I sorted my seeds, loads free with the subscription to a garden magazine and passed them to our friend and neighbour for her new raised beds, it was good to share them.
Sunday 7 April 2024
Wildlife Pond
We popped to my favourite garden centre which has a good aquatic shop, I manage to purchase these 3 plants, hubby and I choose them together, these are bigger than I wanted, BUT, with me there is always a but, 2 of them I will separate into smaller pots, making 5 plants not 3. For now they fill the space.
The pond liner was not working, I'm not able to keep the water level to a decent depth, the plant pots are five inches and I would like them submerged, so change of plan, I had a nice tub which I had a spring display, but it kept waterlogged with all the rain. Humm I wonder would it fit, right size, not as wide as I wanted, the aquatic plants fit.
Hubby is in the process of making me a huge bug house, which I want for the back section of the garden, he has cut 6 blocks and drilled different size holes, I can get one on top of the other on these shelves. The butterfly box fits in well, we are sorting other things to go in before adding a wire front. This is huge at my request, he has made a bird nesting box as well, he does love to make things, these with other bug areas should be fun with the younger grandchildren, as well as making our garden diverse.
The pond is finished, it has cost me just under £40, for the liner (which was discarded) and the plants, I already had the containers, and stones which I had used in another part of the garden before we made our changes. It's been huge fun to put it together, looking around for things to use, I had 4 grasses, for someone who is not fond of grasses, I was surprised as I also have 3 in my butlers sink, two of the grasses had been split a couple of years ago, every gardener loves free plants.
Later I will get floating weed to help keep the water clear, it's ready for anything to move in. I am hoping I have enough green cover outside the pond, it's nice to get a section completed, nothing much grew in this corner, not sure why, I have lost so many plants over the years.
I'm not reading or crafting, all my time is outside, if it's raining, I have bits to do in the greenhouse and / or the garage. It feels good to growing things again.
Saturday 6 April 2024
Another week
If I was asked about tulips, I would have said, I'm not fond of them, they rot in our heavy clay soil, last year I got a few packs for different tubs and I have really enjoyed their colour this spring, these in my cider jar have still to open, I have forgot what colour they are, a nice surprise to come. So maybe later this year more will be purchased to add colour to the garden next spring.
I adore the colours in this trio of acers, I trim them each year so they don't get huge, I love them in this big tub, it's a perfect spot in the garden for them. They can be seen from the house and add colour here at the back of the garden. My bird bath alpine plants have started to come back, tiny flowers soon. The azalea below is also about to bloom.