My lovely astilbe was not doing well in the square bed, so I decided it was time to move a few plants, I dug out my red rose and put it in a pot, the astilbe I put in its place, it grew well in this bed before and will look good with all the fleabane daisies. I popped another shrub in the vacant hole in the square bed, it's got plenty of room to grow. After all the recent rain it's beginning to show signs of new growth.

I have a composting issue, my hotbin is working, but since I have my veg beds, I have times more often when I have stuff waiting to go in. If it rains it all gets messy. I love my hotbin as it breaks everything down much quicker into compost with no smells or flies. I have ordered a second bin, expensive but useful, with all the issues with rats, it's a good option.
I've changed the small fences on my one of my raised veg bed, they are metal wrapped with plastic, they do look nice and should last longer, I really did not want to add more plastic in the garden, but prices dictated these were for me, I require 6 for each bed they do look good from our seating area. I have wrapped the bed in netting to stop our cat and others using the veg beds as a toilet. I will do the second bed in the coming days.

Apologies to anyone who has seen this post before, I published it in error on Monday, I often start a couple of post together on different subjects, I've never posted the wrong one before.
Molly helped me in the garden yesterday and was very helpful with my harvest, eating the raspberries and blueberries. I cut a cabbage and cauliflower for tea, and we dug out a potato bag, they were small as I expected, the other bag I will leave for a few more weeks, she was so happy telling me 'we are tato farmers'. I was overjoyed later to hear her tell her mum, 'did you know tatos grown in soil'.
I am working outside, doing all the messy jobs, I am in the right frame of mind to get stuck into them, keeps me from thinking too much, it's also nice to get things sorted before the coming heat wave, the recent rain has topped up all my waterbuts. My new composter is due later this week, so I will be able to place it and empty my tubs of green waste, the area behind the garage is always in shade so I can get it sorted quickly.
We recently went out to a show 'Go your own way', the music of Fleetwood Mac, at our local venue, it had been booked for ages, the first half was definitely not to our taste, focusing on Stevie Nicks, not my favourite band member, the final half focused on Christine McVie, much nicer. The night was billed as their legacy rather than a tribute band, which gave them more licence to play around with the music.
The hot bin sounds ideal. We gave up our compost bins because they were attracting rats, but I regret not having a composter. I will investigate.
ReplyDeleteI've had mine for years, I empty it twice a year, they are not cheap, but well worth the money.
DeleteIf you don't put food waste like meat in your compost heap/ bin. You won't get any unwelcome garden visitors.
ReplyDeleteWe don't put cooked food waste in our composter, just peelings and garden waste. We and our neighbours have a huge rat problem, coming through from our strange neighbours house next door, she refuses to let anyone in to find any nest. Having a closed bin has helped, we portion food when preparing meals so there is no waste.
DeleteI think Molly's idea of tasting a few raspberries and blueberries while helping you sounds good :)
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
I am seriously considering a composter, but am not too sure where I could put it. It would be wonderful to have our own and not have to purchase any.
ReplyDeleteI love your fences. They look really good.
God bless.
I got mine a few years ago when our council started charging to remove green waste, and they charged you for the required bin, I have already recouped the cost against the saving of charges.
DeleteGlad you got those jobs done before we had all that extreme heat over the weekend. It must have been such a delight to hear Molly talking about where tatos really come from. So many children don't, and think they just come from a supermarket.
ReplyDelete