Effort and reward

[Stephen]

Don't misinterpret things, I do like gardening.

But (there is always a "but") I was thinking as I shredded/chipped cuttings today as to whether it is worth the effort. The compost gets seived when it is dug out (an old bread delivery tray is an suitably large and coarse seive) and the uncomposted woody bits thrown back into the bottom of the next door compost bin. In the end it will all compost down.

Similarly, is making leaf mould separately from the compost when, if everything has gone well, the end product is remarkably similar. The leaf mould a little drier usually.

At the moment the woody chips are being used with the waxy leaf sheddings as a thick layer along the bottom of the fence, as I hope excluding light will exclude the weeds from the other side of the fence.

[oldherbaceous]

Morning Stephen, when I was younger and not full of arthritis, I never used to question these type jobs at all…but now, to keep the work enjoyable, I have stopped doing a lot of the time consuming jobs and to be quite honest, I have noticed very little difference in the way things are growing.

[Clive.]

An interesting thought....when I was younger we used to go with dad of an evening for loads of spent mushroom compost, indeed dad had towbars fitted on his cars specifically to tow a small trailer that he had made locally just for his compost and manure carting after it was less easy to get the commodities delivered ex farm. It was great fun, loads of shovelling and wheel barrowing, hard work too and back at dark..but it made the old 1300 Allegros work hard too....better when the Maestro 1600 came along and no problem at all when dad made it up to MG Maestro 2.0 EFi. How we found time and energies to do it all I just don't know. I still have the two large compost bins but its just on site things that go in them these days and haven't had any car boot loads of bagged 'horse' for some years either...

...and likewise things still do well in the garden.... But...could it be that I am still reaping the rewards now of all that effort and compost from way back, so I do think it is worth the effort to do as much as you can achieve given time, health and energy.

Somehow evenings just disappear....ah, wait a minute, no PC to stare at back in them old days

C.

[Mr Fallowfield]

Talking about evenings disappearing , a slight change of tack ; l can’t get used to the sun setting at 4 .20pm !.
I know it’s November but as it’s generally been so mild for the time of year it’s been a shock not to be able to visit the plot after dinner . Having said that l am in deepest Somerset , maybe it has not been as mild in other areas.

[Clive.]

Other than couple of days when some frost could just be seen on the grass first thing it has been quite mild out East here. Yesterday afternoon really seemed dark early, it was added too as it clouded up to a light drizzle just after 3pm.

C.

[Westi]

Continues to be mild down here as well & I had to take my fleece off today but I was in the tunnel; but I went in & out without any discomfort without it. Sunset is around 4.30 & sunrise isn't until about 7.30am. I am kind of OK with it as I am forced to limit how much I do, so it means I don't over do it so can go down more often without any twinges forcing me to take an unplanned day off.