Early Summer Bits and Bobs.

[oldherbaceous]

Well what a 36 hours…. Non stop rain, so everywhere running with water again.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit brighter….

[Westi]

Ditto here OH, but it was passing heavy showers so did have some breaks in-between but deffo no sun or a plot day. Very weirdly the weather said showers until 7pm & a few minutes ago the sun came out? Would be great if all forecasts were that accurate!

All OK tomorrow so can get on with the jobs but list is pretty small, (if I ignore the non-essential stuff). I will add sharpening the hoe to the must do list though, that is going to need putting right up the top...you'd kind of think that some smart person would invent a self sharpening one with a sheath to pop it in.

[Clive.]

We took 20mm, by going home time...so thankfully we do seem to be the drier side of the Country again, by the sound of it.. There were getting to be some cracks in the ground so at the level we got that should be good...as long as it is back to brighter now once again.

Two coats got wetted through today though..

C.

[Geoff]

Yes Clive the West has been a little damp. 15.5mm so far today to add to yesterday's 74.7mm.

[robo]

Was a bit wet here Geoff now going into our second day of heavey rain

[retropants]

I walked away from my post for a few minutes, and it's gone. I can't remember what I wrote now! Something about rain and walking and elder blossom.

[tigerburnie]

We have constant rain, but luckily not heavy, it should do more good than harm in our immediate area, some areas have sadly seen a lot more, something we will have to plan for I guess.

[Westi]

Well the weather played fair today & it was quite nice, a bit of a nip early on but quickly warmed, but just made double figures. Quite a productive day, all structures now up, sweet corn in & I will be planting more out on next visit. I weeded & did a re-jig of the cover on my Leeks, I'm determined that leek moth doesn't find them so have fairly small hole plastic netting, not mesh around the outside which I double folded to make the holes even smaller, then gave it a micro mesh top cover.

The old chap opposite says he collects his cigarette butts & puts them in a bucket of water then strains the butts & filters it & pours the mixture around the outside edges of his leek beds & never has any problem. Is this nicotine in his fag collection the same as the banned nicotine? Just thinking as I smoke & also throw mine in tin mini buckets that get filled with water, but I would not be keen to contaminate the soil long term. He says it doesn't last as the level of nicotine in fags is very low & short life as the tobacco is treated to match the legal requirements so it needs re-applying when peak leek moth time, but this does not apply to Cuban Cigars & the like. Any thoughts wise ones???

[Myrkk]

3.5hrs to travel the 50mins home from work tonight as the main road eastbound is flooded! Ruddy Edinburgh council, useless bunch.

No gardening been done for 3 days now the weather has been so poor. Think this might be the cycle of this summer. Nice followed by rain, followed by nice followed by rain. Been foggy here for the last 3 days and rain. At least I don’t need to hose the garden each night

[retropants]

I'm hoping for a clear day tomorrow, as I have a craft market in CHesham. Fingers crossed! Sunday & Monday we need to do some major structural work in the veg bed, pulling back the soil along one edge and putting in a barrier to the laurel hedge roots that are continually clogging the soil and stealing all the goodness that I am adding. I don't mind the big ones deeper down, but the spaghetti ones form a dry clump and you can neither plant nor harvest anything.

[oldherbaceous]

Sounds like that is going to be a big job, Retropants…..good luck!

[retropants]

thanks OH, I think my DH will be doing most of the digging!!

[robo]

This is our third day of rain ,seems to have eased a bit in the last half hour hope it dries up I have to go to the dressing rooms at 2-30 to get a deep cut on my shin dressed

[Myrkk]

Hope so robo and hope the cut heals up quickly for you

Hope the digging is easier than expected retropants, it’s lovely to see the other plants do well but it would be nice if they stayed in one spot. It’s horsetail and ivy for us.

[oldherbaceous]

Got the Helichrysum in late this afternoon, so that’s another good job out of the way!
Want to get some more Charlotte planted tomorrow and also more Brassica’s.