Autumn Bits and Bobs.

[Westi]

There was lightly settled snow on some of the houses in the close this morning. The old guys in the close putting their bins out were pointing out which houses needed increased insulation. I was caught up in the discussion by default as was rounding the critters up at the time, but had to say goodbye to them as way too cold. If I was cold the chap in his pj's & slippers must have been totally freezing & he's no spring chicken.
All still looking good for Fri on the plot though - still no minus signs in the mix, in fact the weekend is showing 11C, positively balmy!

[Clive.]

Certainly a cold one here today, wind chill...I was inside though this morning but out this afternoon raking up leaves for the heap. Fleece added over greenhouse plants ready for tonight's cold.
The day included a dentist visit and the addition of some more 'filler' with deepened advice of crown needed next..

I've just come back in from a trip to my regular food shop....there was more for the cats in my basket than for me on this shop.

There's some light downfall at the moment...it's white flakes..only very light...that would excite me at one time...but maybe not these days.!!

C.

[Geoff]

I get lots of my seeds from Premier Seeds Direct, they are having a sale:

Get an exclusive 10% OFF* all vegetable, herb, and salad seeds, including organics. With over 700 varieties to choose from, shop early and save now - use code BF10 at checkout!


Hurry, ends Sunday 30th November 2025!

Don’t miss our end of season bulb sale, now giving you 20% off all bulbs. With the cold weather setting in, it’s the perfect time to plant your tulips!

[Westi]

Warmer weather still showing so off to the plot tomorrow! I need to retrieve my sanity as had one of those computer days, well not the computer itself but google & friends trying to force me to update. OK computer is older but has loads of memory left but my nerdy neighbour down the road says it's the age of the computer & they carry a little chip which activates when the computer reaches a certain full point they create, or a new model is coming out. Now I did say he was a nerd so his view might not be related but it certainly felt like it today!

Asparagus beds top of the agenda tomorrow! Mainly for aesthetics' as it's looking really weedy but I do have some plants to go in I bought to replace 1/2 of my really, really old beds.(Already cleared these old guys). I'm not over keen on asparagus 'plants' as found it doesn't really save a year as spears still too small but they were a bargain buy 1 get 1 offer!

[retropants]

I'll be outdoors trading at Chesham Local Produce Market tomorrow, I think it will be a little milder than today, cycling in to work at -1 this morning (7.30)!! I will be wearing my long duvet coat and I have in-shoe foot warmers that last for 8 hours.

[oldherbaceous]

Sounds very cosy, Retropants.

[Westi]

Things didn't go quite to plan has we had a really hard frost which didn't appear on the weather report. It was freezing & a bit slippery so gave up on the back of the plots as still in shade there, but fortunately the sun sorted itself out & the front was workable & a bit warmer, but still freezing cold. All the dahlia's were slime so it inadvertently gave me an opportunity to thin them out which was an outstanding job from last year. Did the 2 beds inside the fence line & one outside & I really worked it trying to get every bit of ground elder & bind weed out. I was pretty diligent & even went back over it with the hand fork to get any wee bits out....of course you never get them all. Plan was to put the dug out tubers on the 'free' table but way to many & too heavy so they went on the compost. The rats will enjoy them no doubt!

I did have an unwelcome surprise in the tunnel to contend with first though. Some git of animal or bird had torn 3 fairly big holes in the tunnel roof; if it's not bad enough with the fox tearing up the lower reaches! If this nonsense from the critters doesn't stop I won't have a tunnel, it will be more like a hillbilly shack of tunnel tape & laminate sheets! I have posted the pic just in case any one might be able to identify what might have done this so I can set up some more sonic repellers. The cover needs replacing but not willing to bother if this can't be controlled!

pzcT9H1wRoahx%hSwnQ1%w.jpg (2.86 MiB) Viewed 1522 times

[oldherbaceous]

Westi, that looks as if they are burn holes…..maybe from a firework!

A miserable old day out there today, but looking through some seed catalogues now, so quite content…..

[Clive.]

A bit different to the sunshine of yesterday.. It was cold yesterday, made use of the crisp top to the ground to get some bulbs into some formal beds.. a job that was dragging looking for some go-able conditions. All ok until the sun won over the frost top on the last bed.

I see that it has made it up to 6C from 2C of this morning. Did see a bit of the sunrise but it was red sky in the morning soon heading to a watery yellow...

Boston sausage, potatoes and leeks enjoyed for lunch...followed by Christmas pud.!!

It's nearly as dark now as it was at 4pm yesterday..

C.

[Westi]

Cheers OH for identifying the tear, it really looks like a burn when highlighted & even a couple of black bits stuck on the edges. I actually heard fireworks going off in the field behind when I was down, maybe they made a full evening of it after I left. I am slowly being forced into getting a new cover, but now I will have concerns whoever it was will be doing this every year now. I'll report it to the committee to see if others were damaged & they can fry to follow it up!

[Colin2016]

Out with the dog and a solitary goose was flying west to east 5 mins later the bulk of them were flying in opposite direction east to west.

Wonder if the solitary goose thought "I just arrived a everyone decides to clear off for breakfast."

[retropants]

Saturday was vile. Freezing, torrential rain most of the day. A few customers, a very sodden me. I've pulled my shoulder trying to get a waterlogged gazebo back in the car.

Sorry about your tunnel Westi, how very annoying. I've found the gorilla clear tent repair tape the best, it seems to survive all weathers.

[oldherbaceous]

How frustrating for you, Retropants….as if it isn’t hard enough work, as it is.

See the forum has no mention again in the magazine….they certainly seem to be distancing themselves from us….a real shame.

[Westi]

Plodded on with clearing / tidying the front beds. One side is completed so started on the other side removing spent stuff, cutting back roses, edging etc. Not a huge impact as main focus was getting the bad weeds out along the wire fence which with my love of chasing bindweed wasn't to onerous but loads had snuck in so quite a bit to finish.
I think we can safely say there will be no mention in the mag again. However I think they could be missing a trick. So many of you are working on big estates with multiple skills needed & huge knowledge gained, & also grow in different areas of the country so have loads of experience for their area. This is never fully covered with the current 'on TV guys '. Only needs a little bit of the page for you to write what you are doing & what challenges are presented in your area.

[Westi]

Every time I come on the computer one or another of the sites I read regularly are gone, or added to with totally obscure things; like today I have had Web Md added to tell me about Achilles Tendon Injuries; where did that come from?? Thankfully Kitchen Garden not touched!
Looks like it will be a trip to the computer guys! Might be how much storage I have left on the computer but this new format means I can't even find that to check & when I could check it was loads left but all this muck around & changes might be chewing it up? Oh well, at least the computer guys are close by & I've used them before.

Of course it might be A1 involved which was a right pain at first but it did sort itself fairly quickly .