New Bits and Bobs No 13

[lizzie]

Herby, I think you'll make a very special Grandad and you won't be able to keep the grandchildren away.

My mum and my daughter are very close and often go out together for little outings. They sit and chatter away and i'm left to make the tea while they talk amongst themselves.

I think i'll make a very naughty Grandma when my time comes. I'll be getting the children to climb trees, dig in mud and get as filthy as possible, and do all the things that kids should be doing. Then we'll make cakes, and i'll get them all bathed, changed and into pj's. Then i'll tell them loads of stories and have loads of hugs and special times together

Quite looking forward to it really.............although I hope my daughter waits until her career is off the ground and she's secure. If she stays with her currant log term boyfriend and has kids with him I'll be very happy, cos he's a good lad and would make a brilliant father.

[Primrose]

Was amused by a conversation I had with our window cleaner the other day. He admits he knows absolutely nothing about gardening or growing plants and was admiring those "tall bushes over there with the yellow balls on them".

"What do you think they are?" I asked him.
"No idea", he confessed.

I picked one of the yellow balls off the plant and gave him one to try.
"You trying to poison me or something?" he asked.
"No, honestly, I promise you, they're totally edible" I told him, and popped one into my own mouth to convince him.
He tried it cautiously, and then looked at me with a very surprised look on his face.
"Blimey", he said "That's amazing. They taste just like tomatoes, don't they? What on earth are they?
"Tomatoes actually " I told him.
"You wait till I tell my wife about this" he exclaimed. "She'll never believe me when I tell her you can get yellow tomatoes.

But it illustrates that some people only know about their food what they see in supermarkets. They don't actually recognise it when they see it growing on the plant.

[WestHamRon]

Was amused by a conversation I had with our window cleaner the other day. He admits he knows absolutely nothing about gardening or growing plants and was admiring those "tall bushes over there with the yellow balls on them".

"What do you think they are?" I asked him.
"No idea", he confessed.

I picked one of the yellow balls off the plant and gave him one to try.
"You trying to poison me or something?" he asked.
"No, honestly, I promise you, they're totally edible" I told him, and popped one into my own mouth to convince him.
He tried it cautiously, and then looked at me with a very surprised look on his face.
"Blimey", he said "That's amazing. They taste just like tomatoes, don't they? What on earth are they?
"Tomatoes actually " I told him.
"You wait till I tell my wife about this" he exclaimed. "She'll never believe me when I tell her you can get yellow tomatoes.

But it illustrates that some people only know about their food what they see in supermarkets. They don't actually recognise it when they see it growing on the plant.

It's not just supermarkets, Primrose.
My parents were Greengrocers in the 50's 60's and 70's and I didn't know you could have ripe yellow tomatoes.
Truth be told I didn't realise that fruit grew through the flowers until I saw it with my own eyes. I don't know where I thought they did grow, but it was a big shock to see courgettes growing out of the flowers.

[Primrose]

I think that's why it's so important for children to be exposed to the techniques of gardening from an early age. But on the question of unusual coloured vegetables, I gave my next door neighbour some of my Blauhilde purple climbing beans and she was also a little wary of trying them, fearing they might be poisonous! Perhaps it's a throwback to childhood days when we were all warned that purple deadly nightshade berries were poisonous.

[oldherbaceous]

Something i saw yesterday that was a first for me, a badger had dug out a wasps nest that was in the ground and destroyed it's nest.
I take it, that it was after the grubs!

[Primrose]

A few years ago in that very dry summer we had three albino badgers break through our fence into our garden. They visited us for several nights and we did put food and water out for them. We can only assume that the dry soil was making it very difficult for them to find worms, which I believe, along with other insects, form a large part of their diet. Apparently albino badgers are very rare so we were very priviledged to see them. Sadly we've never seen them again although we believe our part of the world is where they are known to exist.

[oldherbaceous]

What a beautiful evening it is out there tonight, just been for a half an hour stroll and very pleasant it was as well, just perfect.

[oldherbaceous]

And now, what a beautiful morning it is, a fiery red sky whilst i was picking runner beans.

A truly wonderful sunrise.

[glallotments]

We had last week in Devon near Exminster and somehow managed to pick a lovely week with no rain at all.

[Elle's Garden]

Something i saw yesterday that was a first for me, a badger had dug out a wasps nest that was in the ground and destroyed it's nest.
I take it, that it was after the grubs!

Dear OH, it was definitely the grubs they were after - they are quite partial to them my former gamekeeper now turned pestcontroller husband tells me. They can also cause a huge amount of damage to lawns when digging for leather jackets. I don't know what is so scrumptious about these little beasties, but my black lab likes to dig for them too

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Elle's garden, thankyou for confirming that for me.
The Badgers have also been scratching about all over the lawns, but not very deep, as the ground is like concrete here at the moment from lack of rain.

[Primrose]

Funny this sudden mention of badgers. For the first times for ages, we had one visit our front garden around midnight last night, ripping open our black bin bag which had been put out for the Refuse collectors who come this morning. I think a lot of them could be suffering from slow starvation at the moment with the lack of rain and the ground being so hard, so they are denied access to a lot of their normal food sources.
We already feed our visiting lame fox. If this dry spell continues, looks like a few extra tins of catfood might have to go on our shopping list. Although I believe that they are also very fond of peanuts ?
That possibly explains a small hole which had been dug in one of our front garden borders. Must get the hose out today, to soften the soil and make it easier for them to forage for worms.

[oldherbaceous]

The deliveries of muck will be coming to the allotments today, and i still find it quite exciting.

[donedigging]

Good Evening OH,

The deliveries of muck will be coming to the allotments today, and i still find it quite exciting

I bet you lose sleep the night before aswell.
I hope the deliveries arrived safely?

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Donedigging, indeed they have been safely delivered, and now, they are steaming away nicely.

Quite a country smell is now around the village.