Kitchen Garden Forum

I do love a good fire - my OH thinks I am quite a pyromaniac. We always have great autumn fire on the allotment, but our garden at home is too small to have a a fire without annoying the neighbours. So, today, after having severely cut back three large buddleias and two enormous dogwoods this morning, we bundled all the debris up and took it to the garden skip of the local tip. Except, of course, all the suitable branches to use as pea sticks. They are the ones which will be burnt in autumn!

It's been a grand day today: dry, sunny, 8C and NO WIND!!!

Bonfires are one of the joys of living where they don't bother anybody.

What a lovely day yesterday. Planted a row of potatoes and put a cloche over them. Then I did room service on all the nest boxes I have dotted about the place. The fronts are fixed with stainless steel screws so I just take them off then scrape them out with a triangular paint scraper. It's no wonder we were overrun with baby birds last Autumn, I think every box had been used, including some letter box opening ones that aren't usually very popular. Three had blown out of trees and it looks like I had better plan to make some new ones this autumn. I thought I was a bit late doing it but one that had blown down that I can see from the kitchen window is being inspected this morning by the Tree Sparrows that raised a big brood in it last year so I am well pleased.

Good work helping the birds there Geoff.

I am awaiting signs of emergence of whatever has overwintered in our 'solitary bee' hive. 5 of the front holes are still blocked but without taking the small hive down off the shed I can't see if they have used the rear exits.

The weather has been fine lately and I have finished spreading last years compost. I don't know why I bother spreading it evenly out. I should just leave it in clumps since the blackbirds make an excellent job of spreading it for me. They dive in, shake and through it all about searching for worms and grubs as I just sit and watch.

Barney

Lots of Bumble and Honey Bees about today, what i was very pleased to see....there was a massive Bumble Bee in the greenhouse, that resisted all help offered to let it escape into the great outside world....

I also had a nice bonfire yesterday. I do enjoy a good blaze.

There were lots of honey bees in the garden and I saw the first 7 spot ladybird. I've not seen any bumble bees yet though. Oh and there were 46 frogs in the pond but no spawn yet.

Pa Snip. Over the years my twin grandchildren have bought me various bug boxes etc. I have yet to see them occupied.

Shallot Man wrote:Pa Snip. Over the years my twin grandchildren have bought me various bug boxes etc. I have yet to see them occupied.

Disheartening isn't it. We have a bug box on the side of summer house at home, that has some residents as well. Never have had any occupancy of bird boxes we have put up though.

I was really pleased to see some occupancy in that little 'des res' on the plot albeit only 5 tenants.

Not as if I am charging rent either Just a simple hope of some pollination work in return.

I'm going to have a go at that design but turned 180 so I can see both ends. I've several bundles of tubes type things but something, I guess Woodpeckers, pulls the hollow stems out even past expanded metal.

I built a dead-hedge on the SW edge of a wildflower patch on my paddock, farmer grinned at me one day when he came for a chat. "What does it do ?"

I was embarrassed, there are probably plenty of places for nesting birds and creatures looking for hidey-holes without me building more. It'll make a cracking bonfire.

We do have hedges round the fields, blackthorn growing on the banks though our paddock only has Pembrokeshire banks protected by stock fencing to keep the sheep out, or in.

I would love to have taken the advise to plant blackthorn all around, I didn't because there always enough keeping me busy. We have blackthorn on the east bank but the farmer crops it down to about the hight of the bank every year with a bushwhacker, blackthorn keeps sheep in better than stock fencing. They get their heads stuck nibbling at the grasses on the other side no matter how much grass they have on their side.

Sheep poos bring your compost heap back too life but it's a task collecting it.

It's still XXing down with rain and 30 knots SE.

When will I stop spending money on this plot ?

Geoff wrote:I'm going to have a go at that design but turned 180 so I can see both ends. I've several bundles of tubes type things but something, I guess Woodpeckers, pulls the hollow stems out even past expanded metal.

Hi Geoff
If you are referring to my Solitary Bee Hive picture above I could have mounted it sideways on if I had used a couple of shelf brackets, as it was I took the easy option and used the hanging hook that's supplied affixed to the back .
The design of that unit is such that it can easily be taken apart for cleaning and disinfecting of each layer.

Ricard with an H wrote:When will I stop spending money on this plot ?

when you spend money on, and are laid to rest in, your final plot.

May it be a long time off before that happens.

Pa Snip wrote:[
when you spend money on, and are laid to rest in, your final plot.

May it be a long time off before that happens.

Just what I thought, I could never quite see the point in embarking on a hobby if I'm going to be floppy. I made a huge sacrifice already by managing to avoid the expense of a greenhouse.

This year it's more stuff to keep the netting up then it'll be more stuff to keep plants cosy under the netting, then it'll be..........Erm...........

Another 20 bags of peat-free composted material by New Horizon. £2.20 a bag if you buy 20. It's £3.20 a bag otherwise. This stuff mixes nicely with claggy soil.

Geoff.

The reason I have raised beds is that when the builders developed this barn conversion the developers got them to rob most of the top soil for another site. They do drain well and if you build them a sensible size you never have to walk on them. The first three were too wide, I learnt.

Clive. wrote:
All ready for the return of winter, easterly winds straight from the Ural mountains thread....

Who was it that mentioned the possibility of an Easterly wind setting in.......Ah, I see, that must be me then....


Clive.

Thank you for your kind gift, Clive.... It really does have a bite to it this morning.