Kitchen Garden Forum

Certainly a good plan to have a bit more veg' that I can quickly pluck for tea....
My reliance on Co-op for ready supply of baby potatoes has failed this week..with scarily empty shelves.....

C.

Officially knackered! Didn't muck around with the hose today as water went back on so I had filled up the trugs & butts. As I have them all around it does not seem so slow to water, I just get a can filled & only walk a short distance to what needs it. Then I tackled the outside front flower beds on plot 1. I tidied them up; chased bind weed, dug ground elder, other weeds & edged them & both got a big water from the trough which is close so they are sorted.

Scissors are not the ideal thing to cut the grass out there, took absolutely ages as the odd car goes on the grass when cars pass each another so it was cut & rake, cut & rake to make it stand up. Not pretty like when Strimmed but done to the best of my ability & blisters from the scissors. I deffo need a Strimmer but I have had a try of a battery one & way heavy & a bit unbalanced if area is not even. If site Strimmer is terminal & not replaced I might even consider artificial grass.

Giving myself a break from the other plot side on Monday & going on light duties. Simple re-sows of no shows & getting the sweet potatoes in, & weeding. Possibility of some light rain but looks random, but not cold if I do get lucky with a shower or 2!

Small hedging shears would be a compromise.

I think you can get battery powered mini trimmers Westi.

Well, the Co-op has stock on the shelves again, not the usual own branded baby potatoes but Richardson Jersey Royals to go with my Ginsters pasty and broad beans from my freezer..followed by some stewed Champagne rhubarb
My own Maris Peer are a while off yet..whilst the late set Lady Christl and Charlotte I ridged up today...

Meanwhile, the canes were purchased and are ready for a sow of black seeded runner beans,.....whilst I also bought enough for another wigwam at the other end of the garden for some Moonlight....

Now, did I say I wasn't going to grow any runner beans...

C.

A good mornings work, Clive.
I have just sown 18 more Runner beans…..Enorma this time!

..and compliments to the chef for Sunday lunch. ..the potatoes really tasted as if freshly home dug...which is an interesting feat to achieve in supply to supermarket.

C.

The ones cook bought last year were awful….it wouldn’t have been so bad if they were just tasteless but, they had a horrible twang to them…

Any aircraft over-head today, Clive?

The potatoes were genuinely very home garden tasty...I suspect they have got the measure of keeping them fresh. Their reference is that they are showered in fresh cold water and then dusted with coir....Growing wise; liquid seaweed fed and close attention to lifting dates....
I was pleasantly surprised having had a similar disappointing experience before.

No Spitfires sighted over here today...

...and no tinkering with Hornby Dublo locomotives today.....I'm letting my eyes recover....

C.

Ate some of the polytunnel Charlotte today that I photographed a while back and they were excellent. Had pinched a few off the root last weekend that we didn't weigh but I reckon we've had at least 3½ lbs off the root.

Had a change of sheep yesterday, sent 40 to market and received about the same to fatten on but made a stupid mistake. I turned off my electric fencing to prevent shocking my dog and forgot to switch back on, the hill sheep from Exmoor had never seen a fence before and crashed through it trampling all over my vegetable garden tasting each lettuce and beetroot that I had carefully nurtured. It's on now and they have had a few shocks so they will soon learn, but will I?

I do sympathise with anyone now needing glasses, my eyes were good until I was around 50, I did a lot of welding up to then and noticed I was no longer seeing the molten pool very clearly. I have been repairing fence energiser for people today and use a magnifying light on a stand to help me solder the components. Still managed to get a couple of belts from the charged capacitors, I must remember to bleed the charge off them first!

Pigeons are eating my unprotected cabbages so I have covered them with old blackthorn branches, time will tell if it has any effect.

Hoping for some rain.

Barney

I was glad I ignored the weather forecast & went down; they were going on about storms, big rain, lightening etc, but did not show down here except for some extremely light drizzle for about 5 mins. Not only did I go down but did a full water of every bed, can't wait for the hose to be taken down but it is way too heavy for me to carry down, but working out something with Mr for him to take it down soon his mobility scooter.

I was the only one down early as usual, & only a few came later so no disruptions. All the re-sows done & their areas weeded & looking good & dog proofed! Made a bit of a start on the strawberry & Autumn raspberry bed behind them & thanks to my regular hose hogging it was easy to clear...looking a good year for strawberries, lot's of fruit ripening. Tallying it up only these to sort & a weed of the asparagus & I can move to the other plot. Well after I get the sweet potatoes in the tunnel, but their area is ready.

The other plot will be quicker as only one side of it to weed & tidy as the rest is for squash/pumpkin & it's still covered as plants a bit small still. I might be finally winning......except that leaves the outside 1/2 bed of the flowers to sort & the grass to cut with the scissors but my blisters should be healed by then!

Arriving at my work location this morning there was some damp on the driveway and on foliage....I wondered if there had been a mist/foggy set up but seems we did have a quick light shower last night...which I don't reckon was on the forecast.
Meanwhile down in deepest Sussex a good friend reports that they had thunder and a heavy downpour that left it quite soggy there this morning.

C.

Blew the hot compost bin up!

Found the top of the bin with the thermostat missing found it on ground behind it with bag of charcoal.

All working ok after putting back together, suspect may have closed vent causing build up of pressure.

My goodness Colin! How on earth did that happen?
We had some really good rain yesterday evening with a bit of a thunderstorm- everywhere had that lovely smell you get after rain. I had put some containers out to catch as much as I could as we don’t have a butt at the moment.