Kitchen Garden Forum

Feeling very itchy, my delightful dog brought me a charming present this morning, a beautiful bouncy flea.

Flea treatments require the flea to feed on the treated animal. It wasn't particularly lively, so I think it had had a snack. Caught and thumb-nailed.

Out and about today, LOGO Apple day at Wragby this morning, back for harvest thanksgiving at work, followed by tea and cake at Burgh le Marsh windmill.

Clive.

Peter, you have made me feel all itchy.....if there is ever a flea in someones house, it will find me!!!

That sounds a nice sort of a day Clive, but i bet you managed to fit a few jobs in somewhere along the line....

Beautiful day! Lottie looking colourful - dahlias really good even if out a bit later, Jerusalem Artichokes in flower & blooms much larger than normal, neighbours fluffy sunflower in full flow & the roses are still blooming.

Harvested loads - it's been a 'C' year - still taking ouctdoor cucumbers, carrots without any damage & still courgettes! & my self sown cherry tomatoes have avoided blight & are ripening nicely. Still apples & pears not willing to yield from the tree & the wasps have had their full & leaving them alone.

Pigeons however have also noted the bounty....hmm! Got so much netted I've run out It's been a great year, still had failures but successes have been greater. (Am especially chuffed with the carrots).

Westi (Maybe becoming a grower thanks to all your patience & advise)

Dear Westi, what is a, "C" year?

It's nice to see how positive you are on the things that have done well, rather than the things that haven't been quite as good. And that is exactly what you must do in gardening.

oldherbaceous wrote:Dear Westi, what is a, "C" year?

It's nice to see how positive you are on the things that have done well, rather than the things that haven't been quite as good. And that is exactly what you must do in gardening.

it's been a 'C' year - still taking ouctdoor cucumbers, carrots without any damage & still courgettes! & my self sown cherry tomatoes

Forgot to add Chillies!

Westi

it appears i have my slow head on today... well these things happen.

We got back from spain yesterday, been down the plot today seems like everything has grown all at once, pulled most of the carrots up a lot have split and been eaten by slugs a few are ok I think I left them in the ground to long, still had a lot of courghettes , runner and french beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce , and loads more, had a visit off the guy from our council he comes every month to do an inspection then sends out his none cultivation letters after which you have 3 weeks to show an improvement or face eviction he asked me to accompany him on his round as I was the only person there, he seems a nice guy but he has a job to do, I was told last week that our new chickens where laying 8 eggs a day I dont think they like me I only managed to get 3 but theres always tomorrow

Dear Retropants, i just love your new Avatar, not as much as your old one, but it still makes me smile.

Another thought on Retropants Avatars would be, a combination of the last two.

We have just taken the yearly delivery of muck, over the allotment and not hardly a tyre mark to be seen.....now that will keep the bloke who cuts the grass very happy....oh, that's me, so i am.

Been doing some digging over there, and i have to say, it's a touch solid and slow going.

oldherbaceous wrote:Another thought on Retropants Avatars would be, a combination of the last two.

We have just taken the yearly delivery of muck, over the allotment and not hardly a tyre mark to be seen.....now that will keep the bloke who cuts the grass very happy....oh, that's me, so i am.

Been doing some digging over there, and i have to say, it's a touch solid and slow going.

good grief! you must be feeling particularly mischievous today OH!!

Dear Retropants, it's the warm weather, it seems to have gone to my head a little...

back to topic! picked some lovely red peppers on Sunday, the longer shape ones. One was about 9" long. it seemed such a shame to cut it up and cook it, but it went into a vegetable chili!
has anyone else had an incredible display of french marigolds this year? I have 2 greenhouses, and we let them self seed in each one, taking a lot of the seedlings out as necessary, just leaving a few to deter aphids. they are rampant this year, nearly 3 foot high. a neighbour of mine has some in their front garden, and they were over the top of the wall, approaching 4 foot and smothered in beautiful orange flowers!
Also, I have noticed that the greenhouse vole, as well as feasting on the cherry tomatoes, has been piling up the marigold seed heads, I assume as some kind of winter store, but they are starting to sprout!

Cold one this morning, white frost on our overflow car park grass when we arrived at work this morning for Apple Day.

After all my concern of the early Apples not keeping as well as they have done some years I managed to display 46 of our 53 varieties...for the 800 visitors attending.

Home via the Chinese takeaway followed by a big dish of stewed Pears....

Clive.