Kitchen Garden Forum

I tally with a load of leaves being early although some trees locally look greener again now after a shead of yellowed ones. We have two large leaf heaps at work but likewise one needs an empty or a turn into the other to make room for the arriving fresh supply of stock..
i got a bit more of border sorting at home done today herbaceous is all in place now with bulb consignment still awaited..
The western end had a turn over and a look out for wandering bluebells, it used to be home recently to a Ceanothus and an Ozothamnus..the kerosene bush. the Ozo' was spotted my my dad I suspect when in retirement they went on several Brightwater Holidays garden coach tours. He sourced one eventually and I ought to find a replacement plant at some stage...however on a visit to local independent garden centre this morning i spotted a smaller Physocarpus which has taken on the role along with a potentila Daydawn to similarly replace what was recently there....so herbaceous morphs into small shrubby at the west end with one position to fill...for which next search is for a Ceratostigma willmotianum...gorgeous blue at this time of year if given Spring cut back and beloved of moths..

C.

Rained all night (no thunder or lightening); & looked pretty set to rain the whole day, then it suddenly cleared. I took the opportunity & jumped on the bus to get the pet stuff & pick up a few things. I get a taxi home as they pick me up right at the back door of the M&S little shop so I don't need to lug heavy bags over the road to the taxi stand & wait ages. He dropped me off, carried my bags to the door just as it started again & it continued to late afternoon. I got lucky with my timing for sure! The new bitumen path with the soak way cleared is working a treat as well so no big puddles.

Looks OK for tomorrow but our girlie's catch up on Wed could end up with a lot of wet but cheery ladies, but a great big inglenook fire in the country pub where we are going that & the ETOH will probably warm them enough! I don't like drinking during the day & don't drive so no doubt I will nominated the 'responsible adult' sorting out how to get them home & pacifying their hubby's & partners!

Lots of serious flooding around here, with most of the villages suffering….the water was nearly up to our front, never had that before….

Lots of on-road ponds in Hertfordshire, we have one of the lowest road-safety in maintenance in the country, unswept, uncut-verges and vegetation - well one cut a year, combine to block drainage and construct roadside rubbish berms that keep water on the road.
One road near me has concrete gullies on each side, now full of mud & debris with plants growing in it, the contractors carefully scrape debris off the cast iron grille, chuck it nearby on the verge for the next rain to wash it back onto the road, empty the "wine-bottle" sump and leave it for two years

It does look like you've had it pretty rough down there OH, hope you and the allotments are OK. We've only had about 25mm which we can cope with easily. I've probably said before if we were flooded it wouldn't make the news, not just because we are too far from London but mainly as we are at six hundred feet so there would be nobody left to report it!

I saw a few things on TV about flooded areas around the country & really feel for the people affected. Months & months before the houses dry out & the stench of sticky contaminated mud is removed & I bet the insurers don't rush with payments, especially with the numbers involved.

It was quite surreal going down to the plot this morning as really dark due to the cloud cover, which did dump on me but at least I got to the plot gate so quick dash into the tunnel sorted that. It moved on quickly though & brightened up. The red flowering Runners taken down with a note to self not to grow this variety again as quite stringy & went seedy quickly. The white flowered ones were given some attention since I was right beside them. Not so much fun hanging the canes up behind the shed as the hooks had loosened & I had to re-screw them in & pick out the dropped ones in the hedge row plus the ones I just took down. Of course the hooks got an extra obligatory fill of No More Nails on top of the screws.

We seem to have escaped the wet here...only a few spits and spots despite being in Amber area..thank goodness. Although from overnight? ground looks wet now but nothing major....

Haven't escaped a 'cold' lurgy though that seems to be doing rounds here though..bah, humbug.....achy, breaky, etc, etc..

C.

lots of rain here, leaky garage roof BUT the garden looks lush. We are feeding the lovely fat hegdey every night in a feeding station on the patio, protected from the weather. We have some great footage, but no idea how to show it here, sorry!! We will move the camera to the entrance of the house we built for him a couple of years ago. Excited to know if it is being used.

We had an impressive 130mm of rain, in 24 hours, no wonder the water was having a job to get away!
Codger and another bloke, did a fair bit of digging a week ago, it is now as flat as a pancake and looks awful….feel really sorry for them!

Looks like we are in for a dose of rain overnight..and high winds tonight and tomorrow too...and from the North..
I've been feeling plenty rough with the 'lurgy' but have managed a couple of jobs in the back garden at home here this afternoon as off today on shift pattern....and then when I came in there was a knock on the front door...parcel delivery of the Ceratostigma willmottianum 'Forest Blue' ...so I went out and got that quickly planted...I didn't water it in

C.

Glad you are making good progress with the border, Clive!
But sorry to hear you still have the lurgy……Cook and Lily have the lurgy too and are really rough….

I'm really finding the rain tedious now! As quick as I find a window to go down & do some bits o the plots the forecast changes or it just starts raining again! I would also debate their definition of 'light rain'! Plan was to go down tomorrow as was looking OK when I checked late this afternoon but just had the local news on & a complete change with a warning of heavy rain & winds. Oh well Saturday it is then....so far!

The girlie catch up was yesterday but a bit of a damp squib as only 2 of us, the other 3 had tested Covid positive. They don't work together so no direct contact but thoughts are some folk don't hold on the benefits of the vaccination programme as long as others. No mention of a new variant at least! I've already been looking at getting on the list for this years vaccination but just can't navigate the booking system to find a spot, but fortunately Mr has to go down to the surgery for a blood test & they already know he is IT illiterate so he is going to ask them to book us both in which they have down before as he is considered high risk. Will save me some cussing if they do!

More rain tonight and tomorrow…..had to pump the Big Houses cellar out….first time it had flooded in over 20 years.
Just been looking at an adult Ridgeyard tricycle for sale on a local WhatsApp site, thought of you, Westi!

There is a notice in health centre encouraging to book COVID & flu jabs at reception. Always booked by visiting surgery usually after getting letter from NHS. Latest letter for RSV vaccine, a new one on me, I'm guessing there will others waiting for me as I get older.

Hi Collin it is a vaccine that protects your lungs & respiratory system. If you have it you will still need the pneumonia vaccine if offered. RSV is for treating viruses & pneumonia is a bacterial infection so not interchangeable. Plenty more to come I would think as Covid kinda reinvigorated the research & development.

Hi OH, I nearly bought one, even considered an electric one to boot, but one problem arose. It was too wide to go down the footpath to the site as the garden centre has reclaimed some of the path that was their property & there are road lights right down the centre of what path is left. The road is way too busy to venture on, although there is one guy on site that does on his mobility scooter, but it is pretty unmissable as he's got flags & banners & stuffed toys all over it. No OH, don't even think about it, not my style & no room for the dog!

Sunshine tomorrow so will be nice to go down to the plot, been itching to get muddy. Just going to plant out the Chinese, spring cabbages & stuff which no doubt will have grown considerably; & the onion & garlic sets. The sown onions are out & doing fine & have grown more than last year, but I also have some sets as a back up as the sown ones are ready earlier & if as wet next year as this there will be fails.