Kitchen Garden Forum

Was in the zone today so went for the clear up & took off all the nets & stuff as been a while since I checked under them for what was ready. Unfortunately what I expected & what I got was very different & I had lost quite a few plants. But turned out fine, still had some so decided to amalgamate what I had into one of the big beds which gave me the opportunity to close more smaller beds. Only got 2 beds left to weed & sort when next down & that side will be done & I am covering empty beds in black plastic so won't have to bother weeding them again for a while.

The back will be a longer task as the Jerusalem artichokes have grown madly so will have to do a proper dig to clear as many of them as I can. Horrible thugs & I don't even like them so the food bank box will be full!

13C on the car temp' display as I went to work early and the very same 13C as I drove home

..and a very bright moon behind me as I headed home.

C.

Weather playing quite fair after the doom & gloom report on the weekend. I thought I might just get one day in this week but all's well, can go down tomorrow & take off where I left it Mon & Saturday looking good...well so far! I'll just focus on clearing, feeding & covering for now & leave the big stuff ie; asparagus for one of those cold but clear days after Xmas.

Well I never...... I am just doing my pack up, opened a tin of corned beef...went out the back door to take the tin to the bin and on the way back as I stepped back in the door a frog jumped up the doorstep and went bounding across the kitchen and up the hallway....

They can't half leap about but after surveying the hall carpet, decided to head back to the kitchen and back out the door....

I will resume my pack up prep now....

C.

Cracking on nicely thanks to some fairish days in the mix, not sunny but not cold either! Only 2 small beds left to weed left side & only under half the trees & I can shut another side down. I think I can get all these done Saturday; yep rain is back until then! Staying on this side though just to flip the front compost bins, I do believe I said I would do this several times along with try the trimmer thing! Got lucky with the trimmer as my younger other neighbour had got a new mower & did some of my front so only a real small area to tackle so really no excuse not to try the trimmer with a play around. I think I can safely say it won't be as quick or good as a brand new mower though!

I've hand weeded around the raspberry rows today...historically my starting point to then break out from to tidy the back garden in a Winter direction....second weeding though since tie in of the canes. Canes are looking poorer than usual...dry weather of summer and sadly the age of the planting..

This morning I called at the local dependable hardware store in the High Street and came out with 4 new spade handles, proper long T handles.....to stand in my hallway as stock...with the others... and maybe, one day, some day, etc, be fitted into some rescued tool heads... and it was the shop assistant that made the 'four candles' quip....not me

Some folk buy aeroplanes...some rescue donkeys....then there's me...

C.

Started cutting down the front borders at home today, seems to take longer each year….think i’ll try and get the job finished tomorrow morning, before the Church service, as the next 10 days look pretty bleak.
Noticed the weed seeds are still germinating profusely over the allotments!

Strange thing is that there seems much more rainfall listed via the weather radar prediction than there is via the actual forecast.??

C.

Well I did loads but only little beds. All the bottom beds weeded which had to be done as I couldn't even see what was growing under the cover as so many weeds in the mix I couldn't even find what I was actually pulling/digging out so had to go way slower than anticipated. But all done & found the winter cabbages & cauliflowers looking pretty good. Only lost one with my clumsiness so just sowed 1 seed in the gap, it's choice whether to grow but soil temp OK & it's covered back up. 6 trees weeded & mulched so only 2 more to do & again so many weeds in the mix. I did my old neighbours & my fence line as I went along so that's 2 jobs almost complete.

I wanted to do so much more on my list but wasn't to be, even though I hid from other plot holders they found me! On the positive just those 2 trees & the little raspberry bed to clear, sort & mulch & then I might get an opportunity to play with the trimmer. Every time I go down I have a little look at it & thinking more positively about it, especially the balance/weight aspect. Looking at next weeks weather it doesn't seem too inviting so may have to wait even longer for a trial run.

More rain in the night, so going to keep off the front borders today!
Have just finished planting up some outdoor planters with Violas, a job I should have done at least a month ago…..hopefully next year will be a little easier.

Been reading through some of my Mum’s old diary’s , well she called them, (Daily happenings in Milton Bryan) how she loved the village, the folk in it and her little Thatched cottage……makes me quite emotional reading them, I must admit.

I can tally with that Old H'....I have two bedside cabinets full of my mums diaries.

Foggy/misty old lot here this morning, although when I headed East past my work location to tank up with fuel the sun was trying to break through. Meanwhile, I heard an autogyro just out to the West,...so assuming he must have been in the clear....seems quite a local lump of fog.

C.

The fog eventually lifted as the breeze got up.

..and the autgyro has wandered by on its way home...maybe after a plate of lunch in Suffolk

C.

A bit of rain overnight and then ok, for leaf raking, up until just after lunch and then it proper poured down. Half inch of rain, total, in the gauge.

C.

A rather wet start to the day and the ground was very wet indeed….wanted to get a customers large borders cut down today, but left them as it would have made such a mess…..and they also still have a fair bit of colour in them, where there has been no frost to speak of…..the gardening diary is certainly not being followed again this year.

Once again I totally tally....

I had had a good run on a full border lift out, deeply fork to cleanse and then all replanted. Then on to one that was in good order, cut down and lightly fork...but with loads and loads of similar to do the weather seems to have gone.! With conversation turning to the fact that in years past it never seemed to be a problem to get on at this time of year.
As it stands, already in to stay off it....as would do more harm than good....

In other news.....had a lump of tooth/filling come adrift, leaving a real silly sharp edge that is driving me crazy with sore tongue...very close to consulting the Old H' dentistry school...it needs a rasp running over it....

C.