Kitchen Garden Forum

Pulled out the 3" poles from the ends of the sweet pea row and there was no water in the bottoms of the holes - most unusual.

One or two of next years sweet peas are starting to poke through in their polystyrene pots.

It has hardly stopped raining here since Friday and very dark with very low cloud. Today is a bit brighter so I've been out between very heavy showers.

Managed to get stung by a wasp that was sheltering under some prunings I was moving off the path. Put some vinegar on it to try and neutralise it but now have a fat pink hand that is throbbing like mad.

Dear Plumpudding, i seem to react a lot worse to wasp stings then i ever used to, not sure why.

Damp yesterday morning so I tipped my potatoes out on the garage floor for one of their irregular inspections. What a disappointment - had to throw away a shovelful of smelly rotten Sarpo Mira from the two bags. I had my doubts about the stock right from the start, I posted this viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10969&p=108628&hilit=sarpo#p108628. Anybody else grow these from JBA?
By comparison the two bags of Charlotte were perfect.

Dear Plumpudding,

Get into the habit of carrying a small tube of Anti-histamine with you as it sounds like you've developed a bad reaction to stings. My other half is the same and has a tube in the car and in the house so that he is never too far from one. Especially if you are doing a job in the garden when there may be dopey ones about.

MW

Geoff, I certainly grow Sarpo Mira and have done so for several years. They meet the under-gardener's demanding taste criteria.
They are certainly not immune to blight and I had to dispose of some in each of the last two years. I have yet to finish lifting the last of this year's crop . and

Thanks for the anti-histamine tip MW. It is many years since I was last stung and I had forgotten how painful it is. My hand is back to normal now if still a little itchy.

There are still quite a lot of wasps about probably because of all the fruit still waiting to be picked and the few odds and ends that have fallen.I'll try remembering to put my gloves on.

I was stung behind the ear recently whilst strimming - don't know what it was as I thought at first I had caught myself on the pine tree I was strimming round. It was very painful and as it started to numb my jaw I rubbed in the Anthisan. When it wasn't getting any better later in the day I wondered about a trip to the doctors but instead actually read the label on the tube.
"For best results use as soon as possible after the bite or sting. In adults and children of 2 years and above apply two or three times a day for up to three days. If symptoms worsen or do not improve after 3 days talk to your doctor or pharmacist".
So the answer was to keep treating it and not bother the doctor but it was uncomfortable for almost the three days.
The suggestion you get more sensitive is interesting. I've never been bothered much in the past until a couple of years ago I had a wasp sting on my finger while picking damsons and had to have my wedding ring cut off as the finger swelled up.