Kitchen Garden Forum

Maybe I am Lord of the Manor, Primrose.....

Where's Mrs OH - gone off to fetch the ice creams?
John

No, rust,into up the servants to serve the evening g banquet!

Enjoy your ho,liday ! You've picked some fine weather.

Evening John, actually she is finishing the lawns off....

I shouldn't complain, Primrose but, it's a touch too warm for me....

Hi OH, old codgers come back to life he has done your watering,but there's been two two legged squirrels on your plot having your strawberries.they would not leave them for you when you come hom, ha ha you know who.

Morning Old Codger, I do indeed know who you mean, will have to have words....
Thank you for doing the watering duties, much appreciated.
Sam has been really bad with Tonsilitis since Wednesday and still no better this morning....we might even head back later.

Hope your enjoying your days away and get home safely without anyone picking you up as an old fossil.
I'm away as well in East Sussex, seen the sights; tiling, grouting, painting!

[attachment=0]pots.jpg[/attachment]Just got back from hols too - went to Lost Gardens of Heligan. Well recommended. Their kitchen garden is enviously tidy and full of 'stuff' - and I now have clay pot envy. Never mind the Italian garden with its pretty fountain, the perilous swinging rope bridge in the 'jungle', the enormity of the Large Whites, the delicious looking peaches in the hot house, the nest of baby house martins being fed by their frantically busy parents, the miles of tracks to be maintained and the acres of land still being restored and replanted - my main image I have is POTS.

Oh to have staff. My pots and trays are all stuffed in a jumble under the staging and it's on my TO DO list to sort them out.

It used to be my job when I was very young to wash all the different sized clay pots in a Jeyes fluid solution for my father and stack them all up in order. If you moved them up and down in the water they made a lovely noise like a musical instrument with the air going through the hole.

They didn't look anywhere as neat as your picture Diane . I enjoyed visiting the Lost gardens of Heligan the last time we went to Cornwall and it's good to know it's still a work in progress.

There is something delightfully rustic about that photo.

I won,t spoil the illusion by posting a photo of my pot storage corner except to say they're all piled up inside each other and still grubby from when they were last emptied, If I were better organised I would wash them.all as I emptied them but life seems too short ! Also to be honest I know it's supposed to be good practice to avoid spreading diseases but I'm not sure any of my seedlings have ever knowingly even infected from this source.

'Lost Gardens' fabulous place. A 'must 'visit for anyone in the area

Great picture and framing Diane

I've just received a Daily Telegraph plant offer of an apparent new foxglove called Lucas which is recapable of reblooming later in summer. I love the foxgloves in my garden,.. they're a delightful sight, the bees love them and if a variety existed which really did rebloom and give double value for money then I,d be keen to grow it.

But as always with such claims I ask myself "How viable and reliable are these plants in fulfilling the claims made for them? In the past I,ve often been disappointed with the claims made. I guess with a new variety one never really knows until one tries it out, and when it seeds, will the next general be true to type or revert back to previous habits ?

PS. Just researched further and this variety is sterile and produces no seeds which is why it is capable of reflowering later in the season. However the thought of not being able to garner free foxgloves of this variety in subsequent years is a bit of a negative for me. Guess ai,lol stick with the "free"variety ! Apparently they were bred for container growing and are much shorter than the traditional wild foxglove

I've officially melted!

Factor 50 & hat on & still a bit red! Salad crops not germinating, runners struggling, spuds succumbing as not enough time to give them the soak they like, biceps like a bricky with the watering can while waiting for the tap & sweat does sting the eyes a bit. 32 degrees on the plot today, & had to visit a stranger who was watering to fill the dog's bowl twice. My phone says slightly cooler next week & maybe if lucky a wee shower tonight but 30% is not good odds.

Is it mid summer yet? Yep I'm used to hot but like everyone else I'm getting no younger & I've kind of adjusted to the UK weather, now I'm back in Australia! It was a disaster btw, but learnt loads from you guys & girls so better prepared!

Yes I think we're all wilting in the heat. A few hours of steady rain would be more than welcome.

In previous dry spells I,ve often mulched my veg patch and climbing beans with lawn cuttings which has helped preserve some moisture in our dry stonesy soil but this spring our lawns were in such a mossy and weedy state that we gave them a good dose of Weed and Feed. Consequently we'll have no grass cutting for months that I could use as mulch as they've had to be disposed of.

Not sure what else I could easily use. We have no straw or leaf mould and I think shredding newspapers would,probably just make a mess with the paper blowing everywhere.