Summer Bits and Bobs.

[tigerburnie]

Got a couple of big jobs out of the way, including giving the big beech hedge a hair cut, do one a day to not over do it. Summerhouse and shed will need painting before the winter, got some oil based crecote, which seems pretty good, the wax based ones seem to not work at all.

[oldherbaceous]

Sounds like a good job done, Bernie….the water based and waxed based paints are useless, as the water gets under them and sits there rotting the timber!

[Westi]

I've just been looking at the sunrise & sunsets over the next couple of weeks; if felt like it was getting darker in the mornings very quickly, but only shortening about 10mins a week unlike the sun set which is 15mins earlier over the same period. I already decided tomorrow will be my last trip on the early bus & I will be catching the later one for a couple of weeks, before having to change that one as well in a couple more weeks. I will miss the little gang on this bus, all 4 of them & occasionally a homeless guy. The buses are tolerant of these folk who sneak on when the buses are being cleaned at the depot & let them ride 1 journey out & back on the early buses if they are not drunk or anything so warm & dry. Our guy is polite but very quiet, but always gives the dog some attention.

I am definitely starting on the tunnel tomorrow, no more excuses! I've let the toms go mad so they need thinning & sorting if I will have any chance to limp the last toms along without risk of rotting & the winter crops will like a warmer soil to at least germinate so they have a chance to tough it out when the temp drops. Of course the optimistic me has way more on the To Do list!

[tigerburnie]

Three nights in a row we have had single figure temperatures inside the greenhouse and a pal who works on an estate in the Glens said they had a frost on the hills the other day.
In other news the smaller corner shed has been painted, I now smell like a motor mechanic and that's after I showered.

[Westi]

Well tunnel was a 'nearly finished' job! 2 reasons; the first was finding the dwarf french beans looking a bit sorry for themselves. The min temp was OK so unsure of the reason, but they did look like it was a bit cold for them. Of course I couldn't just cover them when I spotted the weeds & obvs had to do the weeds in the next bed so that looked nice too. The other reason was the actual task of sorting the tunnel which I underestimated; so many weeds have been happily growing deep roots due to my neglect in there & so I had to be careful as crops close to them so slow going. But the worst is done, only 2 bays left & they are the ones that have had attention.

[oldherbaceous]

Do you ever sit down and rest, Westi?

[Clive.]

In the home back garden, Loganberry cut out and tie in completed today...an August job completed in August...just Also finished the tie in of the Raspberry rows..

C.

[oldherbaceous]

You will be looking nice and tidy there, Clive….

[oldherbaceous]

Just had a certain type of plane come over, from West to East, Clive!

[Clive.]

So I see....at 150knots 1075 ft.....

I was out in the back garden still, chopping a way through to a tree that I have booked for some work this week.....so was away from the radar screen

Maybe tidi-er.....but in reality still a derelict mess of garden that needs huge work...

C.

[Westi]

Well the air show was a bit sad without the Red Arrows this year, but all the vantage spots were heaving. The council mucked around so long trying to afford it the Red Arrows accepted a gig in Canada. As it turns out most of the money ended up coming from residents & businesses so they could have just approached those that benefit & ask them to assist from the off.

Couldn't see very much from home, the trees totally block even the highest planes, but when we moved in it was a clear view & the planes used to circle over the island to return, but now the domestic flights are grounded or from Southampton for these days so they can fly directly back.

Had a pretty good view of the medical helicopter though as it landed in the school field behind. Because all the beaches were chocker there were designated sites for the chopper to land for transfer of people collected by ambulance from the closest beach & the school was it for the Mudeford/Hegistbury Head section of beach. The person on board walked to the chopper so fingers crossed they were OK. It was pretty impressive watching them take off rotating around off the ground for best clearance. You do have to admire their skills clearing our houses & they even waved at the little kids that appeared in mass around the school fences.

[Westi]

Tunnel finished! I did get distracted a bit as the Green skinned apple tree M-in-L gave me was throwing apples around, so did intervene & harvest them before too many got bruised & as in the area pulled up the last self sown cherry toms which were also starting to show blight. They have good camouflage & it took ages finding the unripe ones that had dropped earlier.

Took the 'normal' pumpkins as ready so popped them in the new shed which is rat proof & will catch the neighbour about getting a lift home with them; & back down again with some other bits I have at home. Another good harvest & I expect more harvests as we had enough rain to seep under the cover & more to come. Got about 20 Baby Boo not quite ready & intended for the Food Bank for the kiddies, then that area will be fed & closed, & on my next visit they will be getting lot's of lettuce from my multi sows early failures but need to get some plastic bags & kitchen towel to dampen before I put them in the box as I don't know when they will collect them.

Finished by filling the butts & didn't miss the bus home!

[Clive.]

Yew hedge trimming yesterday...those yew clippings get everywhere...including several around my bath tub....

Lawn scarifying today...which went better once it stopped raining.!

c.

[tigerburnie]

Summer has definitely gone here, foggy, raining with not a breath of wind.

[Myrkk]

Still determined to not put the heating on but have put the wood stove on a couple of times. It’s definitely a nicer temperature for sleeping but somewhat chilly of an evening when you want to just sit and chill.

It’s actually quite cathartic in the garden in a destructive sort of way as I have an idea of what is there now, found some lords n ladies the other day, and a more general idea of what I want to do with it. So the hypericum which had grown ridiculously was chopped to the ground, if it comes back ok, if not I’m ok with that too. The buddleia is gorgeous with silvery leaves and I don’t really want to lose it but it takes up a space of about 8ft x 8ft, it’s humongous. So that might be a next year propagate, I chopped it back by 2/3rds last year and it seems to have given it a new lease of life although the flowers didn’t last as long this year. Apple tree is being chopped, thanks for the advice everyone. Can you see a theme… a lot is getting chopped, apart from the stuff on the wall between us and grumpy neighbours, the less I have to see of them the better.

The bears britches haven’t done well where I popped them this year so I think they need moving, even though I know they don’t like it, but new spot in better sun coming up. Think I’ll replace them with astilbe and hellebores. Any suggestions for an area that doesn’t’ get any sun?

Some plants still soldiering on in the garden, the runner beans have suddenly made a sprint for the finish and we have a late crop of them, was absolutely astounded when I saw them. Have planted some spinach and late chard but not giving out much hope for them.

One thing I’ve worked out is how exposed the area seems to be, so I think wind burn is an issue for much of what is growing. So going to get a few windy paths planted to stop the wind having full sweep of the garden, hopefully things will grow better that way.