0 comment Thursday, August 7, 2014 | admin
Today I'm feeling a bit less rubbish though I'm still hobbling around a little bit. I'm not feeling up to a trip into town today, so I'm staying home, and at nearly 10am I'm still in my PJs having a cuppa and munching some toast with real butter.
The garden is getting drenched, and will do for the rest of the week. The weeds are really taking over as a result! So while it's just drizzling and not actually downpouring, I think the mission today is to go out and do a bit of weeding while the ground is soft and wet. I'm also thinking about breaking out some of my compost and working some of it round the beds to sink in and rot over the winter, now I don't have to worry about Ludo rolling round and eating it.
Peas are done, and I am digging the plants under, into the soil of the raised bed. All that is left in there now are the herbs, osteopermums and leeks. I am considering taking up the osteos, potting them and bringing them indoors but that might result in too much root disturbance. Instead, I'm going to plant them in a more permanent place in the garden, cut them down, cover them from frost and hope for the best. I'm taking cuttings from a few of the plants and will hopefully have a few more of them to plant round next year. The purple osteo was brilliant, but the rust-coloured one has died back considerably - root growth was never good for some reason. I'll try to take cuttings but don't know how well it will go. We'll try using willow fronds for natural root compounds; I can get those easy enough in town tomorrow.
In any event, the raised bed has managed to get the broken-down-compost from the potato plants, and will get some compost today as well. I'm wanting to start a new pile so I'm going to try and get as much of the good compost as I can out of there, and then start afresh with all the plants I've cleared out. There's a really good ant and worm colony started in the pile at the moment that I'll have to transfer, so it's a bit of a process! I should manage though.
The toms I think are done now - we're not going to have any late summer IMO and the tomatoes still left on the vine absolutely refuse to turn red, so in they'll come and I'll put them in a cardboard box with an apple, pear or banana and that seems to do the trick. I made chilli last week with my own chilli peppers and tomatoes. Delicious! Was so chuffed, and I'm glad to have the produce this year. I'll be taking the growhouses down so they don't get damaged or cracked over the winter, give them a good wipe down to control the mould, and store them away. They've served me well.
Peppers are now sorted too - I've managed to dry quite a few of these for winter stews, and I'm pleased with results. There's a few tiny peppers on the plants which I'll harvest today but the rest of the plants and soil will go into the compost pile now. I've saved a few seeds but I think perhaps I didn't dry them properly as they've gone black. Boo. Oh well, I do have a reputable supplier and can buy seeds again next year if need be.
The herbs in their herb area are doing very well. The last of the basil is also coming in and being turned into pesto, which will be frozen for future use. The mallow is doing brilliantly and, bless it, sending up flowers! It's too young to harvest for roots however, I'll give it a few years. The bergamot is establishing itself nicely, the chamomile has taken too, the lavender sent out some lovely little spears for me and I harvested those already, leaving a few for the bees. There's a space for the horehound which seems to be a very slow grower; I'm going to put it into permanent position today and hope it manages to grow a little more before the season comes to a halt. Mint and violet seems to like where they're put, but the dandelion is competing so out it comes - a topdress of compost and they'll be happy I think.
The strawberries are going to have a very well deserved rest. I couldn't have been happier with these this year, they produced a lovely amount of berries, and they're not only spreading in their pots, but also into the soil along either side of their pots. Let them grow, says I! This will also get a compost topdress, then I'll allow them to go dormant. The leaves are already changing so I know it's coming along soon.
I'm struggling with a decision on the raspberries. I may have a solution but I'll need to rig up a way to keep the canes straight. In the meantime, it really needs out of the pot it was growing in this year, and into a more permanent space. A raised bed would have been ideal but it's not happening this year. I'll improvise a space along the fence and just try and make sure it doesn't spread under until I can move all the canes to a more permanent position which won't encroach on my neighbour's land.
The rosehips are starting to turn on my rose hedge, and so it's time to start picking the fruits and turning it into syrup. I won't get a huge crop this year, but I will get enough to make a batch to last us this month, and maybe a bit to freeze for later on. There will be more, however as my "showoff" roses also produce lots of rosehips and they've never had anything more than a bit of compost, bone meal and water.
I'm hoping to get some climbing frames for the clematis this week - needs to be nailed up into place on the fence for them to grow next year. Again, some compost I think wouldn't be amiss. Going to sort this out if I can with a friend's help this week as she has a car and we intend on making a B & Q run. She's been amazing and I'm so grateful for all her help lately.
So, now that I've set out the tasks for the day, I had best finish my cuppa, don some clothes, get the mud-shoes on and get to it.
The garden is getting drenched, and will do for the rest of the week. The weeds are really taking over as a result! So while it's just drizzling and not actually downpouring, I think the mission today is to go out and do a bit of weeding while the ground is soft and wet. I'm also thinking about breaking out some of my compost and working some of it round the beds to sink in and rot over the winter, now I don't have to worry about Ludo rolling round and eating it.
Peas are done, and I am digging the plants under, into the soil of the raised bed. All that is left in there now are the herbs, osteopermums and leeks. I am considering taking up the osteos, potting them and bringing them indoors but that might result in too much root disturbance. Instead, I'm going to plant them in a more permanent place in the garden, cut them down, cover them from frost and hope for the best. I'm taking cuttings from a few of the plants and will hopefully have a few more of them to plant round next year. The purple osteo was brilliant, but the rust-coloured one has died back considerably - root growth was never good for some reason. I'll try to take cuttings but don't know how well it will go. We'll try using willow fronds for natural root compounds; I can get those easy enough in town tomorrow.
In any event, the raised bed has managed to get the broken-down-compost from the potato plants, and will get some compost today as well. I'm wanting to start a new pile so I'm going to try and get as much of the good compost as I can out of there, and then start afresh with all the plants I've cleared out. There's a really good ant and worm colony started in the pile at the moment that I'll have to transfer, so it's a bit of a process! I should manage though.
The toms I think are done now - we're not going to have any late summer IMO and the tomatoes still left on the vine absolutely refuse to turn red, so in they'll come and I'll put them in a cardboard box with an apple, pear or banana and that seems to do the trick. I made chilli last week with my own chilli peppers and tomatoes. Delicious! Was so chuffed, and I'm glad to have the produce this year. I'll be taking the growhouses down so they don't get damaged or cracked over the winter, give them a good wipe down to control the mould, and store them away. They've served me well.
Peppers are now sorted too - I've managed to dry quite a few of these for winter stews, and I'm pleased with results. There's a few tiny peppers on the plants which I'll harvest today but the rest of the plants and soil will go into the compost pile now. I've saved a few seeds but I think perhaps I didn't dry them properly as they've gone black. Boo. Oh well, I do have a reputable supplier and can buy seeds again next year if need be.
The herbs in their herb area are doing very well. The last of the basil is also coming in and being turned into pesto, which will be frozen for future use. The mallow is doing brilliantly and, bless it, sending up flowers! It's too young to harvest for roots however, I'll give it a few years. The bergamot is establishing itself nicely, the chamomile has taken too, the lavender sent out some lovely little spears for me and I harvested those already, leaving a few for the bees. There's a space for the horehound which seems to be a very slow grower; I'm going to put it into permanent position today and hope it manages to grow a little more before the season comes to a halt. Mint and violet seems to like where they're put, but the dandelion is competing so out it comes - a topdress of compost and they'll be happy I think.
The strawberries are going to have a very well deserved rest. I couldn't have been happier with these this year, they produced a lovely amount of berries, and they're not only spreading in their pots, but also into the soil along either side of their pots. Let them grow, says I! This will also get a compost topdress, then I'll allow them to go dormant. The leaves are already changing so I know it's coming along soon.
I'm struggling with a decision on the raspberries. I may have a solution but I'll need to rig up a way to keep the canes straight. In the meantime, it really needs out of the pot it was growing in this year, and into a more permanent space. A raised bed would have been ideal but it's not happening this year. I'll improvise a space along the fence and just try and make sure it doesn't spread under until I can move all the canes to a more permanent position which won't encroach on my neighbour's land.
The rosehips are starting to turn on my rose hedge, and so it's time to start picking the fruits and turning it into syrup. I won't get a huge crop this year, but I will get enough to make a batch to last us this month, and maybe a bit to freeze for later on. There will be more, however as my "showoff" roses also produce lots of rosehips and they've never had anything more than a bit of compost, bone meal and water.
I'm hoping to get some climbing frames for the clematis this week - needs to be nailed up into place on the fence for them to grow next year. Again, some compost I think wouldn't be amiss. Going to sort this out if I can with a friend's help this week as she has a car and we intend on making a B & Q run. She's been amazing and I'm so grateful for all her help lately.
So, now that I've set out the tasks for the day, I had best finish my cuppa, don some clothes, get the mud-shoes on and get to it.
Labels: Garden