Awful weather - typical Brits talk

wort

Morning all, I have tattie envy, might have a go next year, well done Pp, and Taff.
Taff I get you on decluttering, I did it some years back now and my DDs know not to buy anything for the house any more for birthdays etc. My girls won’t need to clear my house of much and they’ve been told not to keep anything just cos it was mine, fair enough if there’s something They love ,otherwise get shut.
Ybe love matching dog to the rose, I might see if I can match the cat to summat. He does match his furry bed so I have to go right up and prod him to see if he’s in there. 😂
Farway I’ve grown rocket unsuccessfully, but I’m rubbish at seeds , I had a few bits out of it then it bolted. I love rocket though my favourite lettuce, some of the bags you get are too stalky though. I’m sure it will grow great with you.

ArbitraryRandom

I agree with the too hot YBE - I've been pretending to sleep since about 4 and can tell I'm going to be hiding downstairs with the curtains drawn today hoping the boss doesn't notice very little is getting done... I also have a very weird craving for chicken nuggets that will hopefully go away before I'm forced to make a trip to iceland (though at least I could loiter around the cabinets for a while to escape the heat!) 

Bin day today so there's banging and crashing of broken glass as the van comes through. Last few weeks they've been collecting the recycling using a normal truck so it's all getting mixed up together. I'm assuming it's getting resorted somewhere. 

Booked in the (new) local gardener man for the 8th, so now I need to figure out what I'm asking him to do and cross my fingers the forecast doesn't change between now and then! I also need to do a little domestic maintanance if I can find the energy. Specifically I need to work out what's actually in my freezer and set some things to defrost. As you say YBE I've been having a good harvest and want to be able to fit a bag of BBs in there next weekend when I pull the plants. Maybe not today, but on the list for this week. 

And finally the last few pics from my nature reserve trip (nothing show-stopping, but it was nice) and someone who doesn't mind the heat at all! 


(meadowsweet - smelt amazingly of sweet almonds. Mostly took the pic to remind me to look into getting some seed for the end of the garden). 


Kitten was quite happy with me being awake at 4am, and is now quite happy to nap when I can't  

Farway

Up early again, after another restless hot night, along with the rest of you as I read through

But not wasted, early start & up watering the volunteer pots, with the forecast of this being the hottest day since forever

Into Morries on way home, usual dying plants, they've reduced the price of the dead bamboos to just over a tenner, from nearly £25

I was really there for more chicken poo, but seems it was popular, just a chicken poo shaped space now

My lovely neighbour mowed my grass, unasked, for me yesterday, we were chatting as i thanked him, he [or his gardening wife] has a lemon tree, with lemons on it, bought last year & survived winter outside.

I may be tempted, not that i need lemons but worth a bash. 

Of course, I'm waiting for this Global Boiling to get stuck in and strolling around the Farway Orangery

Garden bin day, mine was collected now I've coughed up. With everything that is going on, I suspect it will get even pricier next year, but that is way too far into my future to worry about now.

twopenny said:

Farway, Interesting picture but I love the seed head so clear and highlighted. I got excited about Adobe when I had it and the turn a photo into a painting - but decided a painting was better

I must get around to drawing again but these days seems an endless round of trying to find and use gadgets.

So it's very much wait and see - I could hunt again for my secateurs. Bright orange handles, they have a place where they are not. The Hidcote lavender has collapsed from the middle out but it's the one that throws up new shoots from the bottom stem so fingers crossed.

Now where are those darn secateurs! Or should I just buy new ones as they were getting old.

Thanks for pic comments, normally I don't like messed about ones, but that one worked OK.

If not rubbing too much salt in, I found my secateurs in my car boot

If you buy ew the old will turn up, it's The Law

ArbitraryRandom said:

Very fancy farway  
I've been having the same on my cabbages as I think 2p above? but I'm a little paranoid about mistaking cabbage white for lady bug or lacewing so I've been waiting for them to actually hatch ( and then I feel stupidly guilty about squishing them...) 

 

Happy to help, it's me with the sacrificial nasturtiums, BTW

Here are fresh eggs taken yesterday

twopenny

Found the secateurs. They were on the 'wrong side' of my cuttings/seedlings shelves.

Must have put them there when pruning the rose but I'd looked around there. Sure there are fairies in the garden

I bought Nasturswhotsits seed on your say so Farway. But didn't have time to plant them between Ark like rain and drought.

Ovbs I've got to do better next year.

I feel awful squishing the eggs of butterflies not to mention the baby caterpillars. If only there weren't so many.

I wiped off the blackfly on my beans while I was at it. With no birds to clear them it's becoming rampant.

Farway

twopenny said:

Found the secateurs. They were on the 'wrong side' of my cuttings/seedlings shelves.

Must have put them there when pruning the rose but I'd looked around there. Sure there are fairies in the garden

I bought Nasturswhotsits seed on your say so Farway. But didn't have time to plant them between Ark like rain and drought.

Ovbs I've got to do better next year.

I feel awful squishing the eggs of butterflies not to mention the baby caterpillars. If only there weren't so many.

I wiped off the blackfly on my beans while I was at it. With no birds to clear them it's becoming rampant.

I have been known to sentence them to transportation if I get overwhelmed

The Penal Colony is the overgrown roadside verge, where the flying snails live

LessImpecunious

Well done on the secateurs all! A quick q for Farway mainly - my first Bloody Butcher are ripening (in greenhouse), first time I've grown, and an impressive looking crop (for me anyhow) so far... they appear stripey, like Tigerella, in the semi-ripe stage, wondering if that is your experience too?

Farway

LessImpecunious said:

Well done on the secateurs all! A quick q for Farway mainly - my first Bloody Butcher are ripening (in greenhouse), first time I've grown, and an impressive looking crop (for me anyhow) so far... they appear stripey, like Tigerella, in the semi-ripe stage, wondering if that is your experience too?

No, mine are orangey all over when semi ripe, but they are outside if it makes a différance

Being “Heritage” I guess seed strains could be slightly different?

Be interesting to see how they finish up, the Bloody bit AFAIK relates to colour

A quick search reveals some results for Beefsteak BB, how confusing

The one I use is the bog-standard, gives small to medium size toms

HTH

LessImpecunious

Hmm, thanks Farway - mine came from an online supplier who I've had seeds from before which were not quite what they purported to be, which is why I was wondering - they are fruiting heavily and very early though, which is what they're supposed to do. Search of online images shows quite a variation in appearance... Looking forward to a proper taste test when they ripen fully!

pink_poppy

Thanks for the tattie advice - they're now in the garage in cardboard boxes, lightly covered in dry compost. They won't last long -  we had wedges made with some of the Maris Pipers last night and they were lush - DH said they were the highlight of the meal    I'll be giving some tatties to my DD, but she's poorly at the moment (possibly the virus), so I'm steering well clear of her...

I have one tomato ripening on my (unknown variety) indoor giant beanstalk tomato plant. There are about 20 toms growing on it, compared to the single tom on the other one?? I've put the under performing plant outside now because it was just getting ridiculous. I do like having tom plants in the house though, because you get that lovely smell (and no compost gnats this year, which is a bonus).

Lovely kitty pic, AR. When scrolling down I thought the otter pic was going to be a tortoise.

Glad you found your secateurs, twopenny.

I'm glad we're not getting the heat that you lot are getting - it was 15/16 degrees here yesterday. DH was most disappointed that he couldn't get a swim at the beach we visited yesterday though - there was a cool breeze and it was just too chilly. It's supposed to be a bit warmer today so we're going to head to a different beach this afternoon - I'll probably just get my feet wet    

wort

Looks like another hot sunny day, I’ve found the temps ok, unless having hot flush 😂 nice breeze yesterday and still not doing too much so that helps. 

Managed to cut the grass yesterday teatime., and had a garden centre visit Sunday didn’t buy as prices ridiculous, but lovely day out.
back today for final consultant visit🤞🏻 
Arb cute kitten pic😍 my guy is on the window sill sunning himself .