Awful weather - typical Brits talk

twopenny

Yup, I liked the first with the wildness but needs a lot of work. Thin out the furniture.
I can see you in the second definitely.
The 3rd Omg! Own pool and sauna 😍 just love this.
But all have main roads and railway lines going past.

Laughed out loud when I looked at the floor plans 😂 I've been looking at little bungalows.

LessImpecunious

YoungBlueEyes said:

Less you're photo of the week on the home page :clapping: 
Quite right too, it's a belter

Thanks for spotting that  I never look at the homepage... 

Farway said:

If you ask AI it will tell you how, basically just a sloped gravel tray, with clean gravel, solar water pump, optional wire mesh to keep birds etc off, some starter water cress, [from green grocer / SM with roots]

Not sure if financially worthwhile if need to buy pump, tray etc, OK for bragging rights, but unless you love watercress maybe stick to the bought stuff?

AI says it will grow in pots in damp but open compost, sponge not mud, I may try that after a bit more research

Heat & drying out are the enemy

Well, just shows you what AI knows    (though to be fair it's just reading off t'internet, which knows no better...) Watercress does fine here in (admittedly fairly damp and fairly composty) soil, no need for any fancy kit, and have never noticed any avian interest in it (nor molluscan for that matter). It doesn't transplant well, as I've found when trying to move self-seeders to more appropriate locations (i.e., not in middle of path, or to the shadier side of the plot), so best to start from seed if you can get some...(maybe grow on some shop-bought in a container to flower?) but once you've got it it self-seeds repeatedly...

wort

Not caught up yet, but Less I’ve never seen mushrooms that colour😳 you and Taff seem to be very busy. 

SIL is coming hopefully Tuesday , so I managed to find a big pot for the shrub/ tree he’s digging out for me. After which I got up the ladder and chopped the climbing hydrangea, which led to clearing gutters 🫣 I found three sizable mushrooms on my conservatory roof !!! 

My jap Ane were white and lived in a pot for years never getting any bigger ,when I moved them to a spot I could see them they never appeared again .

Dustyevsky

I never hardly ever look at the Home Page, so thanks for spotting Less's well-deserved picture prominence there, Bluey. Oh, and I vote for your first house. It might need a bit of TLC, but other folk can bother about that; I'll just stick a wee lodge in the grounds and go fishing! 

Farway said:

Love you bird set up Dusty, puts my half coconuts to shame

Parker's catalogue arrived, so can flip through that & dream, and may venture on YT for growing watercress in pots

The two bird feeding stations are organised and maintained by Mrs Dusty. I just pay off the loan for all the feed!     However, yesterday, Derry Watkins' Special Plants catalogue dropped into the box, so it'll be my turn for a little flutter on something exotic now. 

Very little to report. The logs didn't come yesterday, but feeling livelier than usual, I managed to half-fill the new bed:

That's about 8 or 9 barrow-loads of soil, composted bark & wood chips + rotted chicken bedding. I must remember to add some BF&B too.   Another 'lively' day may see it done, but that might not be today!  

OT: Damp and drizzly, becoming misty later. Calm and cool, rather than cold. 

Farway

It's not raining, yay, just grey, dull & damp misty, not inspiring or enticing

Only gardening so far today is looking through the Parker catalogue, not much in there to tempt my cash, some fuchsias maybe, but this year, if I get any, it will be the small £1.50 ones from Morries

What it has done is remind me I have a Jap Quince in a pot  somewhere safe for the winter, have to see if I can find in  now

Funny you mentioning BF & B Dusty, I was thinking the same thing, need to get into Home Bargains some time soon, although may be a bit too soon for the garden stuff

wort said:

My jap Ane were white and lived in a pot for years never getting any bigger ,when I moved them to a spot I could see them they never appeared again .

Sorry, but I laughed at that, just so typical

All this watercress talk, just fancy scoffing some now, it's few years since I had a taste,, pre covid I think. I'll stick some on the next shopping list, and if it arrives with some roots, nobody knows what could follow !

One plus already from my Tomato spread sheet, I think I will grow basket  / bush toms in the pots on my steps this year. 

Usually I have pelargoniums [geraniums] for ease,tough & care free, but they are nothing special, so think it could be basket/bush toms

With the spreadsheet, one click & I have all the suitable ones in one place. 

Just need to grow them now

Yesterday I finished off my overwintered pears & an apple   

Here are the pics, look a bit manky but I never really stored them well, pears just in salad drawer & apples in a carrier bag

The pears went from green to yellow in fridge. Apple went from light blush to red / yellow

This year I'll store them properly, at least wrap in paper etc. 

Tasted fine though, and even better having last year's fruit still edible

Dustyevsky

Just popping in again in case I forget:

Lidl seeds in store from Thursday 22nd 

Yes, they still have 'em at 29p, or 5 for £1.

And 49p, or 5 for £2.

Also seed tapes and discs (whatever they are) at higher prices.  wussy nonsense! 

LessImpecunious

Next year pear and watercress salad!

Farway

LessImpecunious said:

Next year pear and watercress salad!

The ultimate bragging rights !

twopenny

Congratulations on the home grown fruit Farway 🏆
Yes I've been looking up varieties that keep well like I said back along. It makes a lot of sense. And better than all the trouble of peeling, chopping and freezing which then comes out watery.

To be honest supermarket watercress doesn't taste of much. No crispy peppery taste.
Just limp, like most of the salad crop. Growing some should be much nicer, bring some flavour back. Much like the supermarket potatoes I bung in the ground.

I forgot I did a bit of 'gardening' aat the supermarket. Passed a man at the entrance choosing fruit trees for 2 for £12. Tesco.
I hobbled backwards and advised putting them in water then a cheap pot of compost to get them growing. He actually smiled and said thanks.
I resisted the temptation to go into more detail though it was real bite lip time. 😊

Less that sounds nice. Never tried it. Would certainly be good for you.

Dusty it's good you keep going and providing us with some actual gardening for justification 😉

Wort that sounds like the real stuff too. Were they mushrooms you could eat? That would be useful.
I've got a climbing hydrangea from Morrisons. It's done well and prettier than I expected. A bungalow doesn't show it off as well as a stately home though 😏

No, definitely don't need more seeds 😲 my racks of them and the amount of self seeded is more than enough. Thank goodness there are no gardening programmes on at the moment to persuade me otherwise.

The clouds, icy mist has dropped over the hills, wet, may have rained and it's just grey and very cold.
The blackbird is stuffing its face with fat. Others about but quick visits, guess they don't like the weather either.
I need some fresh air but poking my nose out I'm not sure if I should. Still snuffly, better sort of cough and could sleep laying down 👍

Lovely yesterday, a chair by the patio door with the sun streaming in while I read. It's the small things 😉

Dustyevsky

Dustyevsky said:

OT: Damp and drizzly, becoming misty later. Calm and cool, rather than cold. 

Correction: After 90mins of taking all the old leaves off Hellebores, I was cold. It wasn't much better in the polytunnel, either. Like 2p says, it turned misty and dreich.

Nevertheless, after a good lunch and a snooze, I decided to take on another stretch of the top field hedgerow that's grown into the fencing. That was a warm activity! An hour later I'd had enough, but I've done 100m now, so only another 100m to go. The second half may be easier, if there's not so much blackthorn. So, 3 more sessions, and a job I hate could be complete, bar the collecting and bonfire. 

Once the unruly field hedge is tamed, we should be able to get new posts banged-in beside those that are failing. When that's done, we can have sheep again.  The farmer we've worked with for 15 years is supposed to be doing this work, but he's unwell, so we'll get a local contractor in. At least the posts (200) feel like they're free. I bought them 3 years ago! 

Congrats on the successful apple and pear storage Farway.   I've not mentioned my pears recently. They were placed carefully in the back porch, and at some point, disappeared.   Mrs Dusty had a tidy-up.   I'll admit they were a bit scabby and didn't look wonderful, but they were becoming almost edible. 

Here is a hellebore I found a few days ago in a sheltered, sunny place. I don't know why I wasn't expecting it, but it came as a shock.Now, more are unfolding daily, but the ones in our wee valley, by the stream, haven't woken yet.