Awful weather - typical Brits talk

wort

stopped already, but at least it’s cooled slightly.

twopenny

We've got the clouds, a little rain a couple of times this afterno

on and then sunshine again.

Even the potatoes I was having for supper started sweating 🙄 it's 25c and exhausting.

Taken at the same time!

Oh and I went for a drive on the hills and saw this left on a rock 😲

Anyone know how I cook it? It looks like the round courgettes in the farm shop.

Phew! We have a cool breeze going through. I can eat 🙂

LessImpecunious

Looks more like a squash than a courgette to me 2P; whichever it is it looks mature, based on dried up looking stalk. Usually good roasted (but you might not want to use oven in heat!), or in stew, or squash risotto, etc…

Rain here had a further brief sprinkle or two, not enough to do much more than dampen soil surface; but at least plants weren't wilting in heat/sun… Nice to see your raindrops wort, and you have green (and coloured) things for them to rest on!

My welly (and other) boot garden, manually tweaked a little:

Dustyevsky

Hmm….it seems you lot stole our rain! We got a dribble around 21.00 for about 5 minutes. There's still a little drizzle possible, but nothing significant in the forecast. 😪

Everything in your garden pictures looks very green and healthy, wort. 😇 Most things in ours now look tired and spent. I know things will improve once some substantial rain arrives, but it's quite disheartening, not seeing the improvement in the main border we worked on last year. Perhaps we should take a trip out to Rosemoor, but it's the holiday season. 😏

I love that boot display, Less. You're reminding me how good annuals can be in tough summers. I grew some which weren't planted here, for various reasons, though my friend on the coast had a few. Those pennisetum you featured in the park display were suddenly very popular about 20 years ago, and I recall being told by someone they were hardy perennials. Many species are, but not that one, so we were miffed when our stock plants failed to return. 😣

IMO, your mysterious Exmoor squash would be best roasted 2p. We've not grown any this year, and there are still 3 from last year, sitting unloved in the boiler room. Whoops! 😦

My lurgy's on the wane at last. 😁 I coughed so much yesterday, all my tummy muscles hurt, but that means they've had a good work-out! Today, I'll get back on track. Despite not venturing in there yesterday, everything in the polytunnel looks fine.

I recall Farway mentioning his canna lily, so here's mine. It's the one our canny daughter 'bought' in Sainsbury's for 1p last year when they were having a clear-out! 😮 Behind it are purslane plants. They're a little glutinous, but if you can cope with that, a very nutritious addition to salads. Vitamin C content is high, and they grow like weeds!

greenbee

2p - I'd be wary of eating anything abandoned in the wild. There are instances of people leaving poisoned food out for wildlife/cats/dogs every so often. Maybe compost it and save some seeds instead?

twopenny

That's something I hadn't thought of 🧐

We have so much produce left outside houses for people to help themselves to my only guilt was that it was left for the farmer who goes by there sometimes. The cooking of it doesn't sound much fun so I'll put it back tonight.

I've already been given a super sized courgette by my neighbour and fought with the toughness. I had to cut it into small pieces eventually so he couldn't see it in the compost heap 🙄

And the windfall apples were rock hard and didn't cook well.

It's rained a bit, not enough to stop watering and the clouds are thick and heavy today making the world feel weary. Better than the fug yesterday though.

No idea what today holds.

Farway

Back again, sad to say yesterday's outing to Posh border, GC etc failed.

There were roadworks and diversions, the sort that have a large arrow indicating the direction to go, and after a mile or so you realise there are no more and you have been abandoned where even dragons fear to go 🤬 CBA to sort out sat nav on mobile, so followed my homing instinct and finished up in another GC I knew, which also serves carp weak tea. The gnats quickly provided me with a cuppa. 😁

Actually this one was not too bad, full of usual essential garden items, like £6 pots of marmalade or chutney, racks of posh wellies, biscuits, cakes etc but they had room for plants at reasonable prices, trays of bedding for a fiver, even potted fruit trees at £17 which was not too bad considering some places.

The cheapskate magnetic pull dragged me over to Death Row, where there were some decent bargains to be had, TLC & time required. I found a 1ltr potted dahlia https://www.jparkers.co.uk/dahlia-gardenetta-orange/ for £2, bit sorry looking and flowerless, but plenty of potential for next few months.

Less, appropriate as we were in Evesham where a Battle re-enactment was taking place . Coincidence, my Horticultural DGD was there as well, sent pics of Ravens,, jousting and also at Cerney House. I've added a Post Box topper she spotted

We've had a spot of rain, not enough to do any good, but at least has rinsed the leaves, no doubt trigger mould on the blackberries & blight on the rest

Proof right here, on Canna leaf

And DGD topper pic, with on topic hollyhocks

[Image removed by Forum Team]

twopenny

I thought for a minute they'd left you there Farway! That's a stunning set of colours on that Canna leaf. I had no idea.

Just a quick note because I've been trying to sort photos and again the adult Little Owl which I saw in the viewfinder wasn't there in the 4 photos 🤨 I think it's a ghost……

This is my vegetable, will be safely returned

Also shows the extent of the drought here.

I'll stick to our newly owned farm shop. All local produce when possible. Don't you wish this was your harvest?

Dustyevsky

Sorry to hear you fell victim to roadworks diversions, Farway, but at least the path chosen led to a bargain dahlia you may place near the end of your rainbow canna. ☺️

Your Little Owl is similar to many entities I try to snap, 2p, especially when it's a rush job in bright sunlight and using the screen is nigh impossible. I fire away, thinking, "It's bound to be in one of these!", but often, it's not.🤔 Jolly interesting selection there in your farm shop.🤩

Mrs Dusty isn't having the best of luck in the car lately. Yesterday, she skilfully avoided another roadworks bottleneck, reached Exeter in good time, only to be stranded after her mission in a car park, where hailing rescue services took so long she exceeded the maximum time.😮 Flat battery, Now, I have the job of working out why. 😕 Is it knackered battery, failing alternator, failing starter, or human error? Mrs D says I can rule out the third option! 😂

My seeds arrived from T&M yesterday. Huge packet contained about £5.50 worth of special priced seeds.

Next year…..😉

Farway

As expected, the rain did no good at all. I was out watering yesterday afternoon, drooping dahlias & beans

The rain came with some wind, which blew over a tomato & my Runners are back to leaning, luckily the beans lean towards the wall & conservatory so have a back stop until I can get out & sort it, again.

2P I'll stick to our newly owned farm shop. All local produce when possible. Don't you wish this was your harvest. Ah. but I see they have my Golden Balls courgette. I hope you left them in the same configuration as pictured 2P and did not rearrange them in some nawty layout 😁

And yes, it does look parched, and a lone squash adds to it, forlorn & lost.

I had a Humming bird moth in my conservatory yesterday, but the photo is in the 2P Little Owl file, blighter would not stay still long enough, sort of wished it would knock itself out battering on the glass,but it never did.

Just refreshed, bad luck Mrs D & battery. Could it be time to splash out on a battery power pack thingy to put in glove box Dusty? I have one and it's amazing how much power is within, will also double up as torch & mobile charger via USB. For example only, not recommend, DYOR + Goggle etc https://www.halfords.com/motoring/battery-maintenance/jump-starters/?sort=low_sale_price+asc

Hope you resolve the cause though, always a niggle if not 100% sure, I was lucky when I had similar recent occurrence, not me, but spotted a date label on the battery, recharge by 2019, a good clue there!

All set for Mangy Toots next year then, and Fennel. looks like another bargain haul there, with some unusual ones.

Only gardening may be lug apple prunings round for garden waste wheelie, and trim some tom tops

Today is an opportunity shot