Awful weather - typical Brits talk

twopenny

Another day of bright blue skies but with a goodly breeze blowing.

Not so hot so that's a blessing but I'm a UK er through and through and feel anxious without water pouring down regularly. Also all this good weather makes you feel you should be doing something purposeful and that's exhausting. No real excuse for a feet up day.

The garden is looking as tidy as I left it last week but with dying tomato plants despite watering. No Christmas tomatoes this year.

Today is Dom non plus some preserving or cooking if I don't get seduced by the sun and take myself off somewhere.

The rogue tomatoes growing by the yard from the herb pot are a largish plum and looking good. Nothing like I've bought so must be a cross or just not grown in water.

Yes Dusty, that was a money tree. Apparently it only works if you can give some away and nobody wants any which is why it's not working I suppose.

So being child free for a while will it be feet up or more digging?

Farway how lucky to have foxgloves! My plants are all crispy and shrivelled. Not sure if I'll have any next year because the heat struck before they seeded.

Farway

Cooler this morning, nay, it's blooming cold even. Chilly breeze but sun's out. Rain due Thursday so only a few more days of watering left. I was out there this morning doing a couple of pots, including the split toms in poo trough.

2p The rogue tomatoes growing by the yard from the herb pot are a largish plum and looking good. Nothing like I've bought so must be a cross or just not grown in water. Sounds similar heritage to my poo trough one, no idea of heritage but better than "proper ones" Will you try & save some seeds seeing as it likes your garden?

I thought I recognised the Money tree. I also have a non working one 😂If it's £20 for one I have fortune lingering in my conservatory.

Which brings me neatly to London Pride, just browsing for some and prices are frightening given they root easily & I remember as a lad chucking them away as they spread. No doubt I'll find some around to cling to my shoes sooner or later.

Seeing the Indian bean tree reminds me there is a fantastic one at Wisley, sits alone & majestic, they also have wonderful flowers in spring. One for Rottery Acres. I wonder how many Morries shoppers have picked some beans thinking of dinner?

Managed to make a start on cutting back the buddleia, much lighter near the back door now. I found one of the long lost purple climbing beans using a buddleia as support, no beans of course, but maybe now the light can get in, who knows?

I also found the Limelight hydrangea from Morries, that I was nurturing to plant out once I had a spot for it. Think I have a spot now, so I'll plant out maybe next month.

No gardening planned, I do have the scrapper coming later to collect the MOT failure car. looking at the not a log book, I've had it since Feb 2013 and it mostly has behaved itself and served me well.

Farway

Where is everyone? Did someone win and you've all gone orf to Rottery Acres without telling me. you rotters!

Breezy with sun, supposed to go back to humid & hot later today. I've watered out the back in anticipation, probably do the front later.

The MOT fail car was collected yesterday, all easy peasy. I'm surprised how easy it is with DVLA and car tax / sell. All on line, couple of clicks and job done.

My runners, the lezzbeans, spotted a few beans in there, only use is for seed now. The plants are looking care worn & knackered. Once the few beans on there set seed properly I'll cut the vines down & store the canes and hope for better next year.

Now for a success, my single fig has ripened, just waiting to warm up in the sun & then it's down the hatch. For the person, 2P?, who asked about how to tell if ripe. You can see it is just starting to burst with yummmyness, a sure sign

twopenny

Oh that looks yummy 😃

I'm here but haven't much to say 🫤 I had a busy day yesterday trying to catch up with all the stuff I haven't been able to do and I seem to have one day of energy and the next exhausted and muscles aching. It is what it is. Could be the weather changing daily.

I've got some jam to start today. Last of the blackberries and shop bought apples.

There was an interesting item on the news about apple crop failure nrear here.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2g6mmjjzdo

Cherries seem very affected too as I passed an established ornamental cherry with drooping leaves like mine. No amount of watering helps now as like the toms, the roots are down in dry ground.

Hope this isn't too depressing 🥺 but that's what it is here. On the plus side the moors still have some green grass and water in streams so the animals are ok there.

Overcast and grey skies here, breezy. It's a bit of a shock but did sleep well. Will it lead to water dropping from the sky?

I have a little Hawthorne tree growing in the garden. I might dig it up and pot it. See if I can do a dwarf tree.

I might also dig up my red leafed Acer. It wasn't well before I changed the pond and found ants nesting. Despite watering it's looking dire. Digging and potting or leaving? Not sure what to do for the best. Coin tossing time.

Dustyevsky

Farway: Where is everyone? Did someone win and you've all gone orf to Rottery Acres without telling me. you rotters!

Maybe, like me, the others are still getting over the shock of you owning a car for13 years! I thought, "None of ours have lasted anything like that long!" 😕

But then I remembered Bluebell, the van. Owned 17 years, and the only vehicle we've purchased outside the bangernomics window. She's 24 years young. 😀 MoT due in October, so we may have to coax her through one more before eBaying. Some new brakes and a weld or two should do it. She comes with real flashing beacons and a 110volt inverter, but her best feature is giving a great view over Devon hedges. 😍

Yesterday was mainly dom non, following the GC's departure, but I also made a new, semicircular pea support from some rigid wire fencing, before planting out the last of the mangy toots. Some hopeful courgettes are also going in soon. With the change in the weather, and trees looking autumnal, it all feels late, so I remind myself it's still August.

You were right about the figs not improving after an early pick.😞 A second crop is coming, and if they actually get close to ripe, I'll net them. Congrats on your potential harvest, 😊 and watch out for members of Turdidae! 😧

A week or two ago, I mentioned the wild tomatoes, which sprung-up almost overnight on the compost heap. They now occupy a space about 7' across! They may be progeny of Cherry Falls. A small, green example is below the watering can handle.

A grey day here with little noticeable weather. There might be a sot of drizzle, but rain's not forecast to kick off seriously till Thursday, around dawn.

Dustyevsky

2p: .On the plus side the moors still have some green grass and water in streams so
the animals are ok there.

The water is well down though, even there. My older GC was miffed he couldn't really use his new snorkel last Sunday! 😥

I'll remove these later. Here's a clue for you regarding the location:

twopenny

Pah! To 13yrs 😀 my favourite little yellow fiesta had its 21st birthday and then some. In each case of my 3 old fiestas it was only the difficulty of getting spare parts that made me change. I'd have another like a shot if I could find a reliable one. Much easier to service yourself too.

My thought at seeing the river was Simonsbath but the building is no help 🤔

Like the tomatoes. I used to grow potatoes in the compost heap to save space and digging. Worked fine.😀

I tuned in again because while clearing up this is a job waiting to be done. I had a huge flowering onion which I left for the insects and now I have seeds...... thinking I might try sowing outdoors. See what happens. Some this autumn because we have a different climate here and the others in march as recommended.

And while looking that up I found a site Farway might like.

I'm interested in the pink shallots. I'd like to give that a go.

https://www.winnowfarmseeds.co.uk/blogs/winnow-farm-blog/how-to-grow-onions-from-seed

I used to have Welsh onions gifted by my past neighbour. Sort of perpetual shallots and the tops used like chives. These perpetual veg seem to have gone AWOL because they aren't good for business.

Well lookee here! What I found in the discount basket

wort

2p you really seem to be in the driest spot in the country. Less/Taff go for a cutting from the geranium, I find them pretty hardy. Taff I’ve been strimming but doubt you could hear me 😂

Yesterday was dom nom, washing, disturbing spiders ,hoovering . I have 2 ripening toms 😁 dgson has more. Plus lots of green ones. Does splitting happen through over or under watering?
Weather here yesterday was sunny then grey but very windy. We’ve had overnight rain, and it looks grey and windy again . Currently 17 with 20 percent chance of rain, going up to 24 with 80 %. Possibly whilst I am walking to town. I took a couple of stem cuttings of the nepeta in water, to try that method.

greenbee

Tomatoes here are doing OK - varieties aren't hugely prolific and one yellow brandywine has only just started forming trusses at about 8ft tall, but flavour is good. I don't grow ordinary red toms that I could buy in the supermarket/farm shop.

I do need to stop trying to grow aubergines, as by the time they flower/set fruit it's very late in the year. Then again, if we have a warm autumn, I might do OK.

So much of the garden is struggling, it looks very sad - I've only been here three years so there is very little that is properly established. Clearly I need to really focus on mulching this autumn and getting as much nutrition and bulk into my sandy soil as I possibly can. However, given that there have been no grass clippings since April, there isn't much compost this year, so I need to think about a bulk order of mulch/farmyard manure. And maybe nip out to pick up some llama poo which is available in a nearby village. I'm even considering filling the car with supermarket compost every time I pass, just to have some kind of organic matter to stick on the beds.

Veg plot irrigation needs an overhaul to make it more effective rather than just a top-up for occasional watering needs, and thought needs to go into irrigation for the patio pots and borders. I do have room for more water butts in various places, which would allow me to run solar-pumped irrigation on timers - which seems like it might be a good idea. And while some options aren't near where I need the water, it can be siphoned from one place to another if needed. But overall, I think improving the soil, and getting shrubs and trees established so they have access to deeper water and provide more shade is going to be key.

Farway

Sunshine here, any rain passed us by overnight, so dry as bones still. maybe tomorrow?

Does splitting happen through over or under watering? Under watering followed by a drink. Tom skin "sets" if not swelling, then you water and tom starts swelling & splits it's skin. Bit like me and my trousers waistband 😁

Wow 2P, that is some age for your cars. They don't make them like that any more

2P The onions from seed, like the idea but I fail growing onions here, not really enough room to allow for sunshine on them. I have some Spring onions growing in a tub, but TBH they are not doing very well. I did try with Welsh [and Egyptian] onions in previous years, but failed with those as well. I like the idea of growing them, just the practicalities beat me. Even my chives have gone AWOL this year.

Dusty, looks idyllic spot for picnic, shame about GC and snorkel, bet he was looking forward to that as well

With the weather and global boiling, are we now getting into wild tomatoes? Will they self seed, can I forget the ergywahtists and have wild tumbling toms down my steps? LIAM becomes red onions?

2P I have a little Hawthorne tree growing in the garden. I might dig it up and pot it. See if I can do a dwarf tree. I did that, and over the years tried to shape it, you know, copper wire, bonsai etc. It was very forgiving in a pet dog sort of way. In the end I gave it to DD and she planted it in her garden where it grew away and lives a proper, if a bit bent, hawthorn life.

Just refreshed, GBee Tomatoes here are doing OK - varieties aren't hugely prolific and one yellow brandywine has only just started forming trusses at about 8ft tall, but flavour is good. I don't grow ordinary red toms that I could
buy in the supermarket/farm shop.

Much the same thoughts on here, and the more unusual ones do seem to be hit & miss on yield, which i suppose is why not main stream. On ordinary red round toms, shame to say I have one growing which looks just like a supermarket red & round one, but it shouldn't be, it's not what I sowed. It's still green but on the turn, and I'm quietly proud of it, no idea what it is or tastes like yet.

In my defence I also have some cherry plum ones next to it, but they are not what I thought I'd sown either.

I failed with Brandywine when I tried, so congrats on that one

I'm on jam making today, I picked a carrier bag of my apples yesterday, never knew I had so many until I started picking. Loads of fallers as well, but lack of bendy back means the birds, squirrels etc can have those, I can't collect them. The sizes are mixed, some whoppers in among them, rest are mainly normal size. It is an old tree, been there about forty years, so roots must go deep by now.

I've taken blackberries out of freezer, these are the ones I picked earlier and froze while waiting on the apples. The berries in the garden have now shrivelled in the heat, so good job I picked when I did

Fig scoffed and look what I found, and ate. My first successful Lakemont grapes. Planted May 2018. If it had been normal rain year I'm sure they would have been larger. never the less, sweet & tasty all the same.