Awful weather - typical Brits talk

liberty_lily

Warm sunshine here today so I've finally got 'hot bed 2' weeded. The small hypericum hidcote we planted during the first lockdown is expanding nicely and the orange geums are doing ok,  although I think my heleniums are lost.

Elsewhere in the garden the darmera peltata has four flowers this year 🙂

in_my_wellies

Sunny and warm all day here but I wasn't able to take advantage. I haven't even collected the eggs yet. I might cut the grass after tea

I did find my perfect house (ignoring the train line) if only I was ten years younger. Pic 10 is just right for me! https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85174266#/?channel=RES_BUY

Approx 60 French beans have germinated. Last year the old seed I used failed so this year, again with old seed (2014 to 16) I though I'd plant the lot early so I had time to replant when they failed. Only about 4 have failed. They've now been moved to the coldest frost free frame to try and hold them back. 

Woolsery

in_my_wellies said:

I did find my perfect house (ignoring the train line) if only I was ten years younger. Pic 10 is just right for me! https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85174266#/?channel=RES_BUY

Yes, a boot room is very desirable, if not the most attractive of spaces. It looks like a small nursery business  has been a feature of that place and maybe multi-generational living. It has one of the most optimistic EPCs I've seen in a while too!

We didn't  enjoy the fabulous weather as much as we might have today due to some terrible timing. Just as I was loading the car for a quick trip to civilisation and a picnic with Dearly Beloved, a smart Transit rolled into the drive, complete with roof mounted ladders. Out pops a lady of ample dimensions who says, "D'ya want some lovely garden compost, my dear?" The driver is just staring.

I reply that we've an arrangement with the horse woman next door and probably have several tonnes of  well-rotted compost already, thanks.

Un-deflected, the lady continues, "It's organic! Lovely stuff!" all the time eyeing my cold box, the open boot of the car and peering beyond through the open front door.

"Sorry," I say, "but I really do have plenty of compost." So, she turns, gets into the Transit and they leave, but not to visit any of the other properties here. They head in the direction of the village. I feel our house  may have just been cased.

Anyway, we gave them 10 minutes and then drove to the village, but they weren't plying their wares there. So, what to do? It may have been innocent as we've had offers of compost before....

I felt we couldn't go out immediately, so I hid the car as if we had, DB did boring stuff indoors and I got on with potting plants for a garden club sale at the weekend. Nothing happened.

Two hours later we ate our sandwiches and pretended it was a picnic. Then I brought the car back , we jumped in and......our friends arrived, so we got out again! It turned out they'd just been to civilisation and picnicked where we often go, beside the estuary. Had we left earlier, we'd probably have met up. News was swapped and then, at last, we were off.

I'm still a little nervous but it is the right time of year for selling compost or, more likely, manure. Time to set up the wildlife camera maybe?

Farway

What a strange tale Woolsery, very odd, sounds like one of those things that whatever you did would’ve been wrong

IMW, talking of bean germination, I’m still pondering about sowing any this year with last year being such a snailly disaster. I expect I will sow some or regret not doing so come August

Went wild and got my bum into gear yesterday & potted on the larger leaved coleus, plus the Little Gems and a couple of balcony toms into wall baskets in the conservatory. IMW I only had two Balcony toms germinate from heaps sown, own saved seed which normally is very good.

I’ll sow another pinch of Little Gem over the weekend as succession sowings, and pot on the other red leaved coleus

My cherry tree is laden with set fruit, picture to follow. Trouble is this dry weather is no use to swelling cherries and the tree is too far away for me to get a hose on the roots, but it has promise yet again

twopenny

Gone from oooh hot to brrr cold.
Went to check my little cherry after Farway s post to notice the leaves already deformed by masses of black bugs. So my dreams of making the garden look good it's going to be squishing and spraying.
I did water mine a couple of days ago but the ground is so dry now it really needs doing often.
Dwarf fruit trees at Morrison's are not the best, same trees at otter are better but it's a 40mile round trip.

liberty_lily

How very odd, Woolsery! I'd have been extremely suspicious and reluctant to leave the house too....strategically placed cameras might be a good shout 😉

Definitely a bit cooler/breezy today plus we've had a fine mist of drizzle, so I'm pleased I got some weeding done yesterday!

A few buds are appearing on the day lilies although DH thinks their days are numbered as they didn't put on much of a show last year 🙄

Our fruit trees in the mini orchard are a mixed bag (and the espaliered apples elsewhere in the garden are disappointing...again) although we do have a few tiny apricots and medlars  🙂 I imagine these will get snatched by the birds before we get a look in, though.

Our large, ancient (I imagine) apple tree has a smattering of blossom, but desperatelyneeds a good pruning.....

Farway

Sunny again, out watering the pots at front early this morning

The cosmos & dahlias were deliberately left out overnight, with slug pellet protection and are still in one piece this morning with a few corpses nearby. With the warmer forecast should e OK to go out in permanent homes once I get a Roundtooit

Managed to get all the coleus potted on and they’re still alive this morning so all went well there, just let them settle in and should be good by June

Found one sawfly caterpillar on my gooseberries, duly squished and hoping the birds keep the rest down, they normally do

Checked my cherry for aphids, clear so far, I think the birds are doing what they’re supposed to at the moment, here’s my set cherries, I’ll be cursing those birds in bit unless I get netting in a few weeks

Woolsery

I went missing in action yesterday, starting the long process of moving and reducing the polytunnel. The deep beds in there have to go and some of the wood is still in good condition, so I'm dismantling and re-building at the top of the veg garden. This will give me somewhere safe to grow stuff while diggers do their worst over the rest. As we're on a modest slope, an huge amount of soil will need moving to get the polytunnel floor level in its new position, not to mention an even larger amount to get daughter & son in law's mobile home in as well.

Given that no one has even applied for planning at this stage, everything I'm doing is a leap of faith, but I've given up worrying about minor stuff like that. I've finally come to terms with my inability to work like a 60 year old, so if the kids aren't able to join us  it's not likely we'll be gardening here for many more years. Right now I just need to work out what to do with maybe 50-100 tonnes of spare soil. I'd make a ha-ha, but hee-hee, the land slopes the wrong way! Years ago, when we first clashed with troublesome neighbour, I had this fantasy of building a huge berm on the boundary and disappearing him behind it.....Perhaps it's not too late?

Speaking of distant neighours, the new ones having trouble putting up coat hooks seem to have achieved that objective; the jack-hammers having fallen silent at last, only to be replaced by the sound of chain saws as 30 years of leylandii start to come down. This is a good move, as they'll at last be able to see where they are and not have all the lights on in broad daylight. I hope they like what they see.

Today's plant is one that's edible. I put a few down near the stream and now I have a potential banquet! Don't stand down-wind of anyone who's eaten them though!

Farway

Very warm already with hot sunshine, luckily with a slight cooling breeze as well.

I had intended to pop down the volunteer garden and pot up the cosmos I’m growing, but one thing & another meant it was probably not a good idea to go where toilets are shut on Sunday, saying no more but I decided to use some common sense and instead I planted up the tomatoes in their final pots in the conservatory

Only three so far, the other pot had a jumbo spider lurking in it so left that outside to allow it to escape and not be buried. Also potted on the Burpless cucs, my cunning plan is let the pair of them scramble through the potted fig in the corner of the conservatory, may as well because it is fig less at the moment, there was I dreaming of lolling while noshing on lush figs in my there, best laid plans etc

I hate ransomes and all it’s garlicky chums. Needless to say garlic chives love growing in my garden but the bog standard purple ones that grow like weeds everywhere else fail. At the volunteer border we have similar ransomes things, not three cornered leeks but similar, looks lovely but very invasive, seems a pesto can be made from them but not for me

Today’s picture is my new last year pear, I know I shouldn’t let it fruit but I need to try it to confirm it is not yet another mis label. Should be Buerre Alexandre Lucas

RAS

Farway, that little dark mark on the left hand fruitlet looks suspicious. Might be an idea to check it's not pear midge? If it is remove and dispose; preferably incinerate.