Awful weather - typical Brits talk

-taff

@greenbee how do you find the bed with the logs ? were they in there long enough to rot? did they break down well?

and of all composting methods I've used before, the hotbin is deifnitely the best for me. No mixing, no turning, the only downside is finding wood chip but a quick visit to a umber yeard helps there..and finding enough shredded paper. Luckily, my sister had a ton of shredding to do last time I went back so two big bags came back with me.

Dustyevsky

Less,

twopenny said:

Les, excellent macro photography! Not a clue what it is but currant or goosegog?

 It's Just-a-berry! 

Back later....maybe.  (Overdid it today!  )

LessImpecunious

twopenny said:

Les, excellent macro photography! Not a clue what it is but currant or goosegog?

As Dusty says (sort of! sorry not sure how to quote twice in one post) it's a Jostaberry - which is a cross between goosegog and blackcurrant with a bit of another Ribes from across the pond thrown in (I think!). For years I thought I should prune it like a gooseberry/redcurrant , recently found I should treat it like a blackcurrant, so hoping for some fruit next year at the latest...

greenbee

-taff said:

@greenbee how do you find the bed with the logs ? were they in there long enough to rot? did they break down well?

and of all composting methods I've used before, the hotbin is deifnitely the best for me. No mixing, no turning, the only downside is finding wood chip but a quick visit to a umber yeard helps there..and finding enough shredded paper. Luckily, my sister had a ton of shredding to do last time I went back so two big bags came back with me.

I never got as far as the bottom (in fact, I had rocks in the bottom!). I just kept topping up with compost (so I guess something was rotting down underneath). 

Luckily I have no shortage of woodchip at the moment. And I keep all the paper that comes with parcels (and the cardboard). For now the cardboard is being used as mulch, but once everything is up and running it gets torn up (while sitting in a chair in the garden)  and put in an old plastic dustbin ready for when I need it. 

twopenny

Less, that sounds sort of weird  couldnt you just stew the 3 fruits together for the same flavour?

Dustyevsky

twopenny said:

Kiss, borage has special happiness properties. I'll leave you to look that up. Suffice to say the youngsters were buying it up in the 80s.

Ah! Though certainly much younger than I am now, I wasn't really 'young' in the 80s, so I missed that!   There were interesting herbs in the 60s and 70s too, though! But no dabbling with a flower that could be encapsulated in ice and popped in your Pimms. Far too bourgeois!

-taff said:

Dusty, that's a large bit of ground cover, what's going on there then?

We're soon to begin building a new access to serve our garden and fields. The existing access will be sold with an ugly modern barn, assuming we get planning permission for a change to residential use. We either do that, or sell-up, as it's difficult to sustain this smallholding on our pensions.

Yesterday, I felt better than I've done in ages, so started the annual control of thistles, docks, and ragwort, walking a few miles up and down the top field, seeking them out.  I found hundreds of pheasant feathers by the top hedge, so perhaps our stock of those is now down to one!   Lots of mowing in the afternoon. We want the fields to grow a good hay crop, but the grass in the garden's a different matter! We've not had one of 2p's T-shirt days yet, as the wind's been cold, but the absence of rain has been very welcome.

Spotted a pair of Siskins on the feeders for the first time this morning. The males are a vibrant yellow. Possibly migrants, but we have hundreds of acres of conifers not far away, and they like those.

Image: Courtesy of Saga.

wort

Oh Dusty hope you don’t have to sell after all the hard work you’ve put in. 

I’m miles behind again as work gets in the way of gardening, and there’s been a few nice days too, one of which found me in Chester cathedral I had been many times to Chester but never gone inside, so that’s been rectified.
off to work now and it sounds like the rain is back though it’s early and I’ve not checked the forcast.

YoungBlueEyes

Good job you gave us the answer to your first pic Less, it sure fooled me ha haa! I've not a clue about you're 2nd pic either, is it.... a medlar...? 

Got a decent amount of gardening done yesterday (eventually). Seeds planted, cosmos pircked out into a bigger pot, I sowed some more toms (I've lost last years seeds so I had to do it from an actual tomato ) a strawberry has appeared from somewhere so I lifted that and split it into a couple of pots, and got all my morries bargains planted. And I've a pretty something going mad with itself so I teased up lumps of that and planted them around the garden thinking they'll at least be soil cover so it should help keep the weeds down :fingerscrossed: 

I'm sat here with my lights on, it's black as the ace of spades out there and lashing down and quite cold. The wind will really pick up later on, they say. What a difference a day makes... I think I'm gonna lose my apple blossoms today  

One of my morries bargains didn't have a label on so when I get chance I'll get a pic and hopefully yous can tell me what it is  

Talking to Cissie last night I asked her about slugs and how to get rid of them. She said "ah leave them be, they're more use than you are."  

That'll have to do cos I've woken up full of lurgy today  

Dustyevsky

wort said:

Oh Dusty hope you don’t have to sell after all the hard work you’ve put in. 

I’m miles behind again as work gets in the way of gardening, and there’s been a few nice days too, one of which found me in Chester cathedral I had been many times to Chester but never gone inside, so that’s been rectified.
off to work now and it sounds like the rain is back though it’s early and I’ve not checked the forcast.

The rain and wind are certainly back with a vengeance this morning, which I don't mind too much, but tomorrow's looking rather cold and windy too, which could spoil an outing I'd planned with Mrs Dusty, now our DD2 is back from India. It isn't anything spectacular, and we're used to tricky birthday weather, but like your cathedral visit, a proper outing's overdue. I don't count last week's visit to Cornwall and the sheep keeping course/ walks we did separately!

It's unlikely we'll need to sell the smallholding in the short term because of money worries, but nice things, like a proper patio, solar energy, or a younger car, won't be possible until we raise more cash. It's more likely ill-health could make us downsize. When we were searching for a smallholding to buy, we met numerous elderly owners who were obviously reluctant sellers. One couple hadn't been upstairs in their house for 2 years; they'd left the sensible decision much too late!   

We don't have an upstairs here! 

twopenny

Sorry about your lurgy Bluey. But a good day to have it if you must if the weather is anything like here.

The rain is hammering down and gale type wind. Of course the temperature has dropped too. 
Certainly not April showers 
Glad I didn't leave the compost lid off. My resident bumble bee i disturbed sat on the top looking sleepy then cleaning itself in the sun. I suspect it went back in and won't be out today.

That is a lovely photo Dusty. I was just thinking 'my Dustys really got a handle on this camera lark' when I saw the line underneath   

Anyway, it's back to the filling and painting when it's dry enough to get the stuff out of the garage.
May post some pics too.