Awful weather - typical Brits talk

twopenny

Sounds like just the job at the moment!

Did take a break with a wee dram or two on the front bench in the shade and a book at the end of yesterday. Enjoying the deep purple of the lavender Hidcote and Pinata and the sound of bees.

I think today it's going to be a dose of It's a Fair Cop and Sorry I haven't a Clue on the podcasts while I do the domestic this morning. Always make me laugh.

No, I'm not getting involved. I've said my piece before he came. There's the grandmother and mother and neighbours - best to shut up if I can. She knows I'm around and she'll either love having her baby boy back or get exasperated. I'll just listen if she ever comes out.

I liked Prince Phillip. There was always something when he was around. I'd have liked to hear some of QLiz impressions and jokes too..........wonder if we ever will.

Pigeon fighting today. The clever one is still landing on the bird feeders and frightening the little birds, eating all the seed. I've moved stuff to try and twart it.

Always said gardening was more a battle for survival than a relaxing adventure

-taff

Dusty, yeah, i shouldn't have bought it and sprung for more expensive topsoil, or compost, ah well lesson learned.

PP, that used ot happen to me too, no idea how it was solved except the usual standbys of clearing the cache etc. And apparently, mock oranges are called that because the scent is remniscent of orange blossom. having never smelled orange blossom, I can't say there is a similarity though I do know that both of mine smell completely different. But then again, I have two different rosemarys in the front garden and they smell completely different too. Also, I'm wondering, is there a need for alcohol before 10am?

2P, but the sweat was replaced by the wee dram which is great for maximising the effects don't buy it unless you use it as mulch or have things that need an alkaline base! Or you can mix it with something else...

So having dug up one potato plant, I have a plan.{they're currently boiling for a salad later] I'm going to take up the potatoes, move all the flowery stuff fomr the long thin bed, and get some cabbage and kale in that one. In the winter I'll take it all out and mix it with something else, like manure for acidity, and see how it goes after a winter of fermenting..

Looking forward to photos too...

Farway

It's melting me here, just too hot to work in a garden when you don't have to.

However, I made an early start and went to water the volunteer pots, using a hose. 

Now the heat is here, it's twice a week but as a volunteer it is my choice on times etc. I usually combine the watering with a trip to Morries, or prescription collecting etc.

Today was trip to Morries day, apart from domestic items two fuchsia & six Non stop begonias bought.

All for the volunteer place, the begonias will take place of the pansies once they finish.

No sign of any philadelphus, plenty of large pots of dying bamboos and dead standard roses, plus some trays of crispy bedding plants

The lady who took such care of the GC must be cringing since the take-over & general Venture capitalist antics

YoungBlueEyes said:

Too hot, am mafted. Sunny and heavy and humid and 25+' out there. Can't wait for Friday when it'll go back to normal, maybe.

You could be right Farway, too many toms in the bag. I stuck them all in cos I thought they were just gonna die on me anyway, either user error or late planting or cool weather or Death Stare Cat. Well one of them has a flower opened today, the swine, so they're bu99ered now cos I've nothing bigger to put them in so they'll have to stop there and make the best of it or just die. Hopefully your oomphlessness is heat related... 

Oh and anyone after something in morries gc, just make sure you aren't too early - the store might open at 0700 but my gc bit opens at 0900. It's not right isn't that, and I wasn't for going back through all that heat on the highway to hell and all that traffic just for a looksie.

I actually came on for some advice. I've filled a dish earlier with water from my water butt for His Holeyness (he likes it better than fresh tap water) and it's got diddy black wrigglers in it   My spare one down the garden is the same... what do I do? Will they die of their own accord in the darkness/wetness..? Or do I need to tip out both of the butts and dry and clean them...?  

I think I'm mafted now I know the word, just suits at the moment.

There is a thought about toms, treat 'em hard for fruit. Plant's last gasps are to seed & continue the species. 

The four-minute nuclear warning was on similar lines, just time for a boiled egg or

I found out the hard way about Morries GC opening times, which is why I go post something else now.

Like others, I think the wigglers maybe mozzies, but animals love drinking filthy water or something more disgusting, then lick your face for approval.

Can't add anything to the mushroom compost knowledge, but could it have herbicides in it?

These days, goodness knows what goes on.

I know a lot of manure is contaminated by lingering sprays, possibly same with the MC, harmless to mushrooms but lethal to normal plants?

Here's one of my grape bunches, looks like baby grapes but not swelling yet

LessImpecunious

Think the trick with the quoting is to click (and maybe type a few letters) outside the quote first before staring to delete anything inside - you can then jump back outside...

ArbitraryRandom

I can't remember who said it, but I also went down for a nap yesterday after work - woke up about 6 this morning. I've not been sleeping well in the heat so I think the antihistamines combined with the lack of sleep just knocked me out for the 12 hours. Rehydrated this morning and other than my sinuses feeling very full still doing a lot better. 

Blasted hot (24ish I think) so was good to be up early and get the watering done. They say it's rain forecast tomorrow, but from what I can tell by 'rain' they mean 0.2mm. Decent rain due Saturday I think. I can't really do a proper bind weed check in most of the beds now they're too fully stocked, but hopefully the growth also means the bind weed won't be able to run rampant maybe... 

Experimental potatoes starting to develop flowers, so nearly ready for stage two of the experiment (removing most of the growth after flowers have gone over like what you do with tomatoes and seeing if that changes the tuber harvest). 

I also have a spot (prime front middle) in one of my beds that just won't grow anything and I'm wondering what I put there. It's eaten two tomato and two squash plants. I was just emptying out bags of things so no way of knowing which source was the problem. No mushroom stuff as far as I know, but a fair bit was just the stuff from the local council recycling place. The other things nearby are expanding into the space so no real loss. 


Square meter of death 

'Experimental potatoes' (King Edwards planted first week of May) - in tubs in front of the raised bed, not that you can see them under the growth):



The very healthy courgette plants that have been giving me fruit already (one 'Ambassador' and one 'all green bush'): 

ArbitraryRandom

LessImpecunious said:

Think the trick with the quoting is to click (and maybe type a few letters) outside the quote first before staring to delete anything inside - you can then jump back outside...

There's also these chevrons at the top right. If you click there then it thinks you want to edit the code of your post, but you can just type a few characters right at the bottom and when you click the button again it'll take you back to the normal view with space to write  

 

LessImpecunious

ArbitraryRandom said:

LessImpecunious said:

Think the trick with the quoting is to click (and maybe type a few letters) outside the quote first before staring to delete anything inside - you can then jump back outside...

There's also these chevrons at the top right. If you click there then it thinks you want to edit the code of your post, but you can just type a few characters right at the bottom and when you click the button again it'll take you back to the normal view with space to write  

 

Oh yes, never even noticed them...

pink_poppy

ArbitraryRandom said:

LessImpecunious said:

Think the trick with the quoting is to click (and maybe type a few letters) outside the quote first before staring to delete anything inside - you can then jump back outside...

There's also these chevrons at the top right. If you click there then it thinks you want to edit the code of your post, but you can just type a few characters right at the bottom and when you click the button again it'll take you back to the normal view with space to write  

 

testing testing...

I think it worked... thank you Less and AR

I've kinda given up on my tatties and don't bother earthing them up now (it's just too tricky and it aggravates my back) they're still fed and watered, but I don't know if there's enough compost already in the bags to get a decent crop... only time will tell. Next year I'll try different bags or something completely different. I'm going to look out for the Scottish tatties mentioned previously and also one called Orla that did well in a Beechgrove episode.

I've had a little wander around the garden (before the rain starts) and thought this was a pretty poppies/aquilegia/ceanothus combination of colours...


It also looks like I have a cheeky rose interloper growing in the background - I'll leave it for now...

YoungBlueEyes

Man it's a hot one, like 7 inches from the midday sun... At risk of repeating myself - am mafted! 

Sadly I doubt we'll ever get to hear that kind of thing 2p. I couldn't give a monkey's about MrsPB, I'm waiting on Lugs moving up a step when his son does his Fancy Hat ceremony thing, and then I'll be interested again. I think he's got it in him to turn into his father

Mmmm freshly dug tatties taff yummy yum yum The Oracle was telling me that Lincolnshires are in the shops now too. Mmmmm. I'll get some on Friday and boil them with a good sprig of mint :drooooool: 

Grapes are looking good Farway. Was it Death Stare or axe-leaning wot worked..? This year's toms are about as badly treated as last year's and they gave me loads of fruits, so maybe the Last Gasp thing is right  

Woohoo for the big long sleep Arb I wonder what's going on in your Square of Death? Queer as your soil is the same all over, so why that patch...? Mind the rest of it is producing rightly - looks like you'll soon have a cwt of tatties..  

pp I can't remember which episode but it was a few ago, the proper woman on Beechgrove was growing tatties using different sorts of bags. Might be worth looking that up? Isn't that a lovely colour collection of flowers Is that a sunny or shady spot..? 

pink_poppy

I've seen a couple of tattie episodes on Beechgrove - the proper hessian (??) tattie bags look good. I think the problem with the bags I'm using this year is they're too narrow, so it's fiddly to top them up with compost, especially because there's so much foliage. Maybe three tatties in each bag was too many and two or even just the one would have been better. You live and learn...   

I'd say it's a sunny and shady spot, but probably mostly shady. It doesn't get any sun until late morning/early afternoon and then a bit more early evening time. That's when it's sunny, of course, we've had zero sun today and I can see it's getting darker by the minute, rain is on the way...