A catalogue of trial, error and advice

YoungBlueEyes

Has /will it come with instructions? 

Yes a litre of water is a litre of water, no matter the shape of it 

ArbitraryRandom

Hopefully it will, but the only real criticism I can find of that model online is that the instructions aren't great (that and maybe needing some waterproof sealant around the tap). 

I'm borrowing tomorrow's problems as my nan used to say  

Farway

ArbitraryRandom said:

https://evengreener.com/products/cloudburst-200-litre-water-butt-kit

I am very much hoping someone can suggest a guide or talk me though how to cut into a drainpipe to fit it in due course... 

Have a look on youtube for rainwater diverter fitting or similar. I saw one by B & Q no doubt plenty of others

twopenny

You say a litre is a litre but
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ToZ4Z9qlb4k

Remember you need a tea pot, milk jug and tray so you can take your tray into the garden and not get up for a while

YoungBlueEyes

I remember that 2p! Gawd but I love Stephen Fry

ArbitraryRandom

I've seen that one before! 

The trick is








.....

each glass has some dehydrated water powder in the bottom!

ArbitraryRandom

I think yesterday was a good day. I didn't actually do very much, but I feel I made some progress anyway. 

Had a long chat with the local gardener I've found. He spent a fair bit of time poking around the hedges and we've agreed he's going to trim just a couple of inches (as recommended by RAS a while back) as we don't think there's many if any birds nests and according to him if there are any then they'd be deeper in that those scraggly bits anyway. 

My neighbour also kindly (unexpectedly) passed on some plants and seeds. Not sure where she got them from (I don't think they're cuttings from her garden), but I'm now the proud owner of 6 small comfrey plants (the non-seeding type), 6 small mint plants, and some butternut squash seeds. A bit random, but I do like mint and squash (separately). 

I've been doing some reading, and I like the idea of planting the comfrey near the compost bin - to make a bit of a green screen and for ease of composting at the end of the year. The mint will have to go in a pot - at least for now. And I think I'm going to try and plant two of the butternut squash seeds. Just to see how they do and to learn lessons for next year. 

Current thoughts are spreading out my bag of rotted manure over an area about 1.5m (in full sun), then spreading a couple of my compost bags on top. Sprinkle with the dried seaweed meal I found in the shed. Then cover with the strulch stuff I bought for under the strawberries - all together should make a 'bed' about 1-2 inches deep. Then planting the squash seeds about 1m apart. How does that sound?

Edit: Actually, just read about making 'pockets' 45cm cubed about a metre apart. I'm guessing that's a better way to concentrate the goodness by the plant's roots - plus less work for me!

RAS

I'd get the squash plants started indoors. Place three seeds in a little container, on moist kitchen paper and cover (put in a plastic bag, pop a lid on). When the root shows, plant up the first two in pots. 

That buys you a little time to get planting holes sorted out.

ArbitraryRandom

More random questions. 

I've been continuing to randomly grab handfuls of weed (mostly bind weed and the odd reemerging bramble) as I've been pottering about doing other things. Past couple of days I've noticed two slightly odd things. 

First has been the weeds have been... sticky? I trace them down and along as far as I can into the mass of grasses and other growing things, but recently below the tops everything has been slightly damp and tacky. No residue on my hands when it dried, but it seems like a mild irritant (it itches). I thought it might just be cuckoo spit, but I've 'tested' some of that and it's not sticky. So I'm guessing some other kind of bug? Googling sticky weeds just comes up with cleavers and the like. Wrong kind of sticky  

The other (possibly related?) thing I've noticed it a lot of white maybe aphids. I say maybe as I'm not sure if aphids shed their skins because these look 'different'. To start with I don't think I've seen any of them move, and they're a differnt shape - longer/squarer than I've seen the typical green (fat round) aphids. Googling finds me wooly aphids, but I've not noticed any 'wool' and I think they're generally in the US?

theoretica

Sounds like aphid honeydew to me - and yes, shed skin.