Garden 2013 no 2

Garden 2013 no 2

Last weekend I spent a whole hour in the garden, one whole hour. Not that I did very much but it was good to get out there. First thing was to empty the shed and put it all back in some sort of order. I’ve been thinking about my old bike recently and when I was sorting out the shed I dragged the bike out from the back. It’s not ‘ridable’ at the moment but I don’t think it needs a lot doing to it, new inner tubes for the tyres and maybe some new brake cables and that should be it. The chrome handlebars have lost their shine and are rusty but I guess I could clean them up. I’m still not convinced I would be safe riding even if I did get the bike sorted, but  I have someone who knows someone so it shouldn’t actually cost me vey much to get this bike of mine back to road worthiness and then I’ll give it a go. There is only one way to find out if I can still ride safely and that’s to try.
 
After the shed was sorted I turned my attention to the ‘water’. We have a lot of water here, but even so I don’t like to waste it. I have one smallish water butt that’s full and I also have a collection of old buckets and containers scattered around the garden. These are in various stages of ‘full’. 

The empty wormery but has been in the shed ever since the worms died and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to use it as another water container. I always thought it would come in useful, and now it has. It’s full of rainwater ready to water my plants in the dry season, if we ever get a dry season. I still have buckets lying around the garden, I like to collect as much water as I can, we have so much of the stuff fall from the sky and I really hate seeing all that good water flowing down the drains and being wasted
I had a general tidy up, spread chicken poo pellets over the veggie plot in readiness for my shallots, picked up all the littler that had blown in off the street and checked out the new spring growth. So far I have Snow Drops and Dwarf Iris in flower and I’m sure the daffs will be there soon. Now all I need it the opportunity to dig over the plot and plant the shallots which I’ve already bought.
Like I said I didn’t do much, but it’s a good feeling to know the garden is starting up again.

Garden 2013 no 1

Garden 3013 no 1

It feels so good to write that…. GARDEN 2013 NO 1 

This will be brief, obviously there is not a lot to do or to see in a garden in January but the there are two things I find worth celebrating. The first is that I was well enough to brave the January cold for about an hour and go outside to the garden. The second is that once out there, I saw tiny signs of new growth. My fruit bushes are in bud. It’s early, and spring is still a long way off but it’s reassuring to see the bushes in bud ready for the spring. I did very little, I picked up some rubbish that had blown into the garden, clipped a few blackberry runners off before they embedded themselves into the ground, raked over the soil to level it off after the recent rain and wind, threw some spring bulbs into the ground and then threw handfuls of soil on top. (I’m not sure they will actually do any thing but I had forgotten about them and they spent the winter in a bucket in the shed). I’ve nothing to lose, the bulbs weren’t going to do any thing in the shed and even if they do nothing this year, they will be nicely buried into the ground by next year.

On the plus side, I’ve caught a lot of the water that’s been falling from the sky. My water butt is full to overflowing and the various buckets and bins around the garden are also rapidly filling. I’m thinking of using the wormery I bought a couple of years ago as a second water butt. I didn’t have much luck using it as a wormery because all the worms died.  I think it’s too cold here to keep worms outside and the bin has been cleaned and stored in the shed, it's ideal because it has a tap on the bottom.  I think I’m going to adapt it and use it as a second water butt, seems a shame to throw all this water away when it could be used to water the garden s next summer.

But for now, it was so nice to spend an hour outside.

April 25 2012, Garden no 9

Garden 2012 no 9

My cactus is flowering AGAIN, this is the first time it has EVER flowered twice in one year.

I think there was torrential rain for the whole of the three weeks I was away. Wetlands are a precious natural environment but not one I  expected to find in my garden.
By the time I arrived home, the water barrel was actually overflowing,
 my early potatoes had black and damaged leaves,
some of the pots were more suitable for aquatic life than seedlings
and the geraniums, which I grow as a pest deterrent and had put out  the day before I left, looked dead.
But on the plus side, the pond is doing well. There are tadpoles a plenty
and mother frog can be seen sitting at the bottom of the pond keeping an eye on things.
The wild area behind the pond has thrived in the wet weather. This is the area I intend to cultivate and use for more veg plus raspberry canes. Raspberry is the only soft fruit I don’t have and I’m running out of space which is why I’m reclaiming this little bit of land. I’m going to wait until all the bulbs have finished and relocate them before I dig this small corner of the garden. I love the way it’s so wild and does its own thing, but I need the space.
Not every thing suffered in the rain, the radishes are great,
delicious in fact and all the vegetables seem to be doing well.
The rosemary is in bloom,
you can smell it as soon as you enter the garden,
and the strawberry plants already have lots of flowers.
This plant, which I think is a Heuchera, is bigger brighter and all together better than when I left.
I missed most of these little guys ( fritillaria)
but looks like I’m in time for these  bigger guys (Allium).
In fact most of the spring flowers seem to be doing well,
some of the bluebells are out already,
the first forgetmenots have appeared, and the
primroses are still flowering. The London Pride is looks better already than it did during the whole of last year.
When I took this the honey bee was happily gathering pollen, it wasn’t until I saw it on the computer that I realised she had taken off and was heading for the next available pollen when I clicked.
Now all I need is a couple of dry hours over the weekend to sort those waterlogged pots and put some more bark around my soft fruit canes.

Tags: garden, garden 2012, plants, pond

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delete reply aaranaardvark wrote on Apr 28 It looks great, things are developing nicely in your little ecosystem loretta, its a credit to your hard work.

delete reply rabbitfriendhere wrote on Apr 28 I really like the mid air shot of the bee! You're probably lucky that it wasn't too dry while you were gone. I have a wild spot in my backyard as well. I had put raspberries there, but they got choked out by weeds. I'm thinking of putting in some Concord grape vines and I will try to keep the weeds to a manageable minimum in future. Like you, I am sorry to say farewell to the wild bits, but I am running out of space as well. I will miss seeing the goldfinches eat the seeds of these weeds.

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Apr 28 Lovely garden, enjoyed seeing it /:-)

delete reply djdx wrote on Apr 26 Thanks for the visit of your garden. What you think is a heuchera looks like one to me too. The schlumbergera on the window sill here has made a couple extra flowers recently. It usually blooms in November. It feels like it's been raining for 3 weeks here and our garden is quite waterlogged also, with peas I put in small pots swimming in their tray. I have bailed them out twice already.

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Apr 26 All things considered, it appears that the rain did more good than damage. So many of your plants look great and are doing well. I plant marigolds and geraniums for pest control, insects, rabbits and deer. The marigolds, like geraniums, smell and taste awful, but marigolds seem to be near indestructible.

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Apr 26 a beautiful photographic essay as always, my dear. gardening can be quite a mixed bag, but it looks like most things fared well. looks like there was quite a substantial rainfall while you were on holiday.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Apr 26 I love seeing your garden grow. Have you given your pond a name?

delete reply wendyj59 wrote on Apr 26 Your garden must keep you busy :) We certainly needed rain but we have had loads since they declared the hosepipe ban! Who needs to raindance lol

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Apr 25 that she is :)

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Apr 25 but your honey bee is a very special honey bee...............we don't all have honey bees like yours. :-)

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Apr 25 those honeybees have a way of ducking out of the shot my does lol :)

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Apr 25 yes I planted the columbines but ( and considering the weather I'm glad I thought to do this), I sowed the seeds in a seed tray indoors which is where they still are. lol the bee was an accident, I thought I'd taken him in the flower collecting pollen.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Apr 25 I love the picture with the bee in flight!! And the radishes. Did you ever plant those columbines?

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Apr 25 very very nice and the tadpoles are aplenty

July 16 2011, Garden no 12

 

Garden 2011 no 12
Baby birds, the water butt
and paintings fences.

This little chap is a young thrush,

He seems to be living in my garden. I don’t think he can fly properly and I find myself getting very concerned for his safety. He isn’t afraid of me and allows me to get quite close before hopping away, which is lovely for me but terribly dangerous for him. I'm afraid in case he is exposed and a neighbourhood cat passes by.


Or in case one of the seagulls takes a liking to him. He has been hanging around the garden for a couple of days and still shows no sign of flying away.
 I know the life of young fledglings hangs in the balance, only a fraction of the eggs lay ever grow into mature birds.

Knowing something intellectually doesn’t always tally with what you feel emotionally. I hope he’s Ok ……………….


This is my water butt.

I’ve had it stored in my shed since last year. The problem is/was…………..I have no downpipe in my small garden to attach it too. I have spent hours thinking of ways around this problem. I considered leaving the top off and collecting water as it fell. I didn’t go for that idea because it would fill with mosquito larvae in the summer. I thought of ways to bring a downpipe to the water butt or ways to take the water butt to a downpipe………..but none of them were workable solutions.
And then I thought of this. I upturned the lid, drilled a hole in the middle and secured the whole thing with garden string.
The upturned lid now serves as a ‘funnel’ to catch the rain water and feed it into the butt. I considered using a sealer and fixing the lid permanently, but then I thought about what could happen in the winter when the water freezes, expands and splits the water butt wide open.





So, here is my modified water butt, ready to collect rainwater from my garden, lid secured to the butt, butt secured to the wall, all  with bits of string and ingenious design.

The last couple of days have been spent painting.

I finished all the fences, all the edging and both bird houses, all painted with a fresh coat of blue timber protection paint.
I finished the  last of the edging yesterday but to my horror, when I got up this morning I saw  it has been raining over night and quite a lot of the blue paint  had streaked. The weather seemed settled this afternoon and I decided to press on and gloss paint the iron gates. I figured I could touch up the wooden edging at a later date.
I hate gloss painting, as soon as I open the tin I get the headache from hell (even in the open air), I get covered in blue gooey sticky smelly mess and even manage to walk paint through the house. But it has to be done so there I sat, getting bluer and stickier by the second until the last rail on the gate was finished. I heaved a sigh of relief and started clearing the paint away…………..and right on queue the heavens opened and we had another downpour. The thing that really upsets me is the thought of having to do it all again. I will have to wait and see how bad it looks in the morning, if it’s stopped raining by then.

Tags: garden, garden2011, waterbutt, babybirds

Prev: Art Sunday; Picasso's Blue paintings.
Next: Garden 2011 no13, Update on the painting situation.

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delete reply bennett1 wrote on Jul 17, '11 The gate looks marvelous as does the fence. I am glad you kept that color blue. As for the bird, perhaps something surprising will happen and he will survive and learn to fly.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jul 17, '11 veryfrank said a frequent dilemma for me. oh me too Frank, me too........

delete reply djdx wrote on Jul 17, '11 It looks good in your photos.

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Jul 17, '11 forgetmenot525 said Knowing something intellectually doesn’t always tally with what you feel emotionally. So very true and certainly a frequent dilemma for me.

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Jul 17, '11 that is just so cool what all you have come up with :)

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Jul 17, '11 aaaw, blessings of protection to your winged little friend. wonder if you might be able to come up with a bit of a weather protection for him? i know, i am hovering, LOL. i am so happy to see the blue fence back again. ; D

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Jul 17, '11 Now I see the reason for your blue posts yesterday. Too bad about the rain though. Wouldn't it be nice if you could send some of it to Africa? Hope the little birdie finds his wings soon too.

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Jul 17, '11 Awww, I hope that lil Thrush is ok. Seems like he/she was out of the nest too soon, maybe. Good thinking with the water collection!! That should work a treat. Isn't it satifying when you come up with an improvisation that works? :-)) I can understand why you got that headache now. I have the same reaction to gloss paints. Emulsions and wood treatment paints are ok, but gloss sets me off straight away. The bad thing is I've got a large amout of glossing to do in my living room. I keep putting it off, but it has to be dione.

delete reply agnes128 wrote on Jul 17, '11 What a lovely colour you selected! How is the little bird? Maybe it was not ready to fly and the parents go on feeding it. If you see the little critter again, you can try to catch it with a towel and help its learning to fly. When I was a kid, I was a big busybody, putting back in the nest baby birds who were supposed to learn to fly. As soon as back in the nest, they were jumping overboard again ;-D they learnt in one or two hours what usually takes 3 days. Propelled by fear or weariness.

delete reply forelithe wrote on Jul 17, '11 Things are looking very beautiful despite the rain ~ you chose a glorious blue !

delete reply artprevails wrote on Jul 17, '11 *saying a prayer for Little Thrush* Perhaps your blue pain will take on a French Country look? In any case, I am sorry to hear of the headaches it causes you. It does look very pretty.

delete reply rabbitfriendhere wrote on Jul 17, '11 Great going with your rain collecting solution as well! :-)

delete reply rabbitfriendhere wrote on Jul 17, '11 Good luck with the painting! That little thrush is really something and I wish him well!