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Garden Diary – Wake up & smell the roses
I do wake up & smell the coffee first, but then watering has become a daily necessity and so smelling the roses comes a close second. The roses are now in full swing and I feel there are more blooms than usual, which I guess is down to all this marvellous sunshine. Isn’t the weather extraordinary, and not just for the time of year, we would be over the moon with this in mid summer! Although… I’m not keen on watering, firstly it’s quite time consuming and secondly, my primary school did a good, brain washing job on us about not wasting water. We do have water butts, but it’s…
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Sciatica Makes For A Frustrated Gardener!
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Garden Diary – Cherry blossom means, fruit’s on the way!
This is the week when the apple and cherry blossom came out fully. Even more exciting though, I planted the tomatoes in the greenhouse! I love that day, but obviously not quite as much as the day the first fruit ripens… Even more tulip varieties started to bloom and the foliage is bushing up in the borders full of the promise of what’s to come. It’s hard not to think of spring as the best season of all, as the garden literally comes back to life. Including a pieris shrub that we thought we may have killed by moving it, but hey presto, it’s survived! Talking of which, the tadpoles…
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Garden Diary – Spring has sprung!
I’m finally back with you after a little break. As it was winter you haven’t missed much, although with this exceptional weather we’ve been having, I have found myself outside gardening earlier than usual. The main job that’s been going on is seed sowing, that I started back in January with my chillies. After a few weeks I moved onto the tomatoes, then the cucumbers and courgettes. As I’ve gradually pricked them all out into their own little pots, they have been spilling out of the window sill into the room. It was starting to feel like we were living in a greenhouse! Despite the lovely weather, we were still…
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My Wildlife Pond – Dragonflies, Frogs & so much more!
I know I bang on a lot about the pond but… It really is so hard though, to describe quite how much pleasure the pond gives me. And it’s one of the few things that makes me stop! I’m always thinking that I’ll take a coffee outside and have a sit down. No sooner have I finished my drink, or sometimes before, than I see something that needs doing, which of course leads on to something else that needs doing, resulting in little or no sit down. But when I crouch by the pond it’s hard to drag myself away, watching all the creatures living in there. Even the builders…
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The garden is full of life
Birdsong for better or for worse As soon as you enter the garden at the moment, your ears are full of birdsong. Admittedly some are more pleasant than others, as we do get gulls regularly squawking overhead, despite being rather a way from the sea – even as the crow (or gulls) fly. Talking of crows, we also have rather a lot of them too, Jackdaws mainly. I think it’s because of the huge old trees we have around. You really can see where the saying ‘Noisy old crow’ comes from. And of course wood pigeons, that go on, and on, and on. But despite the not so pleasant cries,…
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Last week of May
Moths & Butterflies – Welcome and not so welcome I saw my first ‘Mint Moth’ this week, of course I didn’t know what it was but as I managed a quick snap shot it enabled me to come in and google it. Not surprisingly they like mint plants! As well as thyme and other herbs. It’s only small about 2cm across and it’s unusual in that it flies around in the daytime. The downside of beautiful butterflies and moths is at some stage they have to be a caterpillar and caterpillars eat plants. With the exception of the cabbage white caterpillar eating my brassicas, I do just tolerate plant damage.…
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The Frogs have spawned at last – But there’s a problem!
Finally the frogs have spawned. They are really late this year, but then who can blame them. You’re not going to feel too much like romance in a pond covered in ice and snow now are you? They arrived back on the 19th February when the weather was quite mild. I have absolutely no idea where they all go to each year. When they first emerge from the pond the garden and greenhouse are full of little froglets, they seem to stay for the summer then they are gone. Only to return the following February. Bad weather stops spawning I thought we were on target this year for the usual…
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First snow of the year – No Gardening this week!
We’ve had the first snow of the year. I did hear someone mention snow last week, but I didn’t realise it was for our area. We don’t really get very much these days, and when we do it doesn’t normally last that long. There’s certainly no physical gardening gone on this week! The snow came on Monday night and there’s still a little around where the sun hasn’t reached. As I’ve said before, I absolutely love the snow but… I want the snow on a Friday night when I’m home for the weekend. It’s not much to ask, is it? It is a shame we can’t get exactly the right…
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The Geese are back in town! – Autumn is around the corner!
I am now awakened regularly by loud honking first thing in the morning. Not from a car, but because the geese are back in town! I’m not at all annoyed, I love hearing them and lie there smiling. They fly over the house three or four times each morning; I never know if it’s the same flock going round and around or if it’s three or four different flocks. The Canada geese return to us each year in late August, and it starts with just a handful. You’re suddenly aware of that distinctive honking sound, and sure enough there’s a small ‘V’ formation in the sky. By mid-September though, there…
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The Madness of May!
May is the month when the garden seems to explode. Not only do new flowers appear everyday, but more appear during the day! When I go and open the greenhouse every morning, I have a mooch around. By the time I’m out there at lunchtime, more flowers have opened. The growing rate at this time of year is incredible! I keep toying with putting a time-lapse camera on the tomato plants. They seem to grow from hour to hour! The Edible Garden Crops we are already eating Breakfast has been zinged up now with the start of the rhubarb harvest. We simply stew it in it’s own juices, then eat…
