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Post by alicat on Nov 16, 2007 13:16:52 GMT 1
Nor me...cos of OH's party I haven't done anything except feed goats and open and shut the GH door for over a week.and I am getting really twitchy...I NEEEEEED to garden. I had planned to get some digging done today after the food shop but it's been pouring all night....sigh.......all I can do is sow a load of broad beans in pots really...and I still haven't got my garlic in. I suppose I might be able to do some work on the corner where I want to reposition the dalek bins but that involves mucking about with builders lathe to rat proof them. I don't think I'm feeling hardy enough for that....I always run out of time and energy about now... You probably need to hibernate 4P. Go to sleep until April. Corrrrr wouldn't that be nice, if we could hibernate until after christmas at least. ;D |
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Post by madonplants on Nov 16, 2007 15:14:48 GMT 1
You probably need to hibernate 4P. Go to sleep until April. Corrrrr wouldn't that be nice, if we could hibernate until after christmas at least. ;D And miss the look on the kids faces when they open their presents, no way!  Now, hibernate afterwards, now that's another thing!  Keith |
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Post by debbiem on Nov 16, 2007 21:17:17 GMT 1
Corrrrr wouldn't that be nice, if we could hibernate until after christmas at least. ;D And miss the look on the kids faces when they open their presents, no way! Now, hibernate afterwards, now that's another thing! Keith Just set the body alarm clock to go off on that day, enjoy it to the full, binge like hell and then back into the nest until Spring - best of both worlds. ;D |
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Post by 4pygmies on Nov 17, 2007 22:10:47 GMT 1
That's another day gone without me getting anything done..but tomorrow OH is taking smallest to LOndon for the day and the forecast is for it to be slightly warmer so I WILL get outside and get some work done. I have SOOOOO much to do and I'm falling behind already in my mental schedule...sigh....
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Post by debbiem on Nov 18, 2007 9:06:20 GMT 1
Same here - today, since it's wet and windy and the soil will be soft I intend to plant my daffodil bulbs. It's like a game of battleships out there on my border - hopefully I'll get the daffs in without KOing any ohter bulbs already in there - I need a map of where the other bulbs are planted!  |
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Post by 4pygmies on Nov 18, 2007 15:15:22 GMT 1
Phew, it's 2pm and I've had it...I've pulled up 2 raised beds, cleared 2 small bits of the veggie garden, dug over and placed 2 dalek composters in the corner after cutting and wrapping builders lathe all around the bottom of each, weeded 2 flower beds and put a nice deep mulch on the two Clematis that grow over the archway into the veggie garden. Freddie was out with me for a couple of hours but he didn't like the old cabbages I pointed him towards preferring the clematis, the bits of old wood and the tape I used to mend the runner bean arches as an emergency measure last summer : It's true what they say about goats peculiar dietary habits..... Oh and I pulled out my strawberry troughs and found loads of babies had rooted in the ground below so I potted them up. I had to stop cos my back started to hurt and it's Leek Day tomorrow.... |
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Post by debbiem on Nov 19, 2007 10:09:45 GMT 1
Wow! Well done - I ended up doing nothing! |
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Post by Sleepy on Nov 19, 2007 11:54:35 GMT 1
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Post by Sleepy on Nov 19, 2007 12:03:39 GMT 1
Thanks Sleepy - does it threaten to exterminate any material which won't break down, do you know? Handy if it did. ;D Quite possibly ;D |
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Post by mickthecactus on Nov 20, 2007 13:54:04 GMT 1
Change the 2 beds outyside the greenhouse over to Agave beds. That would be nice, do you know which ones, yet? Keith I do Keith. Hav a look at the Sempervivum bed thread under Beds and Borders. I exchanged some correspondence with Owdboggy and there is a link to a specific article about this. |
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Post by 4pygmies on Dec 31, 2007 9:56:39 GMT 1
I was sooo desperate to get outside yesterday morning I decided to have a bonfire in the vegetable garden. I had a sackful of wrapping paper and cardboard to burn and a pile of manky wood where I dismantled the raised bed last Autumn. Cunningly I decided to situate it on top of the hedge roots to see if I could get rid of them a bit more (nearly killed me trying to pick axe them out...). plus it's that bit further away from the polytunnel ;D I had a very satisfying 20 minutes dragging everything up there and collecting all the piles of dried nettles to help it along, lit it and got a nice blaze going........and within 3 minutes it was raining!  So now I have a nice blackened and soggy pile of yucky stuff.....I shall have to put petrol on it to get rid of it and I hate doing that - scares the bejesus out of me : Isn't it typical.......3 steps forward, 2 steps back all the time........ |
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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 7, 2008 8:24:14 GMT 1
It's a bad year for leeks and we have had a lot of damage by deer which means for the first time ever we are having to wait for the last sown batch to grow a bit before they can be harvested. So I am having maybe nearly a month off! This is a financial disaster but it does mean I might be able to catch up with all the digging and clearing I should have done by now.....which is nice.
I have to completely clear and dig over the nettle infested area I have added to the vegetable garden as well as weed and dig the rest of it. And I must redig my runner bean trenches and add mountains of goat muck to them. Plant the garlic and broad beans. Plug up the rat holes in my polytunnel (ggrrrr) and clear the greenhouse up. I really should make some new fences to go round the new bit too but I doubt if I shall be able to afford the rustic poles and wood I need until I start work again. Plus my flower garden, which was decimated in the great hedge pruning last Autumn needs to be weeded and dug and replanted. And some sort of paths laid in there too.
What do you bet it snows, gales, freezes and pours while I'm off work.....................?
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Post by emseypop on Feb 7, 2008 10:39:29 GMT 1
;D Try to make the most of your time, crossing things off lists is a great tonic! As for your finances, sell all your OH worldly goods on ebay! ;D
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Post by madonplants on Feb 7, 2008 11:25:28 GMT 1
Sounds like it is time for a 4P gardening party. Try and prioritise things 4P, like Ems has said, cross things off as you go. Things are made to test us. Like the idea about selling OH's things on Ebay!! ;D Take care and take each day as it comes. Keith |
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Post by debbiem on Feb 7, 2008 12:30:49 GMT 1
It's a mammoth task, and a depressing one, looking at the big picture, so I agree - do one thing at a time and put on blinkers regarding other things to be done. And I'll take that advice myself too - our allotment eeeeeeeeeeek! Looking at the whole area could make us feel defeated and miserable. We haven't been there for ages for various reasons but we have to get stuck in, but with OH digging down one end and me clearing in another area seems like we're painting the Forth bridge. So we'll both be doing the digging and planting and work our way across bit by bit and put on the blinkers reagrding the rest of the brambles until we reach them. Bit by bit, 4P - bit by bit. |
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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 10, 2008 14:04:31 GMT 1
I went out to try and tackle something on my list of things 'I must get done' so I decided to seriously prune my apple trees. I have a nice new saw my OH got for me (dunno why - but I don't look a gift horse in the mouth!) so I have been clambering about the two really overgrown trees which stand in front of the greenhouse. I hope I haven't damaged them! They are so big now that the branches shade the GH too much and for the last two years have been so laden with apples the branches have been bending to the point of snapping. I've cut tons of little bits off and a few larger branches that have all been growing inwards and getting in each others way. I expect I won't get much of a crop from them this year but never mind. They've cropped so well for years now a rest will probably do them good.... Phew..it's nice to get something fairly major done! I spent the afternoon clearing the weeds and debris from the patio bit round the conservatory door. It was smothered with creeping buttercup and dead nettles.....I've plunged some of the pots I put bulbs in into the bed now so I have something cheerful to look at soon. They are all just starting to look as if they will flower soon - mostly daffodils but also two pots of Allium negra which I am looking forward to. It's sooo nice to feel I have got a few things done. I just can't believe how lovely the weather is....it's brilliant! |
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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 10, 2008 22:00:30 GMT 1
Here I am waiting for 80 gardens to start. Smallest and I have just had a bath and it's suddenly struck me that my back is sore, my arms hurt and my hands are a bit bashed about with all the gardening...and you know that feeling you get when you've been outside all day in the sun - zingy and fresh - I've got that too. Isn't that GREAT? It's only February........I know it's bound to rain, pour, storm and freeze again soon but how lovely to be able to garden and get that buzz at this time of year!
And I saw a hooooge bumble bee in the ivy at lunchtime too.......coo!
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Post by Sweetleaf on Feb 11, 2008 1:24:42 GMT 1
Today I found myself with almost three hours to garden in, I walked past the lounge (awful mess) and the Kitchen (dont go there  ) and went straight to the garden, first thing I did was get rid of the big garden bench (my daughter has it now) and then I got on with chopping pruning and weeding my poor garden, it has missed me, I could tell! The mystery of the broken glass in GH1 continues, two more panes broken in the same panel, Im starting to wonder if someone is doing it on purpose.. thats six panels in three weeks in case youre wondering, Im almost out of spare panels! After contorting my body to pick up all the broken glass without losing an eye to the shrubs in front, I had a look around, there are two snowdrops not one, still a poor show from 60 bulbs but 50% better than I thought I had done. Duchys Tulips are coming back up, and there are shoots on the Allium Christophii , buds showing on the Hellebores, and crocuses coming up all over. Tete a Tete is much taller than it should be, but thats not unusual, after three years, Im told. I think I lost the French Lavender though, never mind. I raked swept and generally tidied until my back hurt.....then I went in and sorted out the aforementioned mess in the house. Im up now cos I cant lie down  Still, the garden looks a lot better, so Im happier, next week Im sorting out the front garden ;D |
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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 11, 2008 8:27:39 GMT 1
Sounds good, apart from the back but I think it's almost worth it don't you? The deep joy in return for the Deep Heat.... ;D Is it worth investing in some plastic sheeting to fix over the top of your GH until the summer? That corrugated stuff could be put in place to protect the glass? Maybe? Shame about the French Lavender but it doesn't surprise me - it's very tricky to overwinter that in your average UK wet, cold winter I have found. Was it in the ground or in a pot? In pots in the front yard, and right under the eaves of my barn is the only way I can keep it alive..... I ignored the mess in the house all weekend...it's half term this week...what's the point? |
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Post by Sleepy on Feb 11, 2008 9:36:10 GMT 1
Here I am waiting for 80 gardens to start. Smallest and I have just had a bath and it's suddenly struck me that my back is sore, my arms hurt and my hands are a bit bashed about with all the gardening...and you know that feeling you get when you've been outside all day in the sun - zingy and fresh - I've got that too. Isn't that GREAT? It's only February........I know it's bound to rain, pour, storm and freeze again soon but how lovely to be able to garden and get that buzz at this time of year! And I saw a hooooge bumble bee in the ivy at lunchtime too.......coo! Early in the year the queens fly around looking for a suitable nesting site to start their colony. |
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Post by emseypop on Feb 11, 2008 9:37:50 GMT 1
How exciting 4P, you may be playing host to a colony of Bees!
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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 11, 2008 21:42:17 GMT 1
I made a start on the horrendous amount of digging I have to do this Spring...I double dug a strip about 12' X 5' which nearly killed me.....I reckon I have a plot area of at least 40' X 40', most of which needs to be dug, and about 1/3rd of which is covered in thick deep perennial nettles....sigh... I mixed up a batch of weed killer only to discover my expensive plant pump appears to have packed up, so I have to use a watering can instead I also started to clear the flower garden and discovered three nice big patches of Alkanet that are growing really well. Alkanet is a beautiful blue flowered Spring woodland plant so I'm pleased about that. ;D It's good to have actually started the work though. A little bit as often as I can manage it and I shall be able to get it done I hope... |
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 11, 2008 22:29:15 GMT 1
Well done Petal...you can do it I know you can. OOh alkanet....you'll be able to dye the umpalumpa's outfits a lovely shade of red with that....
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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 11, 2008 22:34:19 GMT 1
Good idea! Won't they be sweeeet?
Cheery, can you look something up in your Bee book for me? I saw a humungous bee yesterday and again this afternoon (it may have been the same one, I dunno). It was a proper cartoon bee - well over an inch in length with lovely furry looking reddish/yellow stripes..I wondered what it was.... I could google it actually couldn't I? (But I was hoping you could tell me something blindingly interesting about its sexual organs.... ;D)
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 11, 2008 22:47:01 GMT 1
Good idea! Won't they be sweeeet? Cheery, can you look something up in your Bee book for me? I saw a humungous bee yesterday and again this afternoon (it may have been the same one, I dunno). It was a proper cartoon bee - well over an inch in length with lovely furry looking reddish/yellow stripes..I wondered what it was.... I could google it actually couldn't I? (But I was hoping you could tell me something blindingly interesting about its sexual organs.... ;D) It might be a young queen, they're massive, much bigger than the workers. They come out of hibernation first and look for a nesting site (having mated the previous year). There are lots of different types of bumblebees...some are social, but some are 'cuckoo bees' (I kid you not) who resemble their host, but take over their victim's hive, kill the queen and make the workers raise their young Even with my trusty field guide I prolly couldn't identify it tho..it's v difficult. |
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) and went straight to the garden, first thing I did was get rid of the big garden bench (my daughter has it now) and then I got on with chopping pruning and weeding my poor garden, it has missed me, I could tell!
Still, the garden looks a lot better, so Im happier, next week Im sorting out the front garden ;D