Tag: garden
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Allotment berries
It has been a couple of weeks since I visited the allotment and we’ve had lots of warm weather and rain which was meant it was an overgrown mess. Fortunately I enlisted the help of my family although it’s debatable how helpful Daniel and Elizabeth actually were. Still we managed to tidy it up much…
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A birthday, a trophy, some trains, and insects
What’s been happening lately? It was my birthday yesterday and I spent much of it at a highland dance competition with Elizabeth. She got third place overall which was a wonderful birthday present as there’s nothing better than seeing your child happy. The last two competitions she entered she came away with nothing so I…
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Rocket update and letting the “weeds” grow
I’m getting slack with my blog posts as it has been a while since I last posted anything. We haven’t been doing as many things on our weekends as Daniel has had exams and hasn’t wanted to go anywhere. There’s less to share when we’re not out doing interesting things. But that’s about to change,…
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Feeding and bathing the birds
The magpies and slugs now eat the food I leave out for the hedgehogs. I know because I leave the camera out on it overnight and there’s very little activity from anything else. Something that did surprise me is how popular a bowl of water is. I was going to throw away a chipped pasta…
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Hedgehogs eating the snails and berries from my allotment
Are you sick of hedgehog updates yet? We’ve been seeing the hedgehogs a lot. Last night we saw one of them clambering up the compost heap. Then this morning I saw one eating and drinking from the food bowl I put out. That green house is the Hogilo which you can buy from the British…
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A garden pond
After spotting a toad swimming in the tiny water bowl I’d put in the backyard for wildlife I decided to give him something bigger and better to swim in: a pond. On Saturday Ben and I spent the afternoon pulling up grass and digging a hole. It was hard work. Victoria gave us a hand.…
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Castle Fraser
We had a lovely picnic at Castle Fraser today for a friend’s birthday. The walled garden at the castle is one of the best I’ve seen so we had a lovely wander around the estate and gardens before eating lunch then playing badminton under towering shady trees.
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Bees, gulls and Grenfell fire
On the pavement outside our house is a tiny bit of dirt beneath a lone tree. The council usually spray the pavement and after years of losing plants this way I now have a sign there. I was delighted today to find two bees feeding from this tiny garden. You can see one of the…
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Let the battle begin
We had a nice afternoon at the allotment today planting some tatties and spreading lovely soil from the compost heap over the garden beds. There’s something very satisfying about getting your hands stuck into a heap of compost and spreading it around. The kids were initially very bored and complaining until Ben suggested they plant…
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The best shed
When we took possession of our allotment in September 2017, the shed was in a terrible state. The roof had caved in and there was about 5cm of water in the bottom. Fortunately, my father was visiting at the time and we put him to work replacing the roof for us. This photo was taken…
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The pear tree: one month on
The pear tree I planted a month ago that looked rather dead has sprung back to life. In fact, all the plants in the whisky barrel have changed dramatically in just one month. Here’s how it looked at the beginning of June: Here’s how it looks today: That’s a single spinach plant in the front…
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The pleasures of gardening and composting
I never thought I’d be excited about a compost bin but I am. He arrived today and he is a Hotbin. I haven’t given him a name yet but he’ll apparently reach temperatures inside of 60C, even in winter! Some people keep them in their glasshouse as a source of heat over winter. He’ll make…
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The interminable battle with slugs and weeds
I’ve been struggling with the slugs at the allotment this year. Most of the seedlings I’ve planted have completely vanished, presumably eaten by slugs. Last month I applied nematodes to the soil and put out a heap of beer traps. There seem to be fewer slugs now and although I’d like to take the credit…
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A pear tree in a whisky barrel
The local school was selling fruit trees for fund-raising and I bought a pear tree. They were meant to be dwarf/patio varieties which appealed to me because although I have a large garden, it’s full of established shrubs and trees already and I don’t have space for another large tree. I already have two plum…
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Blue poppy
The Himalayan blue poppy is flowering in my garden again. I always love watching the garden spring into life after winter. The changes are so pronounced and so quick. Every week there’s something new.
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I’ve been upgraded!
This week I was offered a larger plot at the allotments: a half size plot. Mine is a microplot and they’re meant to be only temporary. Microplots are 50m2 while a half plot is 150m2. I was very pleased to get the offer because my plot isn’t getting much sun now. I also think a half…
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Alien eggs in the backyard
Recently I spotted what had to be an alien’s eggs incubating in our backyard. So naturally, I decided not to disturb them. A little while later I went back and they’d “hatched’ but there was nothing to see other than a tiny slug. I’m pretty sure that’s a slug and not alien spawn. Today I…
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A harvest of four carrots
I was horrified last week when one of the other plotters at the allotments told me the growing season is almost over. We really haven’t got very much food from our plot. Today I harvested our carrots. All four of them 🙂 You may be wondering why we only got four carrots and I’m embarrassed…
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Kia Kaha
I’ve had one glass of wine and I’m really pissed. I don’t want everyone to think I’m an alcoholic or anything because alcohol is best avoided. I don’t drink very often but I bought a half case of sulphur-free wine recently and I’ve really enjoyed it drinking it, especially the red wine. The broccoli in my…
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A hedgehog house
We got a hedgehog house for our garden. I hope a hedgehog finds it suitable and moves in. I think it looks very inviting. That old pot next to it has been dragged with us all over the world, from city to city and country to country. I think we got it in Christchurch. My war…
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