How Are You All Diddling?

Hi!

Its been just over two weeks since my last confession blog post! A lot has happened at home and in the outside world, too.

Here in Wales the schools have said they will open on June 29; my boys may not be going back until later in the proceedings or at all; we just don't know which children are going to go back in first. I think it would make more sense for the vulnerable ones to go and catch up with their teachers along with those choosing options and the ones who were expected to take their exams this year. Fortunately, neither of our boys fit into any of those categories and a lot can change from now until then as shown by the English primary schools no longer opening before the summer holidays.

Ooh, just have to say I am typing this post on my new laptop as the other one went caput at the weekend. It is lovely!!

Anyhow, where was I? 

Yes, changes in the outside world. With restrictions being lifted in England, which is all the 
P M talks about and pretty much ignores the rest of the UK, Wales has had some unwelcome visitors in various locations, there have been openings of certain places for the public to visit and some rules have been put in place for seeing family and friends. 

To be honest, we are not changing any of our habits really; I'm still happy to stay close to home generally. I remember thinking that when we get back to a sort of new normal people will have to be different, live their lives in a changed way with an altered mindset because of how we have been forced to live. However it doesn't seem to me that people are willing to "pause the system" as it is sometimes described. Seeing the queues a mile long and more  just for people to get a McDonald's takeaway does not fill me with hope that people have considered what they can or cannot really do without in the grand scheme of things.

Aaaaanyway, onto here at home and our little patch of paradise.

We've had a mixed bag of weather over the last couple of weeks - sunshine, showers, wind, hail! - which in the most part for our sowing and growing has helped bring on things which have been planted outside as well as those in the poly tunnel. I can't believe how different it looks. The first photo is me planting up the dwarf beans on May 9th and then today which is just about five weeks after that!

There are still trays and pots of things waiting to be potted on and planted inside and out.

These include more dwarf beans and peas, cabbages, PSB and peppers.

In the outside beds and tyres edibles including the courgettes, sweetcorn and broccoli are all coming along nicely, as are most of the potatoes.  

I've chosen not to make public the Heath Robinson-esque netted frame I have over the broccoli! 

We've been eating lots of salad leaves and had our first radishes this week. 

The carrots are looking healthy although Wednesday was meant to be the June day for last sowing but the weather was not too clever then, or for the rest of the week it seems, but hope to get those in by the weekend. (Not bothering with a photo as not too clear.) Recent new sowings have included radishes, khol rabi, marigolds, chives and garlic chives, parlsey plus two varieties of basil. I've planted out caulis, an established khol rabi I was given and potted on peppers.

In the poly tunnel I've been pinching out the tomatoes in the mornings, supposed to be the best time to do it, and there are flowers on the four biggest plants; I have some nettle feed soaking so when I sieve that next week I'll feed them with it, will need a mask for that! 

The peas, even though they're a dwarf variety, need supporting so held them up with some hazel sticks. The third and final kale plant has been put in as well as an aubergine; the whole of the poly tunnel is coming on really well and I just can't wait to see how it looks at the end of this month.

The onions are so close to coming up; 

needed to use one the other day, the top of which had completely fallen over. Can't wait to get the cabbage in here but need to sort our some netting to keep off the retched cabbage whites!

At the weekend we unfortunately lost the smallest of the orphan lambs we've been looking after. To be honest it was not right or well from the start, struggled to take any milk, had an issue with its back and front legs, seemed to have a couple of fits towards the end and we even think it may have been brain damaged. He spent his last hours, luckily, laying in the sun with the sound of the chooks in the back ground and drifted off to somewhere without pain we hope.

Today a lovely thing happened. I met a friend who lives about 20 minutes away from me; she was going to Tregaron to fetch a prescription so we socially distanced and had a lovely chat! She brought me some PSB and perpetual spinach - love that - which is now in the bed with the cauli,

and I swapped with a Jerusalem artichoke! 

I just HAVE to show you the fig tree now it has been in the poly tunnel a few weeks. I'm sooo chuffed it's doing this well!

So, I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings, but more importantly that you are all keeping well and safe but seeing family and friends when it is safe to do so. 

Bye for now, Lou.xx

Phew! What Didn't We Get Done?

Good evening.

Today is Mothers' Day and I've had a couple of lovely pressies.

We are big fans of Meet The Goldberg's!

Also got these!

and we went for coffee and cake in town.

Today's post is a catch up of a number of days which I've really enjoyed. I hope I'm not think repeating myself, which happens now and again at my age! Settle in with a brew as this could take some time!

Ok, been quite busy outside and so far I've planted out:
- sweet peas Mixed Old Spice in the bed outside the poly house, after topping it up with some of my compost, and a few in a container, too
- 5 strawberry plants including Elsanta in various containers (all plants on now on the outside bench where the greenhouse was)

1st early spuds Swift

Potting on consisted of:
1 sunflower Pacino
6 Sweet Romano Peppers (very pleased and hopeful these do a lot better this year.

I've been quite busy sowing edibles including herbs, too:
8 All Year Round cauliflower
spring onions Evergreen Bunching plus All The Year Round lettuce in the sink
4 courgette Buckingham F1
4 courgette Tondo di Piacnenza
4 tomato Ailsa Craig
8 cabbage Golden Acre

Thought I'd pop in a photo showing how some of my cabbages are currently growing.

garlic chives and red basil
re-sowed lemon balm in a pot and sunk into herb sink
radishes between 1st early spuds
4 tomato Red Alert
12 dwarf bean Ferrari
dwarf pea Hurst Green Shaft direct into bed outside the poly house (sweet peas at the top)

carrots Autumn King 2 in the main bed next to the onions so hope this will help 

4 tomato Red Pear

I don't do flowers that much but this year I'm making an effort so I currently have sown:
- Nigella Persian Jewels in the small rose bed at the front of the house
- Mr Fothergill free trial seeds of Marigold Alumia
- Field Poppies, Nigella and Cornflowers in two small beds I've created near the veg beds and some poppies near the wild garlic and rhubarb.
- Freesias in two planters and a few in the new beds with the wild flowers - I love freesias and can't wait to be able to cut them for inside the house.

So the poly house is starting to look really busy.

I've been having a really good tidy up, too, along with other jobs around the place.
- put slow release compost on the beds ready for the tomatoes
- top dressed my lilac, which will probably need re-homing next year in a bigger container as I've had it for a good 10 years or more
- finally pruned the front climbing rose, the other wall climber, weeded all along the front        wall, cleared the rose bed, top dressed it with compost AND weeded inside the front wall...

....and put down chippings as weed deterrent. Much tidier.

All the greenhouse glass and bags of garden waste have been removed which I'm sooo pleased as it looked super untidy, and I discovered these left over wool shearings and hope to remember to use it as a barrier against slugs!

I've covered the rhubarb to hopefully force it on a bit and it seems to be working.

Phew, that has been a busy 10 days or so!

As the chicken and duck enclosures have now been finished, super super happy with these,

one job I did on Friday was to give the hen house a good going over because yesterday the new chooks arrived! Yay!!! I just love hearing them in the background as I go about doing stuff outside or in the house. We put them away to bed and this morning took a look at them and very gratefully today collected 9, yes you read that correct, 9 eggs. They seem happy.

On Friday after school Alf and I went to check on the sheep and I took this photo of him yomping down the hill and this lovely one of some of the lambs in dappled light.

On Saturday morning Jon was busy chopping logs and he had also acquired something which is now Alf's favourite toy - a log splitter!

Jon and I have had various conversations about what to use the space for since the demise of the greenhouse. We've thought about building a bigger poly house over the main veg bed but now we are set on making the base of the greenhouse into another raised bed and have moved the beds off that base and placed them at the side.

This already has membrane down so we'll just add more compost...

then the ground here will have to be leveled a bit, new membrane in to line them (bought today), filled with compost and we are good to go; these are still going to be for the outside tomatoes.

Right, that is me DONE, and you probably. Well done if you sat through all of that. Its a good record for me as well as letting you know where we are up to.

Look forward to seeing what everybody gets up to in the coming week. Weather is supposed to be a little wetter and colder at times.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx

Floral Fun, Sowing and Growing.

Good morning. A bit miz here today so pleased I got some outdoors jobs done yesterday.

In our garden we don't really do flowers, however we are very lucky that the previous owners planted so many daffodils which seem to increase in numbers each year. These are accompanied by a carpet of snowdrops which is further creeping its way up from the bottom fence line. Both the daffs and snowdrops have pretty much died off but are always followed by these lovelies. They're alongside the picket fence near the veg beds but it's so wonderful that nature replaces one thing after another.  

On the other side of the garden you'll find my Magnolia Stellata. 

When we first came to Bronllan I really hoped there was a Magnoia in the garden and not a cherry blossom and hey presto! This usually flowers between March and April but only came into flower last weekend, late like a lot of things just now. It is hardy so of course survived the recent bad weather no problem; I do hope it flowers into May because of it taking some time to bloom.

I've already had some of my wild garlic and it was, as usual, delicious. 

Its not quite in flower yet but it has re-seeded itself after last year so is really substantial now - can't wait for those edibles to put on salad; I'm going to make pesto and freeze it so I make the most of this wonderful herb.

The rhubarb, which is planted in the vicinity of the wild garlic, has been terrorised by the chooks when they went free range but I do hope it is resilient enough and recuperates; apologies for the chicken reference!

Now this is a tree I think which has come back after being cut back when the chicken enclosure was built.

Not sure what it is but I just like the colour.

Outside the kitchen window is my lilac bush which flowers when it feels like it to be honest! Looks like we are on this year; in the background across from the house is a flowering blackcurrant which I love.

The conservatory has definitely come into its own standing in as my poly house for now, but could do with a little of that warmer weather coming back... Anyhow, between the homemade propagator and in there I'm getting on with some seed sowing and growing. 

So far I have sown: 

Dwarf Bean Ferrari

Tomato Golden Sunrise

Climbing pea Colossus outside and in

Auberine Black Beauty

Tomato Costoluto Fiorentino 

Tomato Moneymaker

Tomato Red Peas

Turnips

American Cress and lettuce

Beetroot inside and out

Sweet peas

Rocket

Coriander and parsely outside

French Marigolds (for around the tomatoes)

They are all in various states of growth but most have some ways to go yet! 

I also have two containers of strawberries indoors - which I spotted yesterday are flowering!

Now, I've been making the best of the good weather this week doing a bit of garden prep. I've put a top layer of compost on the smaller raised bed and also the one outside the poly house. After being covered over for the winter there were hardly any weeds at all and now they look just lovely and healthy, ready for something very soon. Eeeek!

The larger one I think will have a mix of carrots, parsnips and shallots as the soil is much more well drained than the main bed. Have to keep an eye on the rabbits or moles that took a liking to the smaller patch late in the summer last year. 

The smaller one will have cabbage in I think; had that there last year but not too bothered that I should rotate such a small space. I'm going to put sunflowers in there, too, as it'll give a bit of height and colour, plus I should be able to see them from the top kitchen window when in full flower, then the chooks will get the heads at the end of the summer. Win win!

Ok, that is my update done for now.

As ever, look forward to see how your sowing and growing is coming along.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx

Poly House Progress

Hi.

This post is really a record for me to look back on to see where I was up to with seed sowing and growing.

This year I am growing a few flowers. These are two types of  sweet pea, one called Bijou which needs no support and grows in a bush type way to go at the front door and the other to be planted our around the climbing peas.

Here are French marigolds to go around the climbing beans, if I can fit them between those and the squash! (I sowed a few extra of these today.)

I've also decided to give sunflowers another go as failed last year.

This is my first stab at spinach. I had it covered with fleece but have taken that off now as the Poly House is warming up a bit. Had the door open for a while yesterday because there was a lot of condensation.

Seeds for cress came in a multi pack so thought I'd give it a go.

 Here are radishes, again some extra seeds were put in yesterday; I just thought this box was useful so decided on radishes!

I have three trays of beetroot and that is doing very nicely.

These are Golden Acre cabbages and hope to plant these out next month and they can hopefully be harvested from July onwards. They are described as being perfect to grow where you don't have too much space which is great for the bed I have designated for them along with broccoli.

Next up are one of the tomato varieties I will be growing and they are called Cuor di Bue -a kind of plum tomato.

I have also started off some Italian beef toms and cherry ones; I need to check roughly how many plants I will have to make sure I've enough space! I figure I can put a few plants at the door with the eggs if I end up with some extra.

I'm hoping to grow two types of aubergine and these are Black Beauty and Long Purple; just starting to come on.

 These are my climbing peas which are showing very nicely.

I have another drainpipe of them which were started a bit later on. Luckily we have a couple more spare drainpipes that I can use for the climbing beans, too, when it is time to sow them - soon I think.

On Wednesday evening we made the best of the dry weather and cut off the tops of some of the trees that were hanging over the road at the side of the house; these will be added to the fire pile which is just beyond this pile of branches!

Yesterday I put 20 kernels in pots as I've decided to grow sweetcorn in the new patch we are mid-way through creating. There is a lot more space there than the bed I used last year, plus corn is something we all eat; we had some good results last year but look forward to an increase in the harvest this year. It's all about growing as much of the things we all eat as possible. I've now decided I'll grow carrots alongside the sweetcorn as the soil in the new patch is really looking good for carrots, not clay-ish and more free draining as they say I think!

Ok, that is it or I'm in danger of rambling.

Hope everybody has a lovely weekend and I will have a post about a family visit we are very much looking forward to making on Sunday. We also hope to get some jobs done in the garden, oh and Happy Mothers' Day!

Bye for now.

Lou.xx