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

Mish-Mash Monday!

Good morning.

Monday and I find myself in from the garden after a few jobs including preparing the Airbnb room for guests arriving this evening; we had a last minute booking for Saturday night, too. 

This was the garden this morning. I just love it here beyond words!

Now this post is a bit of a mish-mash round up of the last few days I think; not sure what happened when with everything but here goes.

I don't grow many edibles but my wild flower chimney pot is coming along a treat...

I'm continuing to harvest lots of salad leaves along with kale, radishes...some bolted so have re-sown..

and the first early spuds. Still love digging for treasure when it comes to harvesting spuds!

Here we have patch to plate. Potato salad, nom nom!

In the cellar we have been doing some re-jigging so I now have a much cleaner laundry area. Jon had a few little plumbing issues to deal with first but now after we acquired the really deep sink from friends it is just fab for washing.  Awkward shaped stuff, really dirty things I don't want to have in the kitchen sink, like footy boots can be taken care of down there and I have storage space, too so I'm chuffed to bits with it.

The other end of the cellar has had a good tidy up, too with boots and shoes being brought down from the conservatory to stop if being a dumping ground. Winter coats, hats, gloves etc have been washed ready for later in the year or grown out things to go to the charity shop.

I took part in another of my Stationery Swaps recently and these were the goodies I received at the weekend! I'll have to up my game to match up to these beautiful things; pens, notebooks, stickers, cards, eeeeek!!!!!!!

I've planted out my Sweet potatoes; two types, Erato Orange and White - three of each.

Progress on the greenhouse has been halted as we haven't managed to get glass for the missing pains yet. I've put five tomato plants in the gh as they are on the side with glass in low down so hope they get the benefit of some extra warmth. The leaves are curling so of course I am panicking but I keep watering them well, no flowers yet and the texture of the leaves is a little leathery....

The poly house should be covered by next week. I'm just working on the basis that everything is growing outside due to the weather being good for the next 10 days or so and praying for good results.

I have had some growth on my two different types of courgettes I'm growing this year.

Goldena, teeny tiny I know!

and 

Tondo di Piacenza, like a golf ball!

I made a lovely salad for tea last night. All the salad leaves and herbs were ours but then I added peaches, parma ham, mozarella, carrot, boiled eggs, cucumber, tomato, pepper and red onion. I do hope that later in the year I'll be able to make this again with all our own produce apart from the ham, cheese and peaches. Have to say it was scrummy.

Right, better get on as have Harry home from school with a nasty cough and need to get up some lunch.

Looking forward, as ever, to seeing what people got up to at the weekend.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx

Aaarrggghhh! Veg Patch Panic!

Good morning.

The weather today is a little overcast and a little less windy than when we got up.

I've been out and watered but feel there may be a shower later on.

As I walk around my little patch of paradise at the moment there are a few things I'm a little concerned about. We are having this kind of weather just now after three weeks or so of wonderful sunshine and not a lot of rain.

My Poly House is still uncovered in the main but really hopeful this will be rectified in a week or so. I have "in" there my tomatoes in planters and I'm not sure if it is a watering issue or something else but the leaves on a couple of the plants are curling. In the raised bed I have two gherkins and a cucumber which seem to be ok for now.

In the main patch, top of this photo, my first early spuds are not flowering but the second earlies are! They are all well earthed up so just leaving them be.

On a positive note the salad leaves, bottom of above photo, are going great guns and we eat them every day. In the back of my mind I'm thinking the sun has increased the foliage on my swede, also in this photo, as they are seemingly doing well.

In the small bed next to the fruit patch I have done well with radishes so far and plan on sowing some more. However, I sowed parsnip seeds underneath the radishes and I'm not sure if that has been an epic fail or they are not meant to show at all just now, because they are not doing!

My climbing peas are beginning to flower quite well but no pods yet so I don't think I need to worry about them, but I'm thinking about the foliage thing here, too, with it racing ahead and possibly the pods will not come....

Most of my anxiety is hopefully just to do with the late start to the good weather after the snow and bad storms, trying to be optimistic on all levels!

Any advice or assistance regarding all of this would be warmly received and, of course, much appreciated.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx