Composting Childs

GBBD- Garden Bloggers Bloom Day Feb 2012

2012-02-15T11:11:00.002Z

Its the 15th of the month, so it's GBBD -Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day- hosted by May Dreams Gardens. It's when we pause to look at what flowers are in bloom in our garden. I missed my chance in January, and with the weather being icy until yesterday I thought I wouldn't have anything to share. But here are my Garden Blooms!

Yellow Oxslip

Viola

Sherbet scented Mahonia Japonica

Snowdrop

Snowdrops beneath the Greengage tree

Chrysanthemum

All but the last are flowering away in my garden, gotta love the much maligned Chrysanthemum for February birthday bouquets!

New Year Resolve

2011-12-31T13:44:00.000Z

I make New Year Resolutions at my peril. I am fully aware that they do not provide me with motivation or a sense of achievement should I finally stick to one. So in recent years I have resolved not to make NYR. It has worked well for me, at least you have something to say when the inevitable conversation starts on New Year's Eve, but nothing to disappoint oneself with in the following weeks and months. My friends sigh and roll their eyes but they know NYR are a waste of breath for me.

But as a gardener, I'm constantly resolving to do better next year, spend more time in the garden, move that tree, make that path. Unlike personal resolutions I do not feel despondent when I don't achieve those goals, I simply shrug my shoulders and say 'OK, next year..'
I know that nature has plenty of time to wait for me to get myself in gear. That tree/path/plant can be moved, made or tidied up when I'm ready.
The only resolution worth keeping is the one to spend more time in the garden. That way, all those tasks will get done, plants moved and paths built. Spending more time in the garden will also achieve all those unspoken resolutions to get fitter, relax more, watch less telly.
And so there you have it. The gardener's New Year Resolution. The only one you will need.

GBBD - 15th December 2011

2011-12-15T21:38:00.001Z

I took these pictures yesterday actually, knowing I wouldn't get the chance to get out in the garden today. I am posting this from my phone so apologies if the formatting isn't quite right.
In bloom this December we have:
Calendula

Feverfew

Bronze Fennel

Hardy Fuchsia

Sweet Pea 'Out of Focus' ( not really..!)

Corydalis

Sherbet scented Mahonia Japonica

Winter flowering cherry

Geranium

Umm, Daisy..?

Winter Jasmine

*GBBD Garden Bloggers' Blooms Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Warm Autumn Days

2011-10-24T18:16:00.000+01:00

Warm autumn days should be spent preparing the garden for winter. So said Monty Don on Gardener's World this Friday, and although we don't like to think about the dark and cold months ahead, it's best to prepare for the worst.

Grapes picked before the frost

I picked the grapes and brought in the lemon tree last week as frost was forecast, just in the nick of time too, as the following morning plants had an icy fringe to their edges. Tomato plants which had been ripening their fruit in the autumn sun just the day before were blackened. I picked the remaining tomatoes and lifted the dead plants, putting into the dustbin rather than the compost, to avoid blight next year.

I've also taken down the sunflowers from the front garden, and hung the seedheads for the birds. Sadly, they are starting to rot off, so I don't think they'll last very long there. The birds don't actually seem that interested in them.

Dahlia 'Arabian Night', which has been flowering it's little socks off for the last 4 weeks, was completely untouched. But it won't be long before the plants are blackened by frost. At that stage I'll cut the foliage back and bring in the pots to store over the winter.

Last of all, I harvested some Jerusalem Artichokes before the ground freezes so hard that it's impossible to dig them out. We'll be making chutney to use up some of the glut, but as this lot was from one plant of about 20, we need to find other ways to eat it!

Scrubbed and ready for chutneying!

Jerusalem Artichoke Flower

Thanks for reading, hope it won't be so long before my next post!

Favourite Flower - Chrysanthemum

2011-10-23T17:53:00.002+01:00

Chrysanthemums are my number one favourite flower- the scent of the flowers and even the leaves remind me of the nursery just down the road, where my Grandad and my sister spent all of thier time when I was very young. They grew Fuchsias and Chrysanthemums (and much more besides I'm sure) in the massive greenhouses behind their house.

When the nursery moved to the other side of the village I didn't go as much, but would go with my mum to collect the flowers for church, and I'm sure they were always Chrysanthemums. They are such amazing flowers, long lasting in water, hardy and so completely unfashionable. I especially love the massive pom pom types that you see in florists this time of year in rusty browns and oranges.

They often make up a large part of the sad windblown bunches you see on garage forecourts, but even those flowers will still smell something like they should. The smaller flowered types are magic for flower arranging as they'll fill out a design, and although the lime green varieties like Kermit are a bit overdone these days, that's because they're so useful.

Chryses mixed with Dahlia Arabian Night

I'm hoping the plants I put in the veg patch this summer will flower before the weather gets too bad. Some have flowered already, but others have fat buds which hint at the glorious colours within. I have no idea what I'm getting as the labels all faded before the flowers came so I'm just winging it. I'll lift the whole plant when the flowers are over and store out of the cold and wet. Hopefully they'll give an even better display next year. In fact they are almost worth turning over veg space for...

GBBD -September 2011

2011-09-15T13:00:00.000+01:00

Its Garden Blogger's Bloom Day today and I'm actually not in my garden. It's the opening of Leicester People's Photographic Gallery (lppg) so I'm over in Leicester hopefully hooking up with friends and colleagues from days working with CreativeCoffee Club and Amplified Leicester.

In anticipation of a busy day, I've been very organised and taken my photos a day ahead (s'allowed you know!). BUT I'm not organised enough to remember before the light started failing or enough to get out a proper camera. Soooo... here is what's in bloom in my UK Midlands garden in mid September

Rosa 'Gertude Jekyll'

Mallow and Sedum

Geranium

Another Geranium

Petunia

Rose

Honeysuckle

There are some others but for some reason, Blogger keeps rotating them. I'll post them another day.

See you soon and Happy GBBD :)

Sedum Spectacular

2011-09-12T19:39:00.039+01:00

Sedum is one of those plants I use to gauge the season. Spring is coming when the first fat leaf buds appear at the base of the plant. I pinch out the growing tips in June, to make the plant more bushy and get more blooms. The flat flower heads develop over the summer, leading inexorably to the time when I realise Summer is over and the flowers are out.

That moment is here...

You can see above that pinching out the growing tip makes a real difference. The shoots on the left (taller and pinker) didn't get pinched out, whereas those on the right are more compact and the flowers are coming out slightly later. By pinching out some of the plant and leaving the rest to develop as normal, you can increase the length of the flowering season. This is one piece of gardening wisdom I actually follow as it really does work. Simply wait for the RHS Chelsea show and pinch out Sedums (and many others) for bushier plants. Not for nothing is it called the 'Chelsea Chop'.

It's more than likely that all these plants have come from one plant, as Sedums are spectacularly easy to take cuttings from. I bung the pinched off bits into a pot of compost and wait, I have even been know to push them into the earth by the side of the plant itself, where if it's not too wet, they'll happily root and turn into handsome little plants.

Oh and the bees really do love them!

GBBD- August 2011 (Front Garden)

2011-08-15T21:45:00.000+01:00

There are more plants in bloom on the front of the house, so here are a few (sadly taken on my phone so not brilliant) examples to complete my GBBD post for August.

Astrantia 'Granny's Pincushion'

Sweet Pea 'Cupani'

Mutant Sunflower

Not technically a garden plant...

GBBD- August 2011

2011-08-15T14:41:00.001+01:00

I've always meant to get involved in Garden Bloggers Bloom Day (GBBD), but never got around to it. Well at lunchtime today I nipped out and shot every flower in bloom in the back garden. They're not brilliant photos but at least it's a start! It also shows how the flower garden can go over in the height of summer, as the early summer roses and geraniums fade. I'll try and get out in the the far more abundant front garden later.

So here they are, in no particular order...

Begonia

Viola

Mid summer rose, a little late

Sedum Spectabile

Calendula

Hemerocallis- Day Lily

Geranium ??

Sweet Pea Cupani

Petunia

Chives

Self set mallow

Apple Mint

Rose

Malva

Dahlia 'Arabian Night'

Veronica

Dry gardens

2011-08-14T16:47:00.001+01:00

It's been humid for a number of days now, with a few showers now and again to trick us into thinking the garden is getting enough water. It isn't, a quick weeding session yesterday showed how dry the earth is under the plants.Established perennial plants are coping well with this drier weather, presumably their root system has developed enough to provide what they need. Annual or new additions to the garden are thirsty though.

Spring Flowering Cherry

The spring flowering cherry tree we moved earlier in the spring is getting the most attention and being watered every day. It's managed to look fairly healthy through this dry spell. I half expected it to drop it's leaves in order to conserve energy. Hopefully this means it has survived it's move to the top of the garden.

Water Lily in Corral Pond

I'm hoping to put a shallow pond at this end of the garden too, and my mum in law has provided an aluminium tub approx 30cm deep and 50cm in diameter for this purpose. The Belfast sink pond in 'The Corral' is really popular with the frogs, who in turn are really popular with J. He spent much of yesterday afternoon chasing them through the undergrowth, eventually causing such chaos that he was banished to the house to give them (and me!) some peace.

Arabian Nights

2011-07-27T14:21:00.002+01:00

Last year's star Dahlia was Polka, with huge cream blooms edged with deep red. This year, Polka has been a victim of slugs or earwigs so the star performer looks set to be Dahlia 'Arabian Night'. It's a double flowered dahlia, of dark red with red tinged stems. I have them in pots, set into the borders. Last year I sank aquatic baskets into the soil, in order to lift them easily but provide ample opportunity for the roots to get out in search of water and nutrients.

The problem with that approach is slugs, as they can get to the plants much more easily. I had thought by using large pots, and a copper collar to deter the slugs, I could get away without actually sinking the pots into the ground. But it looks like I was wrong. Although they are in flower, the plants don't appear to be as well fed or watered as they could be. It seems there's no short cut to good growing conditions.

Amplified Leicester

2011-07-20T17:47:00.001+01:00

I think I had moment of madness when I volunteered to talk about this blog for Amplified Leicester today. Blogging is a deeply personal act for me, and the thought of sharing feels quite peculiar. (yes I realise how daft that sounds on an open, searchable blog but there we are!) Any child brought up by Composting Dad (preacher, teacher) has no fear of public speaking so it's not that part that worries me. Plus, anyone who follows me on Twitter also knows I enjoy sharing the minutiae! But something about talking about this online space is quite daunting.

I started this blog having been introduced to the world of Social Media by NTU's SPEED, a project I coordinated in 2007-8. I wanted to have a personal online space where I could try out new ideas, technology and writing which I knew other people wouldn't really read. You can read this blog's first post here.

This blog has a number of themes - Composting and gardening(natch), positivity, my world view and Jack, a slightly vacant fox terrier. It acts as a journal of success and failure, helping me record the garden's development and giving me an opportunity to explore my thoughts about life and gardens. I still write it as if no-one is reading, because I genuinely think no-one does! But it's great to be able to share the garden with anyone who does look, whatever the weather. And if I get the camera out, I can capture it looking it's best, as visitors to any garden are always told 'You should have been here last week, the garden looked so much better then!'

I've learnt a lot about posting, embedding and about the discipline of blogging. It seems wrong to start a blog and then leave it empty. I have to remember that my twitter feed is displayed on the blog, and that people see it, so nothing I wouldn't want my mum to see (which kind of sums up my online rule). I've also learnt the mortification that comes from talking to someone with whom you thought you had a professional relationship and learning that they know you turned your compost heap at the weekend. (something I have all but stopped doing, but that's another story)

I asked a few of my green Twitter friends to tell me in less than 140 characters about their motivation for blogging about their garden:

Craig - We grow our own http://www.wegrowourown.co.uk/, (just south of us in Nottingham) said: “I do it to see my plot evolve, to share my growing advice, and to learn from others.”

Hazel - Hazel’s Homegrown http://www.hazelshomegrown.co.uk/ “To get my thoughts out of my head & to share my experiences, passion, expertise & recipes to help others enjoy the hobby too.”

Julia - The Allotment http://www.julia-theallotment.blogspot.com/ got carried away and sent me three replies because 140 characters just wasn't enough!

... “I started the blog to keep family updated - they go away a lot and like to know whats going on the new allot...

also I'm new to allot gardening so it's a record for me what works and what doesn't and to record the development of the plot :-)

I get excited and flattered to see where viewers are from! I hope too that I could get advice and tips from other gardeners and share ideas”

So there you have it, do follow the links to read the posts I was referring to. I believe as long as I haven't broken the camera, there will be a video of the talk. I'll let you know when it's posted.

If you want more, please subscribe in your RSS reader by clicking the button on the right, follow me on Twitter, check out my Flickr pics and add me to your Google+ circle, come and say hi on Facebook or read my profile on LinkedIn.

OR simply leave me a comment, I just can't get enough of those!

Garden Tour - Stage 2

2011-07-13T20:08:00.000+01:00

Well, we are going a little further into the garden, with a short video tour of the main part of the garden. This is a very boring short film shot with no particular expertise by someone more interested in the garden than the video. It was all I could do not to deadhead the rose as I passed by.

Anyhoo, we start in the 'Corral' (described here) and work our way through the gate into the main area of garden. On the right is the 'Jungle' and green cone digester, at the top the lawn and greengage tree. Then off to the far left, the reason for this blog, my compost bins!

As most gardeners I'm desperate for interested visitors to come along and admire my plot in real life, but of course 'you should've visited last week when it was at it's best'. Of course this is true, but blog visitors have the advantage that they can look at the garden whatever the weather and I can post photos (and videos) of it looking beautiful. One day they'll invent smellyvision and you can join me in enjoying the sweet fragrance of the petunia, the heady fragrance of honeysuckle and rose and the pungent aroma of wet dog. No? Oh well, it's up to you...

Trading My Surplus

2011-07-02T15:46:00.002+01:00

I have been organising an event in Leicester called Trade Your Surplus. It's for gardeners and geeks to swap green ideas, skills and spare plants.
I always raise too many plants and have lots of self sown spares, so I am taking them along to swap for advice or tips. Here they are ready to go:

The plants are labelled, but I thought it might be useful to put some more info and links on here to help out anyone takes them home.

Tomato 'Legend'- a cordon type, blight resistant. Needs planting into a growbag or large pot
Tomato 'Chadwick Cherry'- bush type, prolific with small fruit. Plant out into growbag or large pot
Chillies (various) - may need potting up into slightly larger pot.

Bronze Fennel - this grows in my garden up to about 2m or 6ft. The hover flies love the yellow flowers Perennial, it came through last winter entact but it sets seed easily too. I keep the dried for use with sausages and pasta. Yum!

Corydalis - yellow. This seeds about my front garden with abandon, but is a short lived perennial and came came up this spring with no ill effects from the hard winter.

Milium Effusum Aureum 'Bowles Golden Grass' this grass spreads slowly by rhizomes and seeding. I haven't found it too invasive and it copes well with the clay. Looks amazing with violas!

Leeks and celeriac. These sad looking seedlings are left over from my planting out session last week. I think they'll need a bit of time in the pots to recover before you plant them out in the garden.

Hope you enjoy!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Garden Tour - stage 1

2011-06-30T10:52:00.059+01:00

I have mentioned before that I've been working on some projects over in Leicester, CreativeCoffee Club and Amplified Leicester. Well, I have finally been roped in to do a talk for Amplified Leicester on 20th July. So I'm trying to think of ways to let people get a feel for the space without actually trampling all over it. As you know, that particular job has been assigned to J.

I have often thought I'd like to have a little garden tour on the blog, so I've been practising with my new camera and taking some videos too... But they can wait, for now here's our opening stage:

Through the gate into the main garden, you pass under a grapevine which has flowered for the first time this year - obviously we are waiting for the hundreds of grapes...

The main garden is fenced off from the 'corral' to stop unsupervised activity by our four legged friend, especially during winter when the clay gets severely waterlogged and muddy paws compact the soil. But it also acts as a vertical full stop in the garden, somewhere to grow climbers and prevents you seeing all the garden in one go.

Because roses do so well on our heavy clay, we have LOADS! This one on the fence I brought in as a cutting from our last garden. The semi-double flowers are apple scented and go from deep pink buds to very pale pink as the flowers 'blow'. Last year I trimmed it back and tied it in, to follow the line of the fence, and it has rewarded us with amazing flowers this spring. I have no idea what the name is, I got it from R, who in turn got it from a magazine. There's a lot of free plants in my garden, I'm very lucky to have so many gardening friends and family.

What's so great about growing things?

2011-06-25T18:41:00.001+01:00

In my last post, I may have seemed a little 'down' on growing crops. I'll admit I have been known to say that home-grown fruit and vegetables 'taste so much better than store bought' as if a spoonful of smug can make a strawberry any sweeter. My vegetables are decidedly NOT better than the ones in our fortnightly veg box, grown by professionals in Lincolnshire. But I don't care!

I grow things because I love the act of gardening, of coordinating nature. I love persuading plants to do what they wanted to do anyway but to do it here, on my little patch of the planet. It lends a rhythm to the year. That wistfulness I felt today on seeing a Sedum Spectabile in bud, knowing that in two months it will be in flower and look great, but will also herald the beginning of cooler times ahead. Or the buds of hellebore and snowdrops forcing their way through earth as 'hard as iron', signalling the Spring to come in the depths of Winter. And yes, the pea shoots that bravely came through the snow were the highlight of last winter, amazing to think they survived under that freezing blanket to give me a risotto the other night. I love it all.

Growing things reminds me that my place in the scheme of things is as ephemeral as a day-lily. Trees I have planted will be here long after I am gone, so long as the unregulated crazies selling themselves tree 'surgeons' don't get their chainsaws on them. Perhaps by then our greengage will have begun to bear fruit too...

I am also aware that I'm not actually in charge, maybe that's a useful lesson for our species. The planet got on fine without us for millenia, and will do so when we are gone. In the meantime we will just tinker at the edges. So it goes in my garden- I can try to keep a lid on it, cut back, transplant and renew. But if I stopped, there would still be a garden, an unruly one- full of horsetail and brambles- but a garden nonetheless.

I'm sharing my garden with creatures who don't even notice my existence- insects, birds and animals who simply visit the garden because it provides things that they need. I purposely provide many of those temptations, spending a small fortune on bird seed in order to watch the birds, topping up the water in the sink pond to keep the frogs coming back and chasing away the cats (actually that's J's job). I may be top of the food chain, but I didn't get a single one of this year's redcurrant crop. The blackbird family had them in the space of a few days.Who cares?

Before the Blackbirds found them!

Then there's the little victories. The pleasure of seeing seedlings break through the compost, of cuttings that strike and give free plants, of planting a rose without knowing quite how it will turn out and having your breath taken away when you inhale the scent of the first bloom.

For all these reasons I garden, and not once have I mentioned 'production'. For me, growing vegetables, fruit or flowers is about just that, growing. The harvest is a by-product to me, and that is why I wonder if I should continue to grow food crops or turn the whole garden over to ornamentals like this...

Gertrude Jekyll

...I haven't worked it out yet, but when I do, I'll let you know

Why do we grow our own?

2011-06-24T20:24:00.009+01:00

So, I've been questioning why I garden the way I do, and wondering if I would find it more satisfying to put my efforts into a different type of gardening.

In the UK right now, there's a craze for 'Grow Your Own' food, a movement driven by all kinds of things. Freshness, cheapness, reducing food miles, growing unusual varieties and being 'self reliant' are all great reasons to grow your own food.

But, without wanting to appear heretical, I wonder how many amateur gardeners can really make any impact on their ecological footprint or bank balance by growing a few veg in the back garden. I know I spend far more on my hobby gardening than I would on store bought veg and salad. And as the seed has to come from somewhere, perhaps we should factor in 'seed miles' and the impact of seed production methods too?

I realise that when we are talking about back garden growing, we are talking food metres not miles (to mix my measuring systems somewhat), but what about the miles driven to and from the allotment? In fact, short distances are said to be the most fuel inefficient so driving the few miles or so to an allotment might be more damaging than buying veg grown in Lincolnshire or Holland. I know, I'm stretching the point but hopefully you see what I'm saying.

As for growing unusual plants and varieties, well lets face it we mostly end up growing plants which thrive in our climate and that appears to be brassicas, potatoes and other staple veg. Are these so very 'unusual?

So that leaves 'self reliance'. I'm not an allotment holder, so I can't really say whether or not you could feed an average family from an average plot. But somehow I doubt it. I said in my last post we had grown only enough peas for one risotto. This is true (I ate it tonight!) and lovely as they were, is this a clever use of that piece of ground? It was pretty much bare for 6 months after they were sown in winter, and will become bare again after I grub up the plants and sow a hopeful row of salad leaves (which will sulk in the heavy clay)

One of the most successful vegetables we grew last year were runner beans, which grew in abundance with very little input from me, and we even managed to freeze a couple of punnets for winter eating. But they only provided enough for maybe one or two meals per week, happily about as much as anyone wants to eat of runner beans. Right now we have beautiful blue-green Cavolo Nero waiting to be harvested. We will eat it, but I can't guarantee that we'll eat all of it. T lacks the inspiration to cook with it and I can't bring myself to cut it until I know what I'm going to make. So it waits...

Stay with me, I want to look at the benefits of gardening as a pursuit, whether it's growing food or other plants, in my next post.

Veg out

2011-06-23T20:23:00.001+01:00

The more I think about it, the more I wonder if I'm growing veg for eating or simply for the pleasure of growing. Sure, it's lovely to eat freshly picked veg, but the amount we can grow will hardly fill one plate, let alone two. For example, the peas we have grown this spring will make one pea risotto with a few pods left over for popping and munching as I water and weed. Strawberries, which we treat as short lived perennials and therefore have ignored this year, have so far made only two bowlfuls and a mid morning snack when on laundry duty. To add insult to injury, Jerusalem Artichoke- the only vegetable that grows with no effort on my part- is rejected by friends and family for the windiness it induces. Tastes divine, but you pay for it later!

So one evening last week I mooted the idea that I may give up growing to eat and concentrate on growing plants and flowers for beauty. The idea was met with all round derision. The company that evening was mostly non-gardeners, and I realise that they find it hard enough to understand the idea of gardening at all, let alone the idea of gardening for no 'profit'.

I'm going to explore this idea a little more over the next few posts. I'm interested in what motivates me as a gardener, if another style of growing would suit me and whether I'd find it more rewarding to grow something else.

In the meantime, here's some amazing roses from earlier this month...

Front Up

2011-05-22T20:41:00.003+01:00

The front garden path did not come through the winter without some damage. I'd been putting off planting up the borders until we got it fixed, but a few weeks ago I could resist no longer.
Plants from Composting Mum and Mum in Law went in and covered an area over six metres square.
It looks great and will come together over the next few weeks.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Catching up

2011-05-10T21:29:00.000+01:00

My other non-garden based lives have taken over rather lately. As JC Middlebrook, I'm off to do a showcase in Karlsruhe Germany at the end of the month. But I'm really excited about what's going on over in Leicester. Amplified Leicester is gearing up for some interesting events over the next few months. We are examining green and growing issues during the discussions and talks, and are involved with the greening of a derelict site just next door to our usual venue, Phoenix Square.

The first event in the series is called 'Amplified Local Food' and will discuss local food projects, including 'Project Dirt' a website described as London's Green Facebook. I'm really looking forward to hearing what the panellists have to say. If you're interested check out the website and register if you like! www.ampleic250511.eventbrite.com

Compost update

2011-04-17T17:41:00.003+01:00

Like many gardeners across the country I have been raising plants from seed. This year, I'm trying out some different peat free compost. The seed compost I've tried is Moorland Gold, which I guess isn't technically peat free compost as it is made from 'sustainable' peat. Apparently they collect the peat which runs naturally off the moors in streams. The seed compost has a fine texture and retains moisture well. Most importantly it soaks up water easily if it dries out, which can be a major problem with many peat free composts.
I did find a few weeds germinating with my seeds, but nothing I couldn't cope with. It is an expensive compost, but I haven't lost any seedlings to fungal infections or 'damping off' so am quite happy with it.

I have used the sheep's wool compost for potting on, and for repotting my precious fuchsias, bringing them into growth after such a cold winter. Again, the texture of this compost is much better than cheaper PF compost I have used. It retains moisture really well and most of the plants I have potted into it are looking good. The mix of composted sheep's wool and bracken is fine and looks the part. I hope that it has more nutrients in it than the PF compost I used last year. Time will tell.

Another compost I have been using lately is that coming out of my specially constructed compost bins. It's ready when it's completely broken down, so I was happy to see Bin 1 was full of crumbly stuff. A few larger twigs hadn't completely disintegrated, so I took them out and added them to Bin 2 to continue their journey to the dark side.

Other things that hadn't broken down were several so-called compostable veg packs, some polyester thread from a cotton towel that had rotted away and the polyester fabric base of a jute bath glove. These I picked out and threw into the waste bin, marvelling at how an armful of waste which was bound for landfill had become a small handful over one season. Six barrowloads of garden compost ended up on the new front garden borders, along with a sack of grit to break up the heavy clay before planting.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Daily reading

2011-04-14T07:13:00.002+01:00

I read lots of other blogs and online articles about all sorts of things, including gardening. I use an RSS reader so that I don't miss a thing from my favourite sites. All I have to do is sign into one website and any new articles are listed there. That saves me from having to visit every site to check if there's anything new.
One new addition to my daily reading is the 'Gardeners Tips' website, and a recent article tells how to welcome those most beautiful of summer visitors, butterflies.

Planting for flying visitors!

It inspired me to plant more nectar producing plants for these endangered insects. I already have a couple of buddleia and lavender bushes, but after reading the hints on the Gardeners Tips blog, I'll plant more!

What have I said..?

2011-04-06T10:11:00.002+01:00

This 'Wordle' is produced from all the words on a website -the more often they turn up, the bigger they are. Thanks goodness compost is the biggest word, otherwise I would have to re-name this blog!

Catch The Sun

2011-04-04T17:28:00.001+01:00

Winter Flowering Cherry

The Spring winds are tumbling around the garden like naughty schoolchildren today, blowing down the last of the blossom from Winter flowering cherry. Luckily I took this picture last week when we were treated to some lovely warm sunshine. There was enough sun to encourage the fruit bushes to flower and make us dream of the sweet bounty to come

Gooseberry Flowers

Compost trials

2011-03-06T19:03:00.003Z

As you may know, I have been spending other people's money in the form of gift tokens after my birthday. I had some vouchers from Garden Organic and as my first choice of vertical plant display shelves were not available, I decided to order some peat free (PF) compost. The argument against using peat in compost have been rehearsed more eloquently elsewhere, suffice to say I don't want to use peat based compost for gardening. Find out more here http://bit.ly/i7jjbz
The PF compost I used last year was really poor quality, more like bark chippings really. Plants did not thrive in it, in fact they looked hungry, compared to potted plants in other compost. I can understand why other gardeners would say that peat substitutes are not good enough for them to switch over just yet. But I am sure there is a better PF compost out there.
So I decided to try out three different compost types, a seed compost made from peat derived from moorland run off (ie the peat particles found in moorland streams),

a multi-purpose compost made from sheeps wool and bracken

and a general PF soil improver, which GO said would be fine used as a multi purpose compost.

They are more expensive than the PF compost I used last year (bought from a garden centre) and way more costly than normal multi-purpose compost. But as voucher purchases they cost me nothing! I'll try them out and tell you if I think they're worth the money. This won't be a scientific study, just my anecdotal evidence!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Green Cone Installed

2011-02-24T18:05:00.000Z

After rain stopped play last week, I managed today to get my Green Cone waste digester installed in the garden.
It was a significant birthday pressie from Composting Mum in Law, and a very welcome one at that! But since returning from a birthday holiday (they don't count if you're out of the country...) it has rained pretty much constantly, so I've had to wait to install it.

So, what is a green cone? According to the Green Cone website http://bit.ly/gLLY6Y it is 'The common sense solution for disposing of household food waste' -essentially a food waste digester rather than a composter, the green cone can deal with waste you'd prefer not to put on your traditional compost heap, such as cooked food, bones and other 'rot-able' nasties. The cone allows waste to be digested by bacteria and broken down into liquid, which feeds the soil around it but doesn't produce any compost material as such.

I had been hanging my nose over one since our two year experiment with a Bokashi Bin was declared a failure- due to an unenthusastic partner and the need to purchase innoculated bran via the Internet every few months.

The cone needed to be sited in the garden in a sunny spot, so I chose what we laughingly named the jungle garden (not so-called due to fashionable jungle planting, more because it was a jungle to be tamed!)
The cone stands over a huge basket, which requires a hole at least 70cm deep and 90cm wide.

Digging said hole, I came across the last resting place of a previous gardeners pet terrier. After much squealing and being a girl about it, I managed to dig out the hole, ignoring crunchy bones and hoping that J wouldn't notice his fellow (ex) canine being so sadly distributed.
Because we're on heavy clay, I had to line the hole with crocks and gravel, in order for digested waste juices to be released freely into the soil. Luckily, after the cold winter, we had plenty of frost damaged pots that broke up easily into large crocks. Gravel and soil mixed into the backfill, to prevent the basket becoming clogged.

After siting the basket, and re-reading the instructions (oops!) I realised I should've made up the cone first.
The lid attaches to the outer (green) cone with a flexible hinge. This was a fiddly to screw in place and I'd definitely recommend using a power screw driver!

The outer cone is then placed over the inner (black) cone and screwed onto the basket. As I'd already sited the basket, I had to grovel around on the earth the screw the cone and basket together, but actually that part was quite easy. The base of the cone should be at least 3cm under ground level to stop flies getting in.

I placed a stepping stone to make it easy to access the cone as its in the middle of the bed (in case it gets a bit whiffy!) -et voila! Job done

-- Posted from my iPhone

Winter Flowers

2011-02-22T19:12:00.001Z

The flowers of winter are so few that each is very special.

This Hellebore was kindly donated by Composting Mum-in-Law* a couple of years ago, and this is the first year it's really flowered well. I have others but they are later flowering, so this one is extra special because it's the first to bloom. The weather is so rotten in February and Hellebores have a shy, nodding habit so you barely get chance to appreciate them. I like to cut a few flowers to float in bowls in the house, to see their delicate speckled faces.

*Composting Mum-in-Law (Robin) has been bitten by the blogging bug. Why not have a look and see why she once worked for Robert Maxwell at Pergamon Press, she's a very lovely writer! www.coombecrafts.blogspot.com http://www.coombecrafts.blogspot.com/

Birthday Treats

2011-02-11T08:19:00.002Z

I recently had a significant birthday. To lessen the pain of this landmark date, I had requested all kinds of goodies for the garden. My family and friends did not let me down!

Along with vouchers for Garden Organic and some spending money, I finally got my longed-for Green Cone composter/digester. I haven't installed it yet, but will document it here when I do.
Yesterday I had the simple pleasure of spending some of my birthday money. Off to Brookleas Nursery just outside Mountsorrel in Leics. It lies about halfway between Phoenix Square in Leicester, where I'd had a meeting, and Composting Parents' house where I was invited for lunch.

Brookleas is a lovely independent nursery, raising many of the plants on site, but unfortunately so successful that an enormous garden centre chain decided to locate not 500m away. It's worth seeking out these little places as they know so much about their stock and often support other local businesses too. Brooklea also sells local fruit and veg, flowers and preserves.

Anyway, I was in a mission to get myself some Dogwood (Cornus Alba) for the front garden. Normally I would by one plant and think I'll propagate more myself (and no, I never do get round to it) but this time I knew I could buy as many as I wanted. So I bought a bright red form and an acid yellow. With three of the red and two yellow, I can plant them where they will make real impact in the winter months. They don't really like heavy soils though, so I need to get myself some horticultural grit and do a little soil preparation before putting them in.

By cutting hard back each Spring, the new shoots will give glorious colour during the dullest part of the year.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Winter depths

2011-01-12T15:48:00.002Z

I may be alone in taking pleasure from the winter season. In mid-winter it seems from the house that the garden is devoid of life. Take a quiet walk around with your eyes open and you will see that it simply sleeps.

The scent of lemon sherbets drifts from this Mahonia Japonica. Buds are swelling even now on the fruit bushes and this spring flowering cherry.

Nature is ready to wake earlier than we expect!

Feeding Garden Birds

2011-01-02T10:32:00.000Z

We seem to have as many birds visit the garden during the winter as the summer months. Recently, as the UK suffered a cold snap, we were busy making sure that water and food supplies were topped up. The most common visitors to the bird table are starlings and sparrows, both types being adept at using hanging feeders and at landing on the table itself. Other frequent visitors are collared doves, wood pigeon and robin. The larger birds can't fly into the table, so tend to land on the little pitched roof or peck up the remains from under the feeders. A Dunnock will often be seen pecking about in the undergrowth and below the bird table. These small birds can be easily mistaken for a sparrow, but on closer inspection they are identified by duller colouring, a finer beak and longer red/brown legs

The starlings chatter and fight at the feeders, and are most fun to watch as they noisily queue up for a dip in the bird bath. We've watched them taking a dip even on the coldest days, brr! In fact, the bird bath seems to be the biggest draw to the garden, with all birds using it at some point during the day. I use a 40cm diameter plastic plant saucer atop an old chimney pot. It withstands the low temperatures well, but is a little lightweight so I weigh it down with an old brick. During the very cold weather, I broke the ice on the bird bath several times a day and empty it at night, so that it didn't freeze solid.

As for food, I generally put out proprietary bird seed- the aptly named 'Robin Mix' from the local pet shop- and Nyger seed for the Goldfinches in a feeder in the Greengage tree. Braver birds will come nearer to the house, but small birds seem wary, so BlueTit and Great Tit tend to take food from feeders on the tree. Leftover mince pies or stale cake usually go very quickly, but at this time of year I wonder if they are getting spoilt by lots of kitchen scraps, as they aren't so interested!

It's a great joy to see the squabbling 'Band of Brothers' as Composting Mum calls them descend on the feeder at breakfast time, and small wonder the collective noun for Starlings is a Murmur or Murmuration! It's a pleasure to share the garden with them.

2010-12-31T14:26:00.000Z

The turn of the year is as good a time as any to reflect on success and failure in the garden.So here goes:

Compost
I've been pleased with the amount of waste we have managed to turn into compost, (even gift wrapping!) thereby reducing the amount of household waste going into landfill. The Bokashi bin hasn't been popular with T because of the pong and the hassle, but it has made us think about how much food we would have wasted. I'll continue to use it until we have an alternative, but it will remain outside.
I'd also like to be a bit more organised in the use of the compost we produce. At present, I wait until it's ready, turn it out and spread it onto whichever bed is nearest/emptiest/hungriest at that moment. This means that the flower beds often get missed, as I turn out the heaps in the summer, when it's dry and pleasant to be outside, and this is when the borders are in full bloom. As I have an annual plan for the veg rotation, maybe I need a small compost rotation plan (or is this is a step too far for a small suburban garden?).

What works for you? Are you hit and miss when spreading compost-y goodness around your garden, like me, or do you know exactly where it will go before you throw in your fork?

Crops
The worst failure we've had this year is in exploiting the crops we've had. I have hesitated to crop veg at it's best as we've not wanted to eat it at that time, or not known how to use a glut. So my resolution is to harvest crops when they are at their best and eat, freeze or preserve them that day! So again, a waste reduction policy!

Flower Borders
I am most proud of the front path and border project we embarked on early in the year, actually completed in September. Apart from a little frost damage to the pointing, it has survived the harsh winter weather well. The spring flowers and bulbs I planted up in October will cheer up visitors to the house come February and March. The hardy cyclamen were in flower until covered by snow in early December, and look capable of flowering again, if the weather improves a little.

NY Resolutions
I'm giving some serious thought to what I'd like to try next year, and I think I'd like more cut flowers for the house. My all time favourite cut flowers are Chrysanthemums, especially bronze or cream doubles. So along with the Dahlia, I'll be trying out some Chryses in the flower border. Runner beans will be back in the veg border, especially the White Lady variety we grew last year. Hopefully the hordes of Ladybirds we attracted this year will over-winter to control the blackfly! I finally got poached egg plant to germinate and flower, so hopefully it will have seeded itself about and come back next year. In the next few weeks we'll be perusing the seed catalogues to order our seeds for 2011, so if you have any suggestions for plants to grow, please leave us a comment.

As the days draw out I will get ample opportunity to use my Christmas present from T... three guesses what it is!

Composting Gifts

2010-12-15T11:22:00.000Z

This post is about gift packaging actually. The Christmas gift I bought for Composting Sis' arrived in the rather abundant packaging on Sunday (yes, via Royal Mail too, wowsers!). Said boxes have been lying in the hall for the last few days getting under our feet. Now, I do hate to throw away anything that will rot, so off to the heap it went!

Large box before composting!

Tape needs to be removed as it won't rot!

Sadly some of the shredded 'paper' was actually laminated so that had to go in the landfill bin before I started composting the rest. After sorting that out, and taking off the brown tape from the outside, it was simply a matter of tearing up the boxes and scrunching them up to provide air between the layers of vegetable peelings, prunings and general garden waste that makes up our winter composting bin.

Tear up larger pieces before adding to the heap

Shredded paper and other box fillers are great for compost heaps

Over at Sustainable Garden Rob has been sharing about his 'tumbler' compost bin, which takes his kitchen waste. I'm interested to know how this works out as we have struggled a little with our Bokashi Bin. I have asked for a Green Cone for Christmas, which takes all waste, but simply rots it away to nothing rather than producing a usable compost. Good for small flower gardens and where you don't want to turn and fork over your heap. I'm intending to use it for kitchen waste, dog poo and other things I wouldn't ordinarily put on the usual heap. So it can't go on the veg plot, as there may be a risk of contamination from the dog waste, so it will be positioned in a fairly sunny spot in the flower 'border'.

Leaving Autumn Behind

2010-11-14T16:46:00.002Z

The small trees we planted three years ago are beginning to establish themselves and look like they belong here. They are also contributing to the garden by dropping leaves onto the lawn and borders. Leaf mould is said to be a great soil conditioner, but I have also heard it is relatively low in nutrients. However, our heavy clay soil needs all the compost and mulch we can provide, in order to break it up and improve drainage. Plus, as clay is usually very fertile it doesn't matter if leaf mould isn't a nutritious meal!

To make the leaf mould we simply rake up the leaves, bag into black bin bags and ignore for a year. Some people have enough leaves to justify making a special bin for them, we have enough for a couple of bags!

We don't add them to the compost as (I've heard) they can rob the heap of nitrogen during their decompostition, and generally slow down the composting process.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Mellow Yellow

2010-11-05T08:23:00.002Z

Composting Mum gave me some saffron crocus bulbs in the summer. She is a keen cook and has used this spice in all kinds of dishes, including lovely saffron roast potatoes!

Not having a clue about cultivating saffron, but knowing that most spring flowering bulbs need to go in the ground in autumn, I planted these bulbs (corms?) in September. Bulbs planted in peat-free compost, to about three times their depth. Covered with gravel and kept moist, I practically forgot about them.

I noticed that leaves had broken through about two weeks ago. To my surprise I noticed the lilac flowers opening today, maybe 6 weeks on!

So today we harvested 3 strands of fragrant saffron, to dry and use in delicate rice dishes, to add colour in a curry or even on roast potatoes!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Front border part one

2010-10-22T16:04:00.001+01:00

We laid our front path as a kind of anniversary gift to ourselves. There's no particular material associated with 16 years of marriage so we have decided that sand and cement should be given for that year. We're quite proud of ourselves having had only minimal supervision from M, we levelled, laid hardcore and finally laid slabs on 'dots and dabs'! M helped us cut the slabs to size, although they came as a mixed project pack so there were only a few cuts to make.

We borrowed M's mixer to make up the muck and it actually only took a couple of hours to get the slabs in place once cut. A 'collar' of cement was built up to the sides of the slabs to make sure they were held in place and provide a hard edge to plant up to.

Next day it had 'gone off' ie the cement had hardened, and M helped T to point the gaps between the paving slabs.
A day later we could walk on it and we haven't looked back! There's enough slabs to replace the gravel to the side of the drive, but this is a weekend job and we'll get round to this soon!

Today i have planted up one side of the path with spring flowering bulbs and some cheerful violas, wallflowers and cyclamen. Some of the plants I lifted before digging out the path have been put back and more will fill in later. Once they spread out and fill the gaps, it will look a treat!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Last Chance to See in 2010

2010-10-21T13:02:00.001+01:00

We've had a few light frosts now, so I've gathered in some flowers to brighten up the inside of the house. During the summer, it's tempting to leave blooms in the garden as we're spending so much time out there and I don't want to denude the borders. But reading Toby Buckland in last October's Gardener's World magazine prompted me to bring some colour indoors.
Most of the plants here have been flowering their hearts out for months, but eventually the frosts will stop them.
In the vase there are: foliage from Sambucus Nigra
Sweet Pea
Callendula
Nasturtium
Helianthus
Rudbeckia
Rocket flowers
Some kind of coral Salvia
Feverfew

Dahlia 'Polka' has filled a vase of it's own, outside the plant is collapsing gracefully under the weight of it's huge blooms. I should have staked it... Never mind, no doubt I'll leave it too late to stake next year too!

-- Posted from my iPhone

The Dahlia News

2010-10-09T19:16:00.052+01:00

Dahlia seem to enjoy the cooler months of September and October- we've had many more and much larger blooms these last few weeks. My neighbour has fifty dahlias in his front garden, I have ONE in my raised bed (D. Polka) and ONE in pots (D. Arabian Night) and that's enough for me. They are just coming into their own, we just hope the frosts hold off a little longer! So here are the various stages of development, from bud to bin!

Buds are firm and more rounded

Polka opens with a pinkish tinge to the edge of the petal...

...is creamy yellow with a red edge at first...

...the centre then goes darker yellow...

Then 'blows'...

Finally, the petals drop and the 'dead-head' is soft and pappy

When the frosts come, we'll cut back the blackened foliage, lift and dry the tubers for storage.

Barnsdale visit

2010-09-21T19:09:00.002+01:00

Look at this beauty from the late Geoff Hamilton's garden at Barnsdale in Rutland.

T and I had a day out there and came home with some lovely plants.
Mostly for the front garden, I picked up a gorgeous Rosa 'Gertrude Jekyll', Astrantia 'Bloody Mary' and Heuchera 'Fireworks'.

But the prize of the day goes to Anthriscus Sylvestris 'Ravenswing' which I have been hunting for the last few years. It's a cultivated and very pretty variety of the native Cow Parsley, related to common Chervil. Cow Parsley, or 'Kek' as I grew up calling it, is my favourite wildflower and I am so happy to have it for my garden.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Tomato season

2010-09-14T07:44:00.002+01:00

The tomato plants are enjoying this September weather. Fruits are ripening and side shoots are popping out of leaf axils. Many of these shoots carry flowers, and it's tempting to think they might develop. But although the plants think it's a good time to set fruit, we know these balmy conditions won't last, so I spent half an hour rubbing out the sideshoots.

And another few minutes picking tomatoes, great and small!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Blogging and Composting

2010-09-08T10:04:00.000+01:00

We've been so busy at CC HQ that we haven't had much chance to do much more than upload photos and a few short comments. Thanks for sticking with us!

Remember our Bokashi Bin which we raved about most of last year? I still love it, but it's becoming a hassle as T just hates using it, and more often than not I find leftovers in the bin (Boo) or un-branned in the Bokashi. (Less Boo, but still Boo). It smells a bit in the hot conservatory/porch area, so got moved outside in July. Where of course I forget about it and don't drain the liquid, leading to more smells and so on. It's been great, but the fact that it has to be buried deep in the compost bin or ground means I have to have a good compost bin-ful before adding the Bokashi. This seems to have added another layer of complexity to the system, even though it has reduced the food waste that goes to landfill in our bin. I simply need to remove as many obstacles to composting as I can.

So I'm thinking about changing to a Green Cone, when we've used up the Bokashi Bran (another additional expense). It's not really composting, as the contents simply rot down inside the cone, and you don't get anything out of the other end (so to speak!). Apparently a Green Cone can take all organic waste like the Bokashi, and as long as i site it in the flower garden rather than the veg patch, it can even take dog doo. I'm wondering if it also needs some kind of product to speed up the decomposition of the waste?

Anyone had any experience of Green Cones, or know how to make your own?

Fennel Skies

2010-09-07T14:57:00.000+01:00

Just the latest in some sky themed photos!

August Skies

2010-09-02T07:42:00.002+01:00

The sunsets in the last few weeks have been lovely!

But there's a definite chill in the air as we move into September. Tomatoes are beginning to turn red, beans are slowing down but courgettes are still going strong.
In the flower garden, Dahlia 'Polka' is looking lovely as are Sedum and Rudbeckia.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Hoverflies

2010-08-17T11:55:00.000+01:00

The warm humid evenings have brought out many winged insects. Hoverflies have been loving the Helenium, Hemerocallis and Callendula. I've spent time just waiting for them to land before I snap.

This month's colours are tending towards the golden...

Onion Harvest

2010-08-15T14:31:00.002+01:00

We lifted most of the onions, shallots and garlic a few weeks ago, and shared a photo of them drying in the porch here

The red onion 'Red Baron' were left in a little longer and finally came out the other day. I think the cold and damp spring did nothing for my onions (remember, we are on heavy clay) as I would say only about half survived and only half of those made anything bigger than a golf ball.

Still, the colour of the skins is just wonderful!

Flowers in August

2010-08-12T12:08:00.000+01:00

I love this photo app for my iPhone. It's called Hipstamatic and is essentially a way of getting old 'instamatic' looking photos with a digital camera. I could apply these sort of effects in editing software such as Photoshop, but this app cuts out the middle man! It's kind of old school, and gives lovely saturated colours.

Top to bottom:
Hemerocallis (Day Lily)
Honeysuckle
Clematis

Dahlia 'Polka'
Fuchsia 'Grandad W's' Not the official variety name, but a good popper!
Crocosmia 'Lucifer'

Ladybird Abundance

2010-08-01T17:21:00.001+01:00

As a fairly cynical listener to Gardeners Question Time on Radio 4, I don't always believe the experts when they say a build up pests will be quickly followed by a build up of predators. I have never once seen any garden birds eating slugs or snails for example. Nor have they eaten any blackfly from the runner beans.

I do believe that nature will provide a balance in our garden if we allow it to. But we've had so many aphids this year, it has been a real test not to reach for a chemical remedy.

The ladybirds have moved in, with all stages of the life cycle in evidence on the runner beans- from egg, larvae to adult. They are becoming numerous but haven't made significant inroads into the aphid population yet.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Raspberry Heaven - Part Two

2010-07-28T17:39:00.001+01:00

I don't remember the raspberries of my teenage years (see my last post) having little caterpillars in them. But this is something putting a serious crimp in my enjoyment of sun warmed raspberries straight from the cane. I have to check each little fruit before popping one into my mouth, which slows down eating quite considerably. The caterpillars often aren't evident until the fruit is picked, then I find the inside is nibbled or has a tiny caterpillar cobweb. Often the wriggly guest tries to bolt for it, crawling to the top, catching my eye as I raise the berry to my mouth (and I do hope I spot them all!). The worst affected berries are distorted and even attached to the surrounding berries.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the caterpillars (approx 6mm long, brown) might be, plus any organic solution? The two box picking solution I employed earlier (see below) helps with sorting but also shows that over 30% of fruit are affected

On the left- buggy or miffy berries, on the right- pop into your mouth perfect berries

-- Posted from my iPhone

Raspberry Heaven

2010-07-27T10:59:00.003+01:00

When I was a teenager, my parents put me to work by giving me the job of picking the raspberries in the summer. Not what you'd think of as a onerous task, but as my dad had a fruit cage full of raspberries, it meant quite some time *out in the fresh air*. Then we had to eat the glut... man, did I moan about raspberries with everything! Yep, a typical teen :)

Luckily when I started growing for myself, Composting Dad graciously forgot all the 'I hate raspberries' ranting and gave me my own canes. I don't have the number of canes he once had, nor do I net them - the birds don't seem to go for them these days as they did in the eighties. I simply pick them and enjoy them.

How things have changed!

-- Posted from my iPhone

That's Shallot!

2010-07-26T15:18:00.002+01:00

Apologies for the terrible puns in some of our post titles, I wish there were someone else to blame!

Shallots, garlic and some onions have been lifted and brought into the porch to dry before being stored. Thankfully this variety* of garlic hasn't the powerful odour of last year's so we may be able to store them nearer to the house!

*garlic 'vallelado' from the organic gardening catalogue if you're interested

-- Posted from my iPhone

Composting Sister

2010-07-20T11:14:00.001+01:00

No, I haven't been composting my sister! We sought sanctuary after 70mph gusts finally made us give up camping, and happily Composting Sis' lives on the way home in West Yorkshire.
She proudly showed me her garden, so I thought I'd share it with you. All organic and on the side of a windy Yorkshire hill, it puts mine to shame! She also has a hairy under-gardener, although I think he is probably less destructive. (J would also like to eat him, hence no J in the pictures!)

Composting Childs on Holiday

2010-07-15T15:47:00.001+01:00

T and I are becoming renowned for picking the windiest week to go away. Certainly seemed that way when we left a heatwave in Nottingham to pitch up our tent in the rain last weekend! Still we have had a lovely low impact holiday, with great views across the Lakes and tired legs! We're now getting the typical British holiday weather of sunshine (patchy) and showers (prolonged). Which is why the blue skies are so welcome when you do see them!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Positivity

2010-07-05T12:09:00.002+01:00

I'm trying to see the bright side of having what some may call a blackfly infestation on my 'White Lady' Runner beans. As there are so many of the squirmy, squishy sapsuckers they have attracted natural predators, including Ladybirds.

I'm not entirely sure these are native Ladybirds, they may be the new Harlequin type. I'm not going to squish them though, as a) they may NOT be Harlequin Ladybirds and b) they are eating the blackfly!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Underground, Overground, Wombling Free

2010-07-02T13:01:00.001+01:00

Any child of the 70s like myself will recognise the theme to children's TV series The Wombles.http://bit.ly/cEOVW4
They were furry creatures who lived under Wimbledon common picking up litter and recycling what people threw away. They lived in a cavern under the Common, where they had made all kinds of home comforts from things 'that the everyday folks left behind'.
I was reminded of Orinoco and Uncle Bulgaria when I found another furry friend in a shady spot, making himself comfortable in the undergrowth!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Midsummer Sky

2010-06-21T21:31:00.001+01:00

A warm evening with a beautiful sky, moths flitting about and hopefully a couple of bats flying around later

-- Posted from my iPhone

What's eating my Day Lilies?

2010-06-21T18:16:00.001+01:00

Watering the front garden with my trusty watering can, I noticed that some of the day lily buds were looking sick. Closer investigation led to me taking off all the obviously affected buds as they are clearly not going to flower.
As you can see from the picture below, the buds are wrinkled and thickened. I split a few and found they were tough, with a sweet smelling fluid inside (nectar). One had tiny white maggots inside, but I don't know if they caused it or are there for the rotting material after the fact.
There are some healthy looking buds and the leaves aren't affected. It's west facing and on clay soil. They have flowered well in previous years.

Does anyone have any ideas?

-Update 3rd July 2010- This morning's Guardian carried an article on Day Lilies by Alys Fowler, in which she described the exact same problem and diagnosed Gall Moth.

Treatment... Dig it out and burn it :(

Posted from my iPhone

Front Garden Plans - extended

2010-06-14T10:51:00.001+01:00

After 5 years of fighting with the weeds and moss to make the front lawn look decent all year round, we've decided to build a path into the front garden, take out the rest of the lawn and extend the borders. Today we took advantage of the wetter ground to lift the turf from the path route.

One of the problems associated with gardening on clay is how it sets like concrete when it dries out. So I was quite happy to see the rain this week softening up the ground for the first stage of our re-design. Perhaps I was the only one in the country to be pleased with the rain!

Front Garden Plans

2010-06-13T12:38:00.002+01:00

Stage one of new front path, T earning his keep!

-- Posted from my iPhone

2010-06-05T12:17:00.001+01:00

The plant which has just had a haircut is the spring flowering Pulmonaria or Lungwort. It's hairy leaves had dried out and drooped after flowering was over, so having read yet another article about the Chelsea Chop, I decided to hack it back.

The Chelsea Chop is done in late May or Early June around the time of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London. Many flowering perennials can be cut back at this time to produce stronger, bushier growth and more flowers. I keep the trimmings of perennials, such as Sedum Spectabilis, for cuttings as they take so easily. I also take cuttings of Dahlias which are producing juicy stems right now, before they go hollow. The new plants may not flower this year but add a lovely show of green growth and increase my stock for next year.

But the Pulmonaria was not salvaged and went on the compost heap, which is filling up nicely. It was much needed dry waste for the heap considering how many lawn clippings went in there at the weekend!

.

A Hot Spot

2010-06-04T17:29:00.002+01:00

I often forget to take pictures from this angle, facing the old greenhouse spot. It shows our west-facing seating area which catches the last of the sun in the evening. It's a little slice of heaven when everyone is quiet except the birds...

-- Posted from my iPhone

Beauty and no beasties

2010-06-04T12:17:00.000+01:00

The chives are in full bloom, which is lovely, but I am sorry to report that there are practically NO hoverflies or bees buzzing over them. I'm worried that the late spring and delayed flowering of many plants has starved these garden helpers out already.

I sowed Phallecia as a green manure as per last year, but it has not flowered yet. It should be out soon, and hopefully not too late for my winged friends!

Ring Culture

2010-06-01T15:37:00.001+01:00

One of my day jobs is coordinating CreativeCoffee Club in Leicester. It's basically a networking club for creative people, meeting fortnightly on a Wednesday. We hosted a seminar on 'Successful Networking' a couple of weeks back, and during one of the exercises we were encouraged to share one fact about yourself that the others wouldn't know. I said that 'I Dig'.

One of the attendees got chatting to me afterwards and gave me a tip for great tomatoes. Use a cut-off pot and build up the earth around the stem of your growing plants. A bit like earthing up I guess. He said the crop would be so heavy you would have to use some way of holding up the trusses. As you can see, we have given it a go.

Toby from BBC Gardener's World then confirmed this advice the following week, giving it it's proper name 'Ring Culture'. I've also pushed in cut off pop bottles to aid watering. I find, pushed in firmly enough, the water trickles through to the roots and won't gush out of the bottom of the pot.

I've also planted Pot Marigold (Calendula) and Poached Egg Plant (Limanthes?) in each pot to encourage beneficial insects. These are also planted out in the flower borders and veg patch.

Green

2010-05-23T10:00:00.000+01:00

There's so many shades of green in the 'jungle' garden now. J has been investigating under the Euphorbia, which is darkest green at ground level, with amazing lime green flowers (or bracts?). I think he may have lost a toy under there...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COMPOSTING MUM!

2010-05-20T09:54:00.002+01:00

Composting Mum is 70 today! We love you and wish you a very Happy Birthday

Beans, Beans are good for the heart...

2010-05-19T10:50:00.000+01:00

Finally...

We have planted out the Asparagus Peas, reputed to taste like the summer veg but with less time investment, and our usual peas and White Lady runner beans. Hopefully now the risk of frost has passed, we might even get the courgette out this week too!

New Life

2010-05-17T14:43:00.000+01:00

With the nights feeling distinctly warmer and the sun shining most days,things are beginning to green up. We have plenty of flower on the raspberry canes, and the Euphorbia and Dicentra have been lovely.

Other evidence of spring are found in the residents of the bird box, 3 Robin chicks shout lustily for their parents to drop bugs and worms into their opened mouths. I know it's not a great shot, but you can see a beak in there somewhere and I didn't want to disturb them too much! You can see that they aren't that well hidden, but the holly bush and honeysuckle are affording some protection.

Elsewhere, Dunnocks have taken up residence in the privet hedge between our garden and next door's garage. I haven't seen the nest, but the parents are around a lot and we can hear the distinctive calling of the chicks when they fly in that direction.

Hurry Up and Wait

2010-05-09T18:18:00.001+01:00

Hope it gets warm enough to plant out soon! If possible, while we can still leave our house by the back door!

It's all getting a bit triffid like in there!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Under Cover

2010-04-26T11:09:00.000+01:00

My seedlings need protection for all kinds of reasons. Mostly we think of protection from the cold, especially the late frosts we've had for the last week or so. The dwarf beans above had outgrown their space in the plant nursery, so I chanced putting them out under a plastic sheet.

Yes, I did this on the day before the hardest frost we'd had in a long time! Even volcanic ash wasn't helping to make the skies cloudy and keep frost at bay. So the beans are distinctly sulking, and who can blame them?

Other seedlings need protection from hungry slugs and birds (wish the birds would do their job and eat the slugs!) these lettuces are just too juicy to be without their bottle cloche covers just yet.

And some plants just can't go outside yet, and continue to grow our 'conservatory' (lean-to, or porch, as it really should be described) like these tomatoes and runner beans.I'm looking forward to the days when the sun hat is needed too!

Crumbly Compost

2010-04-17T09:38:00.000+01:00

The contents of the Bokashi bin have helped speed up the composting process. Apart from the biggest chicken leg bones, you really wouldn't know that there had been such food waste in there. I'm very pleased that it's been so successful. Quite apart from the compost angle we have cut down the amount of rubbish we put in our bin.
Hopefully the compost will continue to feed and break up our heavy clay soil through the hot summer. (Composting mum has predicted a scorcher, you heard it here first folks!)

-- Posted from my iPhone

I Heart Spring

2010-04-14T13:58:00.000+01:00

The spring flowers seem to go from white (snowdrops and hellebores) to yellow (daffodils and primroses) to pink as the season progresses. Here is Dicentra Spectabilis, or Bleeding Heart, unfurling it's buds- ready to show it's heart shaped pink flowers suspended from arching stems.

I thought I had a photo of them in bloom last year but they seem to have evaded my lens...I'll make up for that later in the month!

And on the subject of hearts, Happy Anniversary to Composting Parents. 48 years today!

New plants from old - part 2

2010-04-11T15:49:00.025+01:00

Another plant we have had for free is this magnificent redcurrant bush from Composting Dad. He made it by pinning down a branch so that it rooted, then cutting i from the parent plant when it was ready to plant in my garden. Just in the nick of time too, look at all the blossom on there, methinks we'll be picking redcurrants this year!

This much more attractive flowering currant was here when we moved in, so technically it came free with the garden, but I have always cut it back at the wrong time. As a result it has never had the chance to flower before. I'm so pleased I finally got it right! Now, if only I could remember when that was...

New plants from old

2010-04-10T15:49:00.000+01:00

Today has been about planting out seedlings and young plants we have made for free.

When I cleared the veg bed for pea sowings some weeks ago, I couldn't bring myself to compost the foxglove seedlings which had self-set in there. Instead, I potted them up and brought them on in the protection of the house. I managed to salvage about 15 plants, and today I put most of them in the ground. I planted them at the foot of the greengage tree, amongst the bulbs and spring flowers.

Last autumn I had split up a very congested Bearded Iris, potting up large clumps as an insurance against a harsh wet winter (how did I know?) Those left in the bed have not come through the winter well, due to the clay soil and cold weatrher. So I have replanted three plants from pots, and although I know won't get any flowers this year, I've revitalised it for next year's show. You can see them in the background, I planted this pretty grass (don't ask the name, all I know is it's the non mowing variety!)

Canterbury Bells has seeded itself in the 'jungle' garden (not named for the tropical nature of it's planting by the way, more for the machetes we needed to clear it) so I lifted a few small clumps of these and replanted them in between the Irises. Hopefully they will follow on from the dark purple spikes of the Iris with light blue bells along the length of their stems in the summer.

Recycling part 3

2010-04-08T09:16:00.000+01:00

Old soup tins make great plant pots for early lettuce. One word of warning though, stand them on a tray or saucer as they will rust a bit on the bottom!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Euphorbia Euphoria

2010-04-07T19:51:00.002+01:00

One of the loveliest perennials in flower at the moment is this super Euphorbia, I'm sorry I have no idea what the variety is! It has lime green bracts and it clumping up well. think I may try some of the self sown seedlings in this year's front garden revamp...to be continued!

Recycling part 2

2010-03-31T09:57:00.000+01:00

Every spring a gardener can never have enough labels. I'm just the same, maybe worse as I lose so many over the year, although I do find a lot of them when I turn out the compost!
So I've prepared them by cutting up margarine tubs.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Recycled Containers

2010-03-29T12:22:00.001+01:00

Last weekend was spent making sowings of all kinds, inside and out, but we ran out of seed trays and modules. Enter Composting Sis' well thought Christmas gift, the paper pot maker. 1,000 paper pots later we can now provide seed pots to the nation! (well not quite 1,000)

Not sure how well The Guardian breaks down after planting, because it sure doesn't light a fire well! So this could be a better use of it. I already compost every bit of paper we don't burn, to bulk out my compost and stop it becoming a slimy mess. Some may have to be diverted off for pot making! One broadsheet page makes about 6-8 pots, not bad. The only problem is they need standing together in a seed tray before sowing, as they become too pappy to move on their own when filled with compost.

They're great for deep rooted seedlings like peas or beans and for veg like carrots and parsnips as they can be transplanted without disturbing the root.

Photos: Sweet peas, chilli peppers under recycled bottle cloches with last years garlic crop, paper pots

Paths

2010-03-19T17:00:00.000Z

A certain four legged gardener has been using the paths quite well over the winter months, but now as the soil warms up and dries out, the scents are more interesting than keeping off the soil.

To help him keep to the straight and narrow, I have a number of hurdles which I can position to protect newly planted crop. However, they are a bit low and make ideal jumps for a dog on a mission to rid his garden of visitors. So to keep J off the onion sets, I made this taller hurdle from buddleia prunings.

Feeling Seedy Part 2

2010-03-17T16:54:00.010Z

The heated propagator is really coming into it's own, with tomatoes and chillies now well on their way. Not quite so molly-coddled are the hardier seedlings, sweet pea, lettuce and rocket.

Spring Flowers

2010-03-15T16:54:00.000Z

Today was a cloudier day, but J and I got the chance to go and snap some of the early spring flowers in the garden. Above is our winter (but mostly spring) flowering cherry 'Prunus Autumnalis subhirtella' and below are Crocus, Snowdrop, Primula, Viola and Mahonia.

It's said that there's a greater pleasure to be had from the first flowers of Spring than the profusion of colour we get during the warmer months. I can't tell you if that's true as I am never happier than wandering round my garden whatever time of year!

Feeling Seedy

2010-03-11T18:31:00.002Z

I could resist no longer, a couple of weeks ago, in my pyjamas (as twitter followers of @JaynetheDig will already know!) I sowed my tomato seeds. Koralik-a bush variety, Legend and Chadwick Cherry. So far Legend and Chadwick Cherry have germinated in the warmth of the cosy heated propagator, no sign of Koralik yet. Rocket and Lettuce Buttercrunch are also stirring from composty depths, no heated cosseting for them!

For the flower garden, I've sowed Sweet Pea seeds collected at the end of last year. This is my first foray into seed collection, so I had low expectations. However, a week after sowing, they are showing signs of life and we are already imagining the heavy scent of sweet peas filling the air of our summer garden!

Potting up

2010-03-09T10:00:00.003Z

This week I finally got round to potting up Dahlia 'Polka and 'Arabian Night' to bring it into growth after the winter dormancy. I found the aquatic basket and gave it a scrub out before half filling with peat free compost. The dried up tubers went in and I filled to the top with more compost. I heard on GQT that the tubers need to be connected to the stem part to sprout, so any thumb sized pieces at broke off in the process go on the compost heap. They just rot otherwise.

I'll take cuttings of the resulting shoots, to get more Dahlia for my money, and plant the basket out when the tulips have faded and the frosts have passed.

See more about Dahlias here

Sunny Sunday

2010-03-07T18:05:00.001Z

What a difference it makes to have a week of sunshine, even if it's accompanied by frosts and chilly air. Today after a morning at Husqvarna Studio (where I had a conversation about worm wee, of all things!) I had an afternoon clearing the veg beds and washing out plant pots! Not much gardening, but it felt good to be outside.

As I weeded and forked over the beds, I listened to Radio 4's adaptation of the classic 'Of Mice and Men' with David Tennant as George.

Last night we had the pleasure of seeing T's folks for the evening, and we got to talking about gardening, as you do. We concluded that whatever we do, however we panic about not getting out in the garden, it all comes good by summer and the transformation into green and lush growth just happens. It may beg the question 'what do we do it all for?' but really it's good to know that nature can take care of herself! For myself, I'm content to tinker at the edges whilst she gets on with the job.

Misty Morning, Arnot Hill

2010-02-25T11:05:00.002Z

My title comes from a Pogues song 'Misty Morning, Albert Bridge'. On our walk to the park this morning, J and I stopped to take in the view towards Bestwood Park, obscured as it was by the mist.

The Pogues have a reputation for raucous songs about drinking, and more recently for the demeanour of front man Shane MacGowan. Sadly, he is less known for songs so achingly beautiful they are like poetry set to music. Last time I saw them live in 2008 the crowd were so obsessed with the state Shane was in, they missed the poignancy in his words.

That said, the song 'Misty Morning, Albert Bridge' was not written by MacGowan, but by his band mate Jem Finer. A beautiful song for a beautiful day

-- Posted from my iPhone

New Slideshow

2010-02-22T15:45:00.000Z

I've added some more photos to the CompostingChilds slide-show, which if you are reading this from an RSS feed, you probably won't see. Why not click through to the blog?

What has struck me (on this grey February day) is just how much colour there was in the garden last summer! Looking at the muddy ground now I can't believe it will ever look like that again!

Spare time (whisper it!)

2010-02-16T12:21:00.001Z

I've had some spare time today so have prepped the seed trays for sowing later in the month. There's some wriggly worms in my potting compost, from the bag being outside, do you think that's a problem for seed sowing?

I also made a HUGE loaf of bread, just about to tuck in. Thanks Nigel Slater, yours is the easiest recipe!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Planter Plan

2010-02-14T19:19:00.001Z

I've seen this planter advertised in the magazines, it's going to be a summer project to make drainpipe planters from recycled stuff to disguise this corner of the front garden.

Seed planting time

2010-02-10T11:15:00.001Z

I have high hopes for this afternoon...I'm going to get what we laughingly call the 'conservatory' ready for seed sowing! It's really more of a porch on the back of the house, but whatever you call it, it's perfect for raising seeds- sheltered from the frost, plenty of light coming through and on a regular route so I don't forget them!

A couple of years ago, Composting Mum bought me a heated propagator for Christmas, but it was only when we moved here that it really came into it's own. Now when the seedlings raise their fragile leaves they have a bit of light to grow towards. I've discovered that before it was a lack of light that doomed seedlings, and growing on a windowsill just caused them to go leggy as they grew towards the light.

So I'll be tidying and clearing, bringing the compost and sand inside to warm up a bit (well, how would you like to sit in a damp cold plant pot?) and getting everything ready. Now it begins!

NB- The photo above is from last year, I was too embarrased to take any photos of J! He needs a B.A.T.H. Luckily he can't spell, otherwise I'd never catch him!

Finally!

2010-01-30T17:32:00.002Z

Today is the first day in ages J and I have been able to get outside! It had to be done to christen my new fork (birthday present from T) so we wrapped up and dug out the stems of cauli and chard harvested over the winter.
Leeks for next week's quiche will be left in a few days longer!

-- Posted from my iPhone

New Year's Plans

2010-01-03T15:16:00.001Z

It's the last day of the Christmas holiday, and it's a time for looking forward to the growing season to come. We've reviewed previous year's success and failures, and favourite crops here.

I did not keep my seed well this year, so I am going to replace even the seeds I have left over. Must find an airtight tin to keep them in this year!

So I can have fun with compiling a long list of seed to buy. Nigel Slater in his new veg cookbook 'Tender' suggests writing the list and then sleeping on it before ordering. I may try this and see what difference it makes to the final order.

We've had another dusting of snow, but I noticed the Mahonia is about to bloom. (here's a shot taken last year, you just have to imagine the lemon sherbet scent wafting through the winter air!)

Staying toasty

2009-12-30T16:09:00.002Z

Please forgive the long December absence, I've no excuses really. Although I guess I could make something up about having to stay off the clay soil in this wet weather and therefore having nothing to tell you. But will you at least give me some credit for not doing that?

Anyway, I'm back at the computer now so thought I'd update you with the latest happenings at CompostingChilds HQ. The week before Christmas was as snowy as it could be for the suburbs, maybe 5cm (2 inches) which stood for nearly a week. We've had more birds visiting the feeders since the colder weather started, and have found the robin especially likes the extra pastry leftover from baking mince pies!

We are seriously staying off the garden now, as to walk about on heavy clay would undo all the hard work I've been putting in to lighten it! Compaction of the soil would take us back to square one, so I've been spending a lot of time trying to think how I can get out and do something without treading on the lawn or beds. Nothing apart from levitating techno-boots springs to mind! Still, that saves the borders from the type of manic tidying one is prone to do at this dull and dirty time of year. We think we can bring about the Spring with a little tidying and chopping back. Nothing does the psyche more good and the hibernating critters more harm than a bit of a tidy up.

So I am staying cooped up indoors, feeling peeved and environmentally serene in equal measure!

Happy New Year from all of us!

Finally Dahlia succumb to frost!

2009-12-03T19:28:00.001Z

Today, 2nd Dec my Dahlia Polka gave up the ghost for another year. Having flowered since mid-July, that's pretty good value at four and a half months! When digging them up, I noticed the reason the blooms in the ground were so good. The tubers were so much bigger, probably down to a number of factors. First, they were not dependant on my watering regime (patchy to say the least!). Second they're almost certainly the original tubers rather than the cuttings I took in Spring. Last they weren't as closely planted as the tub.

I'd like to say I'll learn this lesson for next year, but I doubt it!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Composting as Therapy?

2009-11-27T13:58:00.004Z

Having received some sad news this week, I needed to get out in the fresh air. Mindless turning of the compost heap provided the excuse and the exercise. The rain held off long enough to turn the top half of heap 2 and to add the contents of my Bokashi bin. I haven't told you much about this system since I started composting my cooked food this year.

Bokashi uses bacteria laden bran to ferment organic waste in an anaerobic bin. The beauty of it is that it will take any waste such as meat, fish and cooked food. You wouldn't add this kind of waste to your normal compost heap as it attracts rats and other vermin. It also turns very smelly and rots. Bokashi bran 'pickles' the waste, meaning that when it is added to the heap, it accelerates the composting process and does not attract rats.

When adding to the heap, you have to cover it completely and exclude as much air as you can. Bokashi is an anaerobic process, so in order for the bacteria to continue working it needs to be covered. I haven't found this a problem, I make a hole in the middle of my garden compost bin, empty the Bokashi Bin into the hole and cover over with garden waste. I then give it a good trampling (wellies are essential at this stage!) and hopefully add more garden waste on top.

Even when bones are still recognisable in the Bokashi waste added to the bin, they disappear completely when the bin is emptied. I'm lucky to have two garden compost bins so am able to empty them every 6 months or so, giving plenty of time for the bones to compost down. The worms love Bokashi waste too! You can add Bokashi waste directly to the soil, but it has to be buried quite deeply, so I have found it much easier to add to the compost bin. I guess greedy beans would love a Bokashi feast in their trench!

Having spent half an hour in the fresh air, the therapy had it's desired effect and I feel able to face the next few days! Who would have thought smelly compost and old bones could have that effect on a person?

Plans for 2010

2009-11-17T15:00:00.001Z

Last weekend we had an all too brief visit to my big sis in West Yorkshire. She gardens in a beautiful but windy spot on the side of a hill overlooking Sowerby Bridge.

We discussed what was good this year and we'll plant next year. H looks forward to the coming asparagus season as it's her third year, so if the experts are to believed this is the the first year of heavy cropping for her asparagus. I recommended Salsify and Celeriac for her to try as we have enjoyed their delicate flavours this year. She put me on to Romanesco Cauliflower, so tasty and expensive to buy in the shops, I think I'll definitely try it this coming season.

So what crops have we enjoyed eating this year? The first has to be Chard...now that we've discovered the pleasure of eating braised chard stems, what a treat...simply cut chard stems to fit an ovenproof dish, add some stock (mix with cream if you feel wicked), grate over some parmesan cheese and top with breadcrumbs. Bake in a medium over til the stems are tender...I'd say about 40 minutes. Lovely served with crusty bread or as a side vegetable!

We also enjoyed our peas, but lack of space meant that we hardly grew enough for two meals. Ditto Broad Beans, which though delicious are so deceptive, as once you've stripped them from their velvety pods, and skinned the little blighters there's hardly a mouthful. But pureed with mint and olive oil, they make a lovely summer dip for crunchy carrots and pitta bread!

We baked the beetroot in foil to eat with our Sunday roast, but as they were a fancy Italian type they didn't have that dark red colour, and for some reason just didn't taste the same. We like to roast them too- with whole garlic cloves in balsamic vinegar and white wine.

Maybe I'll tell you about the Apple Butter next time, yum!

2009-11-15T15:26:00.002Z

The moon on Bonfire night was close and looked down on our strange celebrations. Guy Fawkes' plan didn't seem so nutty to many this year. Not a good year for Parliamentarians...

Smoke from fire and the smell of fireworks filled our nostrils and the moon disappeared behind the clouds, J was definitely NOT going to venture outside! We stayed cosy by the hearth.

Berries

2009-11-12T10:00:00.001Z

Isn't it funny how the Mahonia berries are so similar to the ivy flowers?

What puzzles me though is that all across the gardening media, they say that insects will swarm all over ivy flowers and visit any late flowering plants. I have yet to see a single one. In fact the single dozy bee I saw last Friday bypassed all the flowers and was trying to get in the house through a locked window. Hmm, maybe I just missed them all...

from the top... Rowan, Japanese Honeysuckle, evergreen honeysuckle, (furry friend) pyracantha, Mahonia and Ivy

Winter flowers

2009-11-09T11:11:00.005Z

I'm not sure if 'Winter Flowers' is really an accurate description of these lovelies. However,all of these blooms were picked on Friday 6th November. I just love the colours in this loose arrangement, it seems very romantic and summery!

Sweet pea
Rose
Dahlia
Nasturtium
Verbena
Feverfew
Gladioli
Fuchsia
Penstemon
Geranium 'Ann Folkhard'
Winter Jasmine
(the yellow tube-like flower's name has completely passed me by, any hints?)

See if you can spot them all...

Flowers in winter

2009-11-04T19:56:00.001Z

Taken on the 1st November this year

-- Posted from my iPhone

The Dahlia News

2009-11-01T10:19:00.007Z

Dahlia 'Polka' has been superb in the raised bed within J's Corral this year. I took cuttings earlier in the year, having started the tubers in the spring, so last year' one surviving plant has become at least three or four good tubers. They didn't do so well planted in the tin bath, I am guilty of erratic watering routines, especially at the top of the garden. You can see here, the plants are leggy, the flowers were much smaller and fewer in number. In fact, in the bath they are over now.

For the ones in the raised bed I brought them on in an aquatic basket to make it easy to replace the tulips as soon as the danger of frosts was gone. This should make it simple to to replace the dahlia with tulips again when the frosts blacken the foliage. (you can see in the top photo that I have the tulip basket ready to go in, but I can't bring myself to lift the dahlias!) I protected them from my clumsy dog by covering them with large wire hanging baskets until they were big enough to need twiggy supports.

But here we are on All Hallows Day, and I still have sweet peas and dahlias in full bloom, maybe I can admire them a little longer!

Winter Veg

2009-10-25T18:55:00.006Z

Winter is on the way, so we have planted winter onions and brassicas. M gave me some red onion sets (variety unknown) so those have gone in, along with our usual planting of Japanese overwintering sets. This year's crop was so easy, and the onions are really tasty. They are very strong and make me cry, so I have to make sure I have a tissue at hand when I chop them!!

The pigeons and slugs are enjoying the purple sprouting brocolli and black kale (is it the same as cavolo nero that Jamie Oliver talks about?) I put in two weeks ago. I am trying to protect them from the birds with cloches but they keep blowing away. Any tips?

I've also broadcast a green manure, winter rye, to keep the fertility in the soil and help break up our clay soil. Germination has been patchy, so I'll try and sow some more before it gets too cold.

Long nights

2009-10-25T18:38:00.004Z

Today we turned our clocks back, which brings a little more light in the morning, but radically changes our evening. No more pottering in the garden in the last hour before tea, it's way too dark! I may be outnumbered here, but I do like the winter months. Perhaps growing up as a horsey girl means that I am remembering horses snuggled up in cosy stables in winter, long hacks out on crisp mornings and the like.

Whatever it is, I can't help it. We light the fire, get cosy and wait for spring...!

My Autumn's Done Come

2009-10-04T19:19:00.003+01:00

Apologies to Lee Hazlewood, who actually penned this song, but I heard it first on Mark Morriss' album Memory Muscle. Over recent years, Bluetones frontman Mark has been preoccupied with getting older. (or am I projecting?!) This bitter sweet tune about the Autumn of life was playing on my iPod during our recent trip to Scotland.

'Sling me a hammock tween two trees and dammit leave me be'

This time of year is still full of pleasures for plantspeople, but can be ripe with reminders of the dark months ahead.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Composting Childs

GBBD- Garden Bloggers Bloom Day Feb 2012

New Year Resolve

GBBD - 15th December 2011

Warm Autumn Days

Favourite Flower - Chrysanthemum

GBBD -September 2011

Sedum Spectacular

GBBD- August 2011 (Front Garden)

GBBD- August 2011

Dry gardens

Arabian Nights

Amplified Leicester

Garden Tour - Stage 2

Trading My Surplus

Garden Tour - stage 1

What's so great about growing things?

Why do we grow our own?

Veg out

Front Up

Catching up

Compost update

Daily reading

What have I said..?

Catch The Sun

Compost trials

Green Cone Installed

Winter Flowers

Birthday Treats

Winter depths

Feeding Garden Birds

Composting Gifts

Leaving Autumn Behind

Mellow Yellow

Front border part one

Last Chance to See in 2010

The Dahlia News

Barnsdale visit

Tomato season

Blogging and Composting

Fennel Skies

August Skies

Hoverflies

Onion Harvest

Flowers in August

Ladybird Abundance

Raspberry Heaven - Part Two

Raspberry Heaven

That's Shallot!

Composting Sister

Composting Childs on Holiday

Positivity

Underground, Overground, Wombling Free

Midsummer Sky

What's eating my Day Lilies?

Front Garden Plans - extended

Front Garden Plans

A Hot Spot

Beauty and no beasties

Ring Culture

Green

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COMPOSTING MUM!

Beans, Beans are good for the heart...

New Life

Hurry Up and Wait

Under Cover

Crumbly Compost

I *Heart* Spring

New plants from old - part 2

New plants from old

Recycling part 3

Euphorbia Euphoria

Recycling part 2

Recycled Containers

Paths

Feeling Seedy Part 2

Spring Flowers

Feeling Seedy

Potting up

Sunny Sunday

I Heart Spring