Holiday leave Wed 21st August 2013

I've put some chemicals down against the cabbage whites for the new netting ordered simply didn't get here in time!

So we're off to deepest, greenest Wales and hopefully, there just might be an internet cafe somewhere so that I can tell you of our garden travels there.

Toodle oo

Daisy

ps the cabbages are growing well I've tidied u[ all my gardens and well I shall just have to cope with the weeds when we get back!!!!

Ants - masses of them! Monday, 19th August 2013

A plague of black, flying ants in the garden at the weekend.  They were seen to be creeping from beneath the paving slab at the front of the veggie patch - a pool of fluttering wings and gleaming black bodies, oozing onto the black ground-sheet.

And not only these horrors, which I dislike intensely, but the smaller, domestic ants which have also been making their presence known; somehow they're not so bad as the flying ones.

I've sat outside during summers past, eating and chatting, and suddenly being bombarded by a swarm of those black, whirring insects, choking the air around you, getting onto your food, your clothes and everything.  Apparently, they come just once a summer and are a perfect menace.

I guess if that's their life, you simply have to feel sympathy for them but, it's hard to do so, when their presence is overwhelmingly obnoxious.  Of course, the manager of the establishment was in arms over their arrival and resultant distress to his customers, wrung his hands in despair at our's and his discomfiture, but was ultimately, unable to deal fully with the situation which, we all knew would, eventually, be resolved without any assistance from manpower!  Mother Nature was in control and there was nothing to be done but wait for the attacking cloud to pass away which, of course it did, all very suddenly.

But back to the ants in the garden and well, there was nothing else to be done, but to boil a kettle and pour it over the offending creatures.  A very old-fashioned treatment which still seems to be the best way of dealing with such little devils.

My plants continue to grow, despite the great numbers of  Cabbage Whites threatening their very existence and I continue to treat my patch to solutions of soapy water, and keeping tying up the netting which, of course, comes undone, all by itself or with the rain; and the butterflies can, in any case, ease themselves thru' the mesh itself, by just folding one wing over the other and sliding in.

I must see if I can find a smaller mesh netting and or get some anti-cabbage white stuff to spray on???

Perhaps I won't grow cabbages again next year???!

The garden -

I do love to garden - it's definitely a "lovesome thing" ain't it!!!

Daisy

Home leave...Friday, 16th August 2013

Away from the garden for a few days to get other things done.  It's so easy slipping into a particular routine, becoming enmeshed in doing something you love to do....but then,. suddenly, realising the rest of your life is falling apart somehow!

So, on Wednesday, the dear SO went off to do his work at the house, whilst Alice and I went for a nice walk.  We returned and well, rather did nothing much for the rest of the day, just tidying up and chores and such stuff.  These things are always there and just have to be seen too, and it's something we all need to be bothered about at various times.

I'm currently reading The Cazalet novels by Elizabeth Jane Howard and enjoying the ride very much indeed.  Our next book club read, for September when next we meet, is The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky, which is definitely something to get my teeth into - soon!  We discussed it at our summer lunch jolly, and we all agreed it was quite a hard read but a very good one.  I don't think the summer will drag with that book to hand!

I shall return to the garden at the weekend to see how it's getting on.  Luckily. we've had rain these last three days, which is a great help.  It can take simply ages to water a good sized garden.

And our walk, when the sun was shining -

And here's Alice too...

Toodle oo

Daisy

Watering and Pruning - Tuesday, 13th August 2013

My cabbage cage is still standing!!!

Just a little watering and a chance to check on my cabbage cage, which is still standing, and no cabbage whites around to spoil the view - as far as my plants were concerned!

Now for some pruning.  I seem to have, perhaps, taken off just a little too much but, the trouble with this view is that it fails to take into account the dead wood just beneath the plants top layer of greenery decorating the various garden bushes.

It all looked lovely and lush and green and fresh but the blackened and lifeless stems beyond, told another story of unfortunate neglect and poor management.

All shrubs, like trees, need to be managed; kept in trim with regular prunings and garden perspective, for the problem of shade.  And, yes, it's good to have shade and the right shade is essential.

Such as the shade to sit under which is so necessary for all of us.  Plants need shade too, in which to grow and develop and avoid the high burning heat of summer.  Vegetables need an absence of shade to be, and give, of their very best, to bring on the full glory of the freshness of the array of colourings we all love to buy, and bring home to our kitchens.

The right shade, in the correct depth and intensity, is cool, delicious and essential, in the exact spot where the gardener, including everyone else, needs it to be, and pruning is the key to achieving this highly desirable state.

And, sometimes, you have to be brave and take out more than perhaps, at first sight, is deemed to be acceptable and comfortable.

So I did.....it will soon grow again!!!

Happy gardening!

Daisy

definitely improved!

I'm going to build my first cabbage cage...Monday, 12th August, 2013,.

Here is my vegetable patch and, what you perhaps cannot spot, are the cabbage whites dive-bombing my plants and determined to do their stuff everywhere!

Plants and netting in place!

As you can see, the netting is low down, if not actually touching my baby plants, which means the butterflies are also able to connect to their favoured green-leaf!

Now I, had no idea how to raise my netting, but was bothered by the prospect of munched leaves and no cabbage for human consumption and the prospect of building, or buying a pre-made cover, which was daunting and probably expensive.

And at this stage,  I had no ground cover, for I'd not realised it would be needed.  However, I had sticks and netting in place, so I just needed to work out how to raise the height of my netting which, eventually, I realised could be achieved by top and bottom tying stick to netting, stretching the netting over and across a row of plants, and then tying the netting to the 2nd and opposite row of sticks, thence to third and fourth row of sticks, about my plants.

Then a problem, not sufficient sticks to be found, so I purchased three sets of pine hoops, and positioned them to fit my needs, and tying up the netting as I connected my series of sticks, hoops and netting, making sure no gaps were left open.

It was a long job, made more tricky by not having any ground-cover in place beforehand, plus my staggered planting plan, so no easy to-get-at long strips of open soil.  I laid the various lengths and half-lengths of black ground-cover, put in little strips as necessary, and made cuts and holes, where need, for the plants to grow up through.  Bricks and large stones were used to keep my ground-cover in place.

A trifle untidy, perhaps???

I took  tea-break at this stage to consider how I was doing?  The ends of my cage were not properly sealed and I'd left a few netting gaps over the hoops.  A butterfly had got in and become enmeshed but I thought he would free himself by folding over one of his wings and making his escape.  As this was not happening, I opened up a fold of the netting, and he flew away.  This was a useful action for both of us - his escape and for me to spot the flaws in my overall plan!

I added extra string tie-ups to the netting over the hoops and to the sides of my cage, plus more large stones and bricks to the outer edges, to keep everything in place.  Overall, it's a pretty fragile structure, and it may not last well but at least no more cabbage whites entered my covered space that afternoon, so my structure just might work?

It's possible I'll have to raise the height of my cage as my plants grow, but only time will tell!

Here's another photo-shot of my cabbage cage, which I have to admit, took a great deal of stretching, bending, and sore knees - plus huffing and puffing, to get it built?

My first garden cage!!!

My cage cost approximately £25.00 to build, which I think is quite cheap - provided it doesn't require too much in the way of re-structuring and patching-up!

This evening, after a long day in the garden, we ate a very simple store-cupboard supper  of corned beef, poached eggs, Petit pois and baked beans - dee-licious!

Toodle oo

Daisy

Yesterday in the garden plus a second one - Saturday, 10th August 2013

And here's my other garden - the Cottage garden-scene!

Very early too, for I had the loan of a pair of long-handled secateurs to use on the laurel bush that had previously been allowed to get horribly extended and out of shape.

What appeared to be a mass of luxuriant and glossy growth was, actually, only a top layer of greenery disguising the dead and lifeless mess of twisted and and thickened stems, covered by moth-eaten and dusty-looking leaves.

So eventually, I had to cut away rather more than I had, originally, thought would be required. Now however, having cut done it, there's a window on to the herb garden I'm creating beyond the rose bed and bush, plus the lemon balm planted last night, so all will be just fine.

Then pruning of the thick bushes hedging the other side of the lawn, cutting them well-back to allow for the bulbs, disturbed whilst digging the herb bed, to be bedded, plus space for another small vegetable input plus a lavender border...to keep the bees happy, you understand?

Watering and giving the veggies a solution of soapy water, of course, although however much I do, I'm told we shall certainly lose some brassicas to the cabbage whites, which are constantly hovering and attacking my patch.  Ah well, that's life I guess?

A little clearing out of the cuttings box then on to another garden, which has not been visited since last week...oh dear, it's a maintenance things, hey?

The garden - "a lovesome thing, Got wot!" to quote Thomas Edward Brown (1830 - 1897)

staking out and watering!





And a great deal of bending and stretching, watering and......I forgot to bring the hoe, ho ho ho, next time???


Cheerio, Daisy

Watering, pruning and tidying-up on Friday, 9th August 2012

In the garden, and a bit later today, for there were things to do at home before I could get outside.

It's just one of those times to contend with!

Anyway, I managed to get to the garden about 9.30 and immediately watered the vegetables even though there had been early morning rain; and after the water, a solution of soapy water to keep the bugs at bay.

It's an overcast morning and a little dark, and the cabbage whites are nowhere to be seen until about an hour later, which is good. In the afternoon, it becomes brighter and sunnier and then there are plenty of butterflies flitting over the garden but by then, I've given my cabbages two sprays of soapy solution and the butterflies are definitely keeping clear of the netting, which is brilliant.

I work until approximately midday and then return for a little more paperwork and a chance to put my feet up, do a little shopping, prepare supper and read for a short while before revisiting the garden scene.  On the way, I collect a pair of long-handled secateurs, shears and some garden pots for lavender cuttings and a few mint plants.

A quick watering again, to keep my new plants in good form, and some soapy solution against the bugs!

I've been trying to reduce the size of an over-sized laurel bush that's gone wild and the luxuriant growth is only a thin veneer of glossiness, for underneath it's all deadwood, moth-eaten leaves and a fine congestion of ivy and laurel leaves entwined about each other.  My small secateurs cope with the top leaves but not the dry old stems and branches.  I need to cut the front section clear away to give the bush a chance for re-growth.  I spend the next hour doing all I can to reduce the bulkiness of the bush, and to allow a little more light into the border, around the base of the bush, where there is a high accumulation of ivy mixed in with a variegated, small leaved creeping plant.  It's managed and now I shall only need help with the thickest of branches, still holding out against removal, and the opened-out middle section is looking good.

By now, I'm hooked on using these new tools,so I have a go at the bushes on the opposite side of the garden, and manage to cut away quite a few, low-down, thicker stems which have resisted my earlier prunings.

I plant a few more herbs, water the veggies and herbs again, and store all my tools away for another day.  It's too late now to take another photo-shot but here's one from earlier in the day...

Easy on the eye garden!

....and you can see the trimmings littering the right hand side of the garden and the rather bare herb bed over to the left hand garden side.  The bush at the left far-back, has had another trimming today and now, with my extra tools, I shall be able to reduce it's width to an even more acceptable girth!

A last good watering and I'm determined to go home....but, it's so easy to become hooked, and time simply runs away with you - out in the garden, on a warm and sunny evening, with the daylight slowly fading away and that sense of wellbeing suffusing soil-grubby little you!

Daisy xxx

Planting days...Thursday, 8th August 2013.

My day began at 7.30 am, for I needed to put in the last of my veggie plants and cover the whole plot with insect netting, for there absolutely masses of cabbage white butterflies about this summer.  I don't want to harm them, you understand, but just prevent them eating our vegetables which we want to eat instead!

So in went eight cauliflowers, about thirteen Rainbow Chard plants and a row of peas which may, or may not, come to anything.  It might just be too late to hope for peas to develop but I've not grown them before and just want to see how they get on in our veggie patch?

A little black kitten came to see what I was doing and absolutely insisted on helping me....so eventually I had to shoo her away for she was treading on the  plants; must plant some Nepeta for her to tread on, instead of the cabbages!

By the time my netting was in place, the sun was coming out and so too the cabbage whites, in great abundance but, although they hovered and fluttered about, trying to lay their eggs, I felt they were not successful, and puzzled by the fact they kept becoming attached to the protection I'd just fixed.

The netting was at first rather low down on the plants, because this is my first experience with it and I was not sure how it should go, but then realising how easily the butterflies could attach their eggs to my baby leaves, I eased the netting up by moving the sticks and bricks holding the edges down, thus giving more headroom to my developing plants.  I've been watering madly and washing down with a solution of soapy water, to help stop insect attack, and keeping my fingers tightly crossed for a harvest of sorts.  I've been told not to hope for too much, as my planting is rather late in the season and because of all the insects about this year but, here's hoping anyway, and we've got to eat too!!!

Then I planted lovage and parsley, angelica, marjoram, rosemary and two kinds of sage in two new beds, freshly dug over today.

A little pruning and tidying-up completed my day with more watering's and washings throughout, plus a late evening watering after dinner.

And tomorrow.... let's see?

Bye for now

Daisy

My well-watered veggie patch - and not a kitten in sight!

And a view or two of the gardening progress...! Wednesday, 7th August 2013

And the lawn has been done, too!

Planting cabbages!

Well, this how it's all going...

And Alice came too!





Isn't digging just the hardest thing to do?  I just keep drinking water and somehow, it's getting easier, and I do so love to garden.  Suddenly, I seem to have three or four different gardens to look after and life is good!

Toodle oo, Daisy

My Gardening Diary

And here is my present gardening project...

Before the planting began...!

Here you can see the veggie plot is taking shape, the ground has been cleared of old plants and we've done the heavy digging and then it was down to me to clear as many of the deep roots as possible and turn the soil, and prepare the ground for my planting scheme.

So I bought my plants on Sunday, and began the clearance on Monday.  On Tuesday, I tried to buy the special insect netting to keep the cabbage white butterfly off my green plants.  Having, mistakenly, bought the wrong stuff but not recognising this fact until later that evening after I'd tried to water my plants thru' its almost entirely closed mesh, it was actually put into use to cover my plants last night, and weighed down with stones and bricks.  This morning, I quickly removed the offending article and watered the plot.

Now, because a new kitchen is being fitted simultaneously with the new garden, and the taps and water supply were missing from the kitchen, I've been having to bring all my supplies down from the bathroom in buckets and watering cans and even squash and water bottles - which has meant a great deal of extra work for me to do.

Thus this morning, I spent some considerable time collecting enough water for as I'm sure you know, new plants need a great deal of watering to ease them into their new home and with the present very warm weather, it's even more important to water copiously.  So there I was with my new planted and watered plants, and I had also washed them with a soapy water solution, using washing up liquid, which I know is good for aphids, and I'm told is also good against caterpillars and butterflies.  Everybody has told me I must cover my plants with netting, as well as washing them down, but I still didn't have the netting, thus off we went, Alice and me, to track some down.

Having accomplished this task, I also had to find some extra ingredients for supper, and when all this was finally done, we were able to come home for lunch and some paperwork before getting back to the garden, for a quick session, before returning to prepare supper with friends, and then go out with my girlfriend to a WI summer Pimm's and nibbles evening!

At the garden I put the netting in place, cleared up all the pruned greenery, and dashed home.  And tonight, after our "do" and supper, I've watered the plants once more and washed them with the soapy solution, and rushed back home to write up this diary.

Tomorrow morning, I'm down for more planting and watering, plus a quick pruning visit to my first garden and then back home to write my diary again.

Happy days,  toodle oo, Daisy

And more garden leave

I planted all the new plants since my last Post and now, here I am again, with yet another consignment of items for the garden; and another garden to boot!

This time its vegetables that I am attempting to get into the ground today, and it's ground that until just very recently has been entirely covered by weeds and roots, hedging and all manner of garden detritus.  At the end of the lawn is the previous owner's flower bed, surrounded by plants with seeds to scatter for next summer, which I will be collecting and scattering about the newly turned and cleared soil.  However, where I want to plant most of the veggies is partially covered by stone slabs, interspersed with blocks of earth which, |I am pretty sure, will be jolly hard for me to dig, so I'm calling in extra digging assistance.

Gardening is wonderful  isn't it, and growing your own  food, brilliant, particularly for the creative cook, which is how I like to categorise myself.  However, beginning to dig and bend and scrabble about the lays of a new plot, can be  most injurious to the poor gardener - me again!  The exercise is great and it is really thrilling to be in charge of a new planting scheme but one simply has to be careful about diving into a new digging venture.  Ones back simply must be given the greatest amount of consideration, patience and time since it's so very easy, in the flush of excitement, to strain and chill.  You have to do a little weeding, a little clearing and then some digging and then rest a while, to give your body time to acclimatize itself to a new exercise regime, in order to avoid overdoing it.  There's absolutely no point at all, madly dashing about the garden, doing everything all at once, just to end up with an aching back, and having to rest up for the remainder of the week or weekend!

Patience is a great virtue, especially in the garden, and timing and thinking, by which I mean, you have to garden early in the morning before the sun becomes too hot, as it was doing in July.  Then learn to circumnavigate the rain and dig in your new plants either just before, or just after, a downpour, then rest on your laurels and plan your next move, whilst it's actually raining, to prepare yourself for the next dry period.

So, I'm planting out a new vegetable garden, pruning and tidying up in another garden, continuing the planting and weeding in my first garden which began with the plants I brought home from Kew Gardens at the beginning of June and, now, planning what to do with a new plot of garden given to me just last week - which is absolutely smashing, having a stretch of earth just for me to do with whatever I want to do.  I also continue to garden with my own garden, within a friend's garden, which is container gardening of herbs and viola and an assortment of other plants which I'm planning to spread out into the main bedding area, to enable me to grow more herbs.

I just love planting herbs and not just for the kitchen, but all manner of ones from angelica and lovage, to whatever can be found at the various garden centres in Oxfordshire and at Kew gardens, of course!  Most of my herb plantings have taken place in containers, resulting in careful watering and pruning, to keep things looking good, so now to have actual space for them to spread and increase in size, is very thrilling.

With my new vegetable plants I fully realise I may be chancing my luck just too much, as the growing season is in full swing, and there simply may not be sufficient time for the plants to develop and produce an edible crop to harvest; but a freshly dug and tilled plot simply begs to be filled up with new plants - so that's what I am doing and, frankly, hoping for the best.  I think that's what you must do, learn from what happens and grows, and put that experience to best use for the following year's planting scheme.

A view of Kew Gardens

I also have to sketch out my various planting schemes, to enable me to see which flowers and plants have gone where and how, so that I know where everything is so, where did I put that graph paper - isn't it irritating not being able to find something???

I wish I had my own potting shed!

Toodle oo

Daisy