Gardening

[Stanley]

Two pics of the state of play in the front garden last night at 21:00. I think we have reached the peak for this year. Anyone for mint sauce?

[Moh]

Hubby is in the garden trimming the bushes, everything is growing so fast with this weather.

[Stanley]

My mint was flagging a bit but that dressing of hose muck in Spring certainly pulled the trigger! I'll bet the worms are enjoying it as well.

[Marilyn]

Love your front door, Stanley.
Our garden is in hibernation over Winter, and I keep finding single eggs under various bushes. It's those Moor Hens again, and they wander about as they choose, scratching about and leaving a mess. I keep fishing the eggs out as I find them and disposing of them. They are not tending them and they won't half pong when our weather warms up if I don't remove them. Not the kind of smell you want on the path to the front door.
I am off to son's place for a few days as his Labrador is having knee surgery this week ( I am the dog minder while he works). Basically I am just there to stop her ripping her stitches out and keep her calm. So if it's nice weather, we may spend it in the garden together and I shall trim some of his plants. with me keeping such a close eye on her, I am hoping she won't have to endure one of those bucket collars...

[Stanley]

They soon get used to the bucket Maz and you can give her a rest from it while you are supervising...
When they were doing the big refurb I objected to the plastic doors, I had perfectly good Mahogany ones.... But eventually I saw the light and they are far better, just need a coat of furniture polish to keep them clean, very well insulated and far more secure than a wooden door. Glad you like it, the back door in the yard is red as well....

[Stanley]

I think we might have reached peak growth for this year! No matter how much mint I gather it grows and grows.
Can anyone tell me what the sweet scented herb to the right of the Ladslove is?

[Wendyf]

Hard to tell without a closer look but I would guess that it is marjoram or possibly thyme.

[PanBiker]

Sally tends to concur.

[Tizer]

We'd need a close up pic to make a definite ID. Has it flowered yet? Our marjoram has been flowering for a while (purply-pink colour, sometimes white) but it may be later up there in the Barlick mountains. There's a good pic of the flowers on this page: LINK

[Sue]

A bit large for thyme, I think marjoram

[Stanley]

Click to enlarge. It has tiny flowers close to the stem. The larger leaf poking through is mint fighting for life!

[Wendyf]

This morning's harvest with peas still to go. I think I'll take a veggie box to the neighbours!

[Sue]

Excellent. I pulled 15 sweet corn yesterday and I have bowls and bowls of tomatoes. My butternut squash are huge and my beans are producing daily as are my courgettes. Everything else had been poor I swear I dug only as many potatoes as I put in.

[Stanley]

That goat muck will help....
L<okks like harvest festival Wendy.....

[Marilyn]

Your veg photo gave me a tingle, Wendy.
Today whilst out we did a circuit around the plant nursery...I bought more Baby Spinach, Chives (plain, not Garlic Chives), Chard, and some round ( round!) Carrots for my "allotment". I'm hoping to plant them tomorrow and will take a pic. Ever seen round carrots? They are called "Roly Poly" Carrots. I was curious, and they looked so cute on the tag, that I couldn't resist. By the look of the picture they grow to about Radish size.

[Stanley]

Maz is getting adventurous, planting round carrots....

[Wendyf]

I've seen the round carrot seeds Maz but never grown any. I've never fancied growing different coloured carrots either. Is it time for you to get to work on the allotment?
I'm always shocked by how short the growing season is here....one day you are waiting anxiously for the first seedlings to appear then before you know it there is a rush to get everything picked and cleared up before autumn arrives.

[LizG]

I never have any luck with winter crops but I've tried again. This time I'm experimenting with cabbages, broccoli and broccolini. Hopefully we won't have too many more frosts. Last year I tried beetroot in winter and it just sat there doing nothing until almost summer, then it went nuts.

[Marilyn]

Oh yes, Wendy. It was time to refresh the allotment today ( took all of 20 mins).
No weeds to deal with, just a bit of digging and planting and I pulled out the old Chilli Plant, which had served me well.
Delighted to discover some very plump worms in the soil...now how did they get in there? One of life's little mysteries.
Very windy here today so came back through the kitchen door looking very windswept and interesting. Hubby looked at me strangely until I explained I had been "doing the allotment".

[Wendyf]

Worms seem to come from nowhere. When the ponies are stabled I soak their hay nets in a tank of water to settle the dust. The water in the tank gets changed every 2 or 3 days but by the time I empty it there will be a mass of pink worms swimming around in the bottom. Are they in the hay? Dunno. Same with water buckets out in the field. One of life's little mysteries.
Don't overdo it....

[Marilyn]

Exactly!...(she pauses while washing the dinner dishes and her eyes glaze over as she ponders one of life's mysteries)...where DO those worms come from?

Maybe they live in the clouds and fall as rain...

[Wendyf]

I've been learning stuff during coffee time....worm eggs can lie dormant for up to 5 months if conditions aren't ok for them. So my hay contains earthworm eggs who are thinking " This is much too dry for me!!" The hay hits the water and "Whoopee, hatch, hatch, hatch!!"
They can survive under water for weeks (I have read) if there is enough oxygen in the water for them.

[Sue]

A standard biology practical is to put three or four trays outside, a dry one, one with water only, one with water and leaves and any other combinations you can think of. Over a period of several weeks the contents of the tray are examined with a microscope as well as without and organism succession noted. It's amazing what is in the dust of the air and in rain droplets.

[Wendyf]

Looking at the life cycle of the earthworm brought back memories of biology lessons and how terrified I was of the biology mistress...she didn't think much of my abilities, but she did appreciate my drawings.
I got to the stage in the 5th form where I didn't even try, and remember vividly getting home from school on the day before my O level biology, having done no revision at all, and finding I had left my books in school. I dashed back (we lived quite close) and grabbed my books, did a bit of swotting and managed a decent pass! If I had liked the biology teacher my life could might taken a different course completely.....mmm, now I come to think about it I only liked the art & history teachers..... Silly me.

[Tizer]

A lot of wildlife no doubt gets into our houses as eggs and `babies' on our shoes then grows larger and larger until we see it and wonder "How did that get into the house?"