Disemboweling Daleks

Sad Blueberries

Last time I wrote I was waiting for rain to arrive. Well it did eventually at about eleven pm – better late than never I suppose! We have had some heavy thundery rain and showers since then but still the ground is dry. Once again there is the possibility of rain later – its always later never now! One day I may well sit here bemoaning the persistent rain stopping me getting outside and doing things but I don't think it will be for a while yet!


Recently I saw an item on local news about the amazing blueberry crop being harvested by a Norfolk fruit grower – huge clusters of berries looking more like grapes – I am envious, I'd be over the moon if my bushes produced even half that amount. I really must re-home them and give them lots of attention.

Dalek innards

When I return to the allotment I shall be digging over the early potato patch and putting in some brassicas, kindly given to me by a neighbour, and trying out some late broad beans because the harvest has been so terrible from the early ones. In preparation for this I dug out some compost from the 'Dalek' by the kitchen door. It has been working away decomposing for over a year and I'm quite pleased with the results. It is fairly dry and very crumbly but some egg shells have survived. It is fine for digging in on the allotment and will finish rotting down in its own time. 'Dalek' number two is now filling up mainly with vegetable trimmings from the kitchen plus some lawn mowings and shredded paper. I don't put in any of the garden weeds because I don't think the heap gets hot enough to kill them so they go into the brown bin for the council to deal with. Hedge trimmings and prunings also go to the council because without a shredder to make them digestible I'd be left with a lot of sticks.

Silver Y Moths

The Escallonia

 By the kitchen door there is a huge mature Escallonia Macrantha which last year attracted large numbers of bees, it just hummed all day. This year the bees have been joined by a
cloud of Silver Y moths. I didn’t realise just how many there were until I came home one evening and saw a halo of moths over the bush. I have tried to photograph them but not had much luck. Maybe I should have tried to video them instead. The blooms are waning now so the bees and moths are starting to go elsewhere for their nectar fix. Who knows what else will turn up next year.



 

Non Standard Fuchsia

Not Alpines but still pretty

The pots in the garden are doing quite well. The sweet pea wigwam had some lovely blooms, again coming to an end now. My rescued tall fuchsia is doing very well, last year it had been decapitated so I gave it a good home. I am thinking of training it into a proper standard, just a rather short one. Remember the old sink by the front door? Well I didn't manage to replant it so it just has some annuals in it but they look very colourful.
 

Buddlea hits the bottle

I have been trying out the irrigation spikes around the garden and in the house. The one I bought have taps on to adjust the flow – all I have to do is get the flow rate right! The two cheeseplants upstairs are very glad of them as they now get a continuous supply of water. I have tried them out in some outdoor pots and the new border. I am taking five bottles down to the allotment to water the squashes, It could be more but the boys are not drinking the fizz fast enough - I have sixteen spikes!!