Garden Day
Yesterday the rain stopped. Brighid the garden murderer slept in. Perfect conditions to actually do something in the garden.
I started with a spot of murdering of my own - the caterpillar hunt. I killed about 20, which is a definite slow down from last month, given that I have about 20 brassica plants, all either broccoli, curly kale, cavolo nero or russian kale.
Now that the rainy season is upon us, the ground is likely to be too wet for liquid fertiliser for the next nine months, so the comfrey/sheep poo brew which I hadn't entirely used up this season can be held over for next year. I cut down all the comfrey from my four rather prolific plants and dumped it on top of the current brew. I added more water and figure it should all be broken down and marvellous by 2010.
The potatoes out the front are ready to harvest. The most noticeable casualty of my more limited gardening time this season just gone has been that I have not mounded up the potatoes sufficiently. On every crop this summer, I have lost too many to being above the ground and green.
I thought I'd check the zucchini, not expecting much. hummpphh! A marrow and another very large zucchini. I've got steak defrosting to then mince up for stuffing the marrow. We won the steak in a raffle eons ago and I'd rather use that than go out and buy ready-made mince which will be of inferior quality. I quite like getting the spong mincer out and pretending to be a butcher.
I have got four different parsley plants looking healthy and ready to supply me with parsley for hummous and tabbouleh throughout the winter. I've let one go to seed each year and then transplanted the liitle seedlings which come up around it. I think it is giant Italian parsley originally. It keeps growing through winter and is my best winter asset.
Today we are off to collect more materials for our raised beds and/or garden paths. Friends have pulled their chimney out and the bricks - lovely deep orange ones - were otherwise going to landfill. So we'll tootle round with our wee station wagon and load it up a few times this afternoon.
I started with a spot of murdering of my own - the caterpillar hunt. I killed about 20, which is a definite slow down from last month, given that I have about 20 brassica plants, all either broccoli, curly kale, cavolo nero or russian kale.
Now that the rainy season is upon us, the ground is likely to be too wet for liquid fertiliser for the next nine months, so the comfrey/sheep poo brew which I hadn't entirely used up this season can be held over for next year. I cut down all the comfrey from my four rather prolific plants and dumped it on top of the current brew. I added more water and figure it should all be broken down and marvellous by 2010.
The potatoes out the front are ready to harvest. The most noticeable casualty of my more limited gardening time this season just gone has been that I have not mounded up the potatoes sufficiently. On every crop this summer, I have lost too many to being above the ground and green.
I thought I'd check the zucchini, not expecting much. hummpphh! A marrow and another very large zucchini. I've got steak defrosting to then mince up for stuffing the marrow. We won the steak in a raffle eons ago and I'd rather use that than go out and buy ready-made mince which will be of inferior quality. I quite like getting the spong mincer out and pretending to be a butcher.
I have got four different parsley plants looking healthy and ready to supply me with parsley for hummous and tabbouleh throughout the winter. I've let one go to seed each year and then transplanted the liitle seedlings which come up around it. I think it is giant Italian parsley originally. It keeps growing through winter and is my best winter asset.
Today we are off to collect more materials for our raised beds and/or garden paths. Friends have pulled their chimney out and the bricks - lovely deep orange ones - were otherwise going to landfill. So we'll tootle round with our wee station wagon and load it up a few times this afternoon.
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