Today in my garden

Still recovering from the virus so decided to take it easy today - so took some photos around my this morning garden. 

Some of the flock come to see waht I am doing

Zola's a bit scruffy - she's been laying like the clappers and I think she is going broody

Here come the stragglers

It's nice to see the pond plants coming into bloom and the iries and other plants coming through the gravel around it.  It's a nature pond now, and we have lots of newts, frogs, frog spawn and insects

An early clematis I treated myself too for Mothers Day.  I am surprised it has flowered so soon

My little old tortoise, bought from a table top sale outside an old cottage by the church - on my walk

The hanging basket has been non stop flowering for ages, and at last the Alliums are beginning to open.

Delphiniums are shooting up too - wish we had some rain though  - we really need it

Poppy and Daisy

Bluebells - survived the harsh winter and dry spring

Oops these need dead heading

Heading off to the woodland garden to search for worms

I bought myself a walk in greenhouse a few weeks ago, and finally managed to erect it  yesterday

I am thrilled to bits with it - it is strong and roomy - and will be full over the summer

This area was one of those which seemed to 'collect' things - like sacks of sand, pots - we all have an area like that don't we.  Well not any more, I pruned the roses and clematis at the back of the trellis.  Mr Lottie cleared the ivy and we both shifted all the sand and 'rubbish'

It was worth all the effort.

Lloyd - it's 140cm x140cm x 200cm high

The tape was not needed, but I used it as I had done so in another little greenhouse, and it has lasted for a number of years now left out in the winter!

Dwarf french beans

Victorian climbing peas

The raised bed has been sown with seeds - hence the netting to keep the birds off.

Allotment Diary Me:22.5hrs He:22.5hrs as at 10th April

Last time I posted about my allotment on the 15th of March which you can see here we were working on getting a plot ready for the potatoes this year.   It's part of my crop rotation project which I adhere to religiously to help protect against desease. 

Since then we have spent 7 hours up the plot - before we were struck down with the Noro virus on 11th April.  Mr Lottie brought it back from a bowls night - and I played Florence Nightingale before having to call the doctor out as he was so ill - and we didn't know anything about the virus!   A few days later I was struck down with it - and almost 2 weeks later we are still rather weak and just getting back on our  'sea legs' so this post is rather late - and things have changed apace up the allotment since these photos.

I raked over, then rotorvated this plot several times before digging out the trenches for my 2nd early and late potatoes

My 'under gardener' split up and moved some rhubarb plants to the fruit cage.

He asked my advice on how to do it and then completely ignored what I said - sigh - but I am sure they will grow anyway.  I am just grateful for his help

I hard pruned all the bushes in the autumn and it has really paid off.

Looks like we will be getting a bumper crop this year, fingers crossed!

The black currents are doing especially well - in a draught too.

The redcurrants and gooseberry bushes are enjoying the sunshine as well

The under-gardener is banging in stakes for me, marking the different varieties of potatoes I planted

There hasn't been a drop of rain since I planted them

Mr L pulling over the soil of the last potatoes, by this time I could hardly stand up I was that tired.

What is standing up nicely to the dry weather are the comfrey plants - not only standing up but positively thriving!  I'll be giving them a trim soon.

How the broad beans have managed to germinate and start to grow is one of natures wonders.  Without a drop of rain, and pushed into parched dry dusty soil, they still managed to germinate and put on a show of leaves.

Even the onions are making a valient effort.

I am looking forward to going up my plot again soon - even if only to have a look at how it's doing.

Happy Easter

My lovely new pets.................

I have got some new pets.  

No not this one - although he is a cutie and has just fed his leftover lunch to the chooks.

Of course being an old woman, I do need a hand now and again, and one little boy was just delighted to help me build a house.

Then add a block of coir which was soaked for a few hours before you put it in and fluff it all up.

Then you add some dendrobeana - wormery worms

O.K. - a few more then.

That should be enough!

Sprinkle on some worm food cereal to make them feel at home

They love to be kept in the dark and damp, so empty your paper shredder

Soak the paper so that it is nice and damp and spread it out.

Spread it out to cover the coir and food - the worms will eat it all up and make super compost.

There is even a tap so that you can bottle up your worm tea - it's a great liquid fertiliser

And there you have it - it's child's play.

So much so that I bought one for my grandson to take home to put in his garden too!

Well it's the least I could do after he showed me how to make mine.

If you don't have a little helper, you can watch the video and see all the details here

And the best bit is - they are made in Britain and give the best service ever!

Where or where has she gone?

Zola did a disappearing act again. It's not possible to keep your 'eye' on all eleven bantams all at once and they disappear in all directions around the garden,

First thing in the morning they all charge out - and last thing at night they all congregate ready for their evening meal - and we see them during the day too of course.

Zola stopped turning up in the evening for her night time meal - but would appear in the morning before we got up. The egg count went down - so it meant that she had 'gone native' again and was hiding someone laying her eggs and sitting on them.

I hunted in all the usual places but couldn't find her. Under the hedges, and pots, in sneaky hideaway places like behind the compost bins - without any luck.

Then yesterday, after spying on her having her breakfast - she sneakily looked around to see if anyone was looking, then jumped up on the wall and disappeared!

I kept meaning to clear out this corner - and now was the time to do it!

I pulled away all the compost sacks and weeding bags

Then I got down to the stacked garden tools (we are awaiting help to put up a shed). Nothing could possibly get into this corner - there's a tray and an empty cage.

Or could it?

She was hard to see with the naked eye - but by enlarging the photo I could just make her out underneathe the cage!

How she managed to get through all those bags and sacks and squeeze herself under there I do not know!

Once I had carefully removed gardening shears, spades, forks, brooms, bags, sacks, and finally the cage she was exposed - and not best pleased I can tell you. She pecked me like a demon - but as she is so little her pecks did not hurt in the slightest!

She was sitting on 9 eggs!

I did the float test - they all sank, so were all fresh - the result of going awol for ten days!

We had them for lunch with potato wedges - yes we are still eating the spuds I grew last year - and they were delicious!

I had a really good sort out under there and found another egg behind the big metal chest - it had been there for so long that is was as light as a feather! So it was composted.

Zola has decided not to bother going broody now that I have found her hiding place, bless her, and she is much happier for it too!

Oh, talking about composting, I must make the time to tell you about my new pets

Allotment Diary Me:15hrs He:15hrs

Today was a cold dull day - just perfect for working up the allotment

I went over this area that I have previously rotorvated, using my little Mantis Tiller

Then dug out trenches with my (Azada which you can see below)

Each trench was filled with a well rotted mix of pig and horse manure, and I planted my first early potatoes - Rocket, which were covered with yet more manure before being earthed up.

 Only one bag of these this year, as I am having to cut down on the workload, not got the power or energy of a  youngster any more!  Still there are 35 potatoes which will produce and very healthy plot and certainly feed us during the summer

Oh dear looking at the rows this way, they do look a  bit sinister don't they!

No sign of any broad beans on the left yet.

Still, again using my little Mantis to turn the soil into a nice tilth, I created some pathways between the blocks of broad bean rows.

Then I planted two blocks of onions - Stuttgart and Sturon

I might get some red onion sets too - lots of space to fill

Mr Lottie worked hard on sorting out where the winter bonfires have been

I just need to rake this all over, rotorvate it and get it ready for the rest of the potatoes

I think the only thing that gets him up the allotment is the thought of having a bonfire!

Confined to barracks!

  

Mr Lottie was playing golf a couple of mornings last week, so I took the opportunity to do a spot of garden maintenance

 

The woodland borders needed weeding, and plants needed thinning

 

And there was a lot of cutting back of dead foliage and collection of leaves to be done.

 

As usual the chooks were great company, getting under my feet - and almost under the fork.

There is a least one chook in every photo, but they camouflage so easily it's hard to spot them.

 

As fast as I was digging over the beds etc, and sweeping up the debris off the grass, the lovely little tinkers were going crazy at the abundance of disturbed insects etc and in their manic scratching of the damp soil they were throwing it back onto the lawn

 

So as a temporary measure, I put down the thick 'lumps' of wood - ex dismantled pergola to keep the soil where it should be. 

Bluebell and Daisy are doing their innocent 'not me' act!

 They are such wonderful company 'talking' away to each other and to me when I talk to them!

Mind you, it does delay me, as I just have to stop to look.

I am working my way around the garden - next job the salad bed needs seeing too.

The chickens are confined to barracks now - only three more days to go - it's just whilst they are  on their worming medicated meals - a precautionary measure when you keep chickens - to ensure that they stay happy and healthy and haven't picked up any parasites from wild birds.  They are so used to freeranging from morning until dusk, they do complain bitterly if they happen to see us!  They have a big roomy run, so are not deprived - but try telling them that!