Digging In

I am really chuffed with how things are looking in the garden. I suspect this may be a thesis-avoidance activity, but it is very relaxing to spend a bit of time outside and to check up on the plants. It absolutely chucked it down last night - hail and lashing rain. I ran outside to bring my salad leaves and violas to safety and moved the toms and lupids to a more sheltered spot. No extremes of damage noted this morning. After the rain I went and did a quick slug round. Vile job, but apparently the is a cross that all gardeners have to bear. Fair enough.

So, here are a few pics of things in progress. For those of you who will be visiting Chez Nous over the summer months, hopefully you will be able to get your laughing gear around some of this produce...

This thing growing up the trellis is a cucumber. There are some embryonic miniscule cucumbers sitting at the bottom of the stalks, tiny little things. It is hard to imagine they'll grow full size, esp when the march of the evil slug continues; hence the scattering of crushed egg shells at the base of the plant. Didn't do much good, had to pick them off by hand then bury them with a large garden fork. Using it in a sort of whacking way.

Next up, strawberries "Marshmellow", which I bought as bare root plants last year. 2 of the plants have taken root against the house and P is slightly worried that we are going to become the first people ever whose house subsided on account of a strawberry.
So these are truely All My Own Work, as I planted the (free with a mag) tomato seeds myself and the (free with the BBC Dig In campaign) salad leaves seeds myself too. The tomatoes are bush plants rather then cordons, just in case one of my imaginary readers was going to leave a post suggesting that they look crap on account of being 6 inches tall. There are 7 stocky, sturdy little plants and I am pleased with them.Finally, some pretty flowers. These peonies were in the garden already, but I dont' recall them looking so good last year. Probably because Roddy had put a heap of scaffolding on top of them they didn't have the same opportunity to photsynthesise. There were peony roses in my bouquet and I thought they wer just lovely. These are a really deep red, and mine were a much softer pink, so I am going to get some pink peonies to grow seeing as they seem to like our soil.

I had better stop bragging about my horticultural genius and get back to writing my methods section. Next posting...it's the turn of the Courgette plants (never, ever thought I'd see the day when I was willingly cultivating the bane of my childhood plate) and the French Beans.

I'll scratch your back, if you'll scratch mine

I am excited to see that nature actually works. I have put up a birdfeeder in the garden for the last couple of months. I tried different locations and am now happy with it hanging off a tree in the front garden. It has been greatly appreciated by some robins, a couple of woodpigeons and mostly a family of coal tits who ate their body weight x 6 in bird seed.

However, it is paying off as I saw one of the coal tits today, sitting in the large rose bush in the front garden easting aphids. I am really delighted! Given my previous bird-phobia I am pleased that I am now a lot more relaxed about inviting them into the garden. The RSPB bird-finder's good, BTW.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdidentifier/

*secret...seriously considering getting some chickens post-France*

hello again

Has it been that long?
Well yes, clearly it has.
What's happened? Well, not a whole pile really.
Spring has occured, though that didn't really have a lot to do with me. I am cracking on with the tedious task of writing my thesis and have googled on many occasions "how to keep motivated", "How to write a thesis" and my lastest anti-distraction technique, which I am very proud of...white noise.
http://simplynoise.com/
It's actually pretty useful, and there is brown and pink noise on the site too, if that's your thing.

I have also planted LOADS of seeds and they are growing which is very satisfying. I am hoping that I will be able to cultivate salads, tomatoes, cucumber, radish, potatoes, courgette, French beans, peppers (not confident about these, think I may not bother with them anymore. Probably not hot enough in NI for them), and maybe some carrots and beetroot. Strawberries and raspberries are already looking good.
I will keep you updated. Promise.
Bye for now.
x