sharon mc's Blog at GardenStew.com

Season Starting 2009 (part II)

sharon mc — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:32:45 -0500

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 1:32 pm (GMT 0)

I forgot to say in my most recent blog entry, that I've been trying to hard to make my grotty blue plastic pond AKA my 'environmental area' :) more attractive to both us and to any potential wildlife by incorporating levels of slate, stone and fallen logs. Anyway, this is the result!

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I think it's a little more attractive; well, from this view anyway! And hopefully, the logs will provide cooling shade for frogs and other creatures which, I am hoping, will help to demolish the resident slug population.

I haven't seen any frog spawn anywhere yet; probably too early in the year but if necessary, I will advertise online on the local UK 'Freecycle' sites for any donations from ponds which may have enough to spare me a small amount, to try to get a colony established.[/img]

Season Starting: 2009

sharon mc — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 12:35:52 -0500

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 5:35 pm (GMT 0)

It's been a truly beautiful day here today; once the early morning mist and cloud passed over, the sun came out and it was really easy to believe that spring was on it's way although according to the Countryfile forecast, we are in for another cold snap during the next week.

There are signs of life in the garden although they are currently few and far between. The boat we use as a container has got some crocus and miniature iris hawing but the mini daffs are very late in showing themselves this year.

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and some of the containers have got crocus coming up in them too but it's very slow in starting the season

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Even the twisted hazel is only showing very few catkins, not that we're ungrateful for the ones it has produced

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These little signs of life inspired me to start sowing some flower seeds but I was worried that any cold snap would kill them off in the greenhouse, so I had the idea of using a 'portable greenhouse'. You know the type? A set of shelves that has a polythene zip-up cover?

I brought it in and put it into the bedroom, which faces south as I thought we'd have a better chance of maintaining a more regular temperature and although I only started very few, just in case of accident, I've got: Cherry Tomatos,some Confetti Mixed Petunias,some Sweet Peas called Firecrest, which are a really vivid orange and some unusual Dianthus that I saw in a catalogue, which are black and white.

In addition to those, I did some Amaranthus called Autumn Pallet, which have really feathery flowers, a bit like Pampas Grasses and finally, some Carex, with the notoriously convoluted sowing instructions that I mentioned last year. With the exception of thes, everything else has started to show, which we're absolutely thrilled about; just hope that I can maintain there health until it's planting-out time, which lets face it, is ages yet!

Up in the veg plot, 'Himself' was busy establishing some crowns of Rhubarb, which his Mum was kind enough to donate to us; they're on a layered bed of chicken manure; one of the few plants that can apparently tolerate the acidity of this without months of rotting down although the stuff we used is quite old, mixed in with some of 'Marley's' offerings and then built up into a layer of earth on top.

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We really hope that these take as we both love Rhubarb and apart from that, working on the checkout in the supermarket, I've been absolutely stunned to see the prices being charged for it. Honestly, £2.20 for about four thinnish stems...truly shocking!

Next to those, we added some onion sets which again, we were donated by a friend and in an effort to protect them, we placed this old bit of meshed fence over them.

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We really hope this works, as last year, we lost so much stuff from a variety of predators: pigeons, crows, magpies, mice and then rabbits and slugs, it was heartbreaking as well as being costly in both terms of time, effort and of course money.

Speaking of which, I decided to make a sowing of broad beans two days ago and chose two sorts: the Sutton dwarf variety and another called Exhibition Long-Pod.

To give them a good start, I did them in oversized modular trays rather than straight into the ground and left them outside for their watering to drain through.

I realised later that night that we'd forgotten to put them into the potting shed but as it was a mild night, I didn't worry too much about it.

The next morning though, birds, or perhaps mice, had dug up every single seed, more or less...I did uncover a couple where there weren't little holes dug out and I've put the whole lot into the potting shed to see of there are many left to come through but it just went to show us early on, just what we're up against, already!

Last year, the only outdoor crops we had success with were: Sweetcorn, Potatoes and Broad Beans. Successive sowings of Beetroot, Broccoli, Carrots and Peas went missing or never actually appeared and of the 30+ Runner Bean plants we put out, plus a tray of a dozen or so that I was going to pass on to a friend, all got totally nibbled away and as for the brassica seedlings; they lasted less than 24 hours in the ground!

Thankfully, we have the greenhouse and as well as the tomatos and salad that we had success with in there, this year we are hoping to add Sweet Peppers to the list...really, its just a case of knowing our limitations and / or. trying to add more protective features.

Maybe a Scarecrow? And the rubber snake seemed to keep the beans safe last year, so we shall have to buy a few more from the £ shop in an attempt to protect stuff. Floating C.D.'s on strings proved little defence, so it's sticking with what we think will be ok, if this season is similar to the last; the Sweetcorn were gorgeous, so we're happy to give over plenty of space to those and the same with the spuds although we want to go with a heavier-cropping variety this year.

Also, we're thinking of trying carrots and beetroot in containers, which we can wrap chicken-mesh around, to give more protection to and hopefully, the same with some runner beans too.

Whatever we do, we're looking forward to it as following this long winter, a productive spring and summer...maybe even without the months of endless rain that the UK has endured the last two seasons would be truly fantastic![/img]

Chapters New

sharon mc — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:02:04 -0500

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 10:02 pm (GMT 0)

It's been an absolute age (6 months!) since I last did anything with this blog and during that time, we've endured one of the most sever winters for decades, here in the UK. It has to be said though, that the frosts and snow have been a really welcome relief from all the rain that's affected us whatever the season these last couple of years, so fingers crossed that we have an equally dry - or at least less wet - spring and summer.

At the beginning of autumn, we were greatly saddened to lose one of our two dogs, our Collie-cross, Bricky. He was a great character and an excellent hunter; we certainly didn't see any rodents around the place, despite the poultry being renowned rat-magnets and he also helped to keep the endemic rabbit population down, too. He was also good at helping to guard the hens when they were free-ranging on the field.

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Bricky's one 'vice' was to occasionally take hinself off for a walk around the local village and generally speaking, he had good road sense, keeping himself close to the verges.

On the particular day that he died though, in late October, he was crossing the road below our track and got caught between too cars. Despite appearing outwardly unscathed, he was killed outright and so didn't suffer, for which we were very grateful.

We had a call to say that a dog (possibly ours) had been hit and so were somewhat prepared; a lady had stopped in her car and wrapped him in a towel and 'Himself' brought him up as I was running down, fearing the worst.

Despite our sense of shock...we were too stunned to cry at this point, we buried him within the hour, in one of the veg plots where he is now at peace and hopefully will continue to do good in future years as he returns to the earth and comes up roses - well, veggies :) - in future years.

The strange thing was that despite the surprise summery weather that we had for the last weeks in October, the following day, after he was buried, the weather changed rapidly as we seemed to skip the end of autumn and rush straight into winter, as you can see from this picture of his grave.

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After that, the frosts set in and stayed and stayed and stayed; a good thing in a way as it killed off any remaining bugs from a wet and hunid growing season. It truly heralded a new start.

Our other dog, 'Flapsy' missed her friend as much as we did although we gave her lots of extra fuss and took her out with us everytime we went anywhere, as we were reluctant to leave her on her own. Maybe we were guilty of projecting our own feelings onto her but I don't think any harm canme from it.

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In the meantime, I was lucky enough to find a part-time job; not the easiest of tasks in such a rural area as this and especially not one so local to us but anyway, I joined the local Co-Operative store, sorting out all the daily, weekly and monthly newspapers and magazines and after a few weeks, progressed to working on the checkouts, something that I never thought I would have had the confidence to do.

After a shaky start, when I was trying to learn the ropes over one of the busiest periods, Christmas, I finally got to grips with all the different aspects and really begun to enjoy it, especially the daily interaction with members of the public, many of whom were already familiar as this is quite a small place, in some respects, with a strong sense of community.

It was a good move all round; truth to tell, I had begun to feel quite isolated here. It wasn't too bad during the spring and summer months, when we could be outside working on the flowers and veg, or pottering about generally but in thie winter months it was more difficult. Our static caravan, which is slowly being converted into a wooden-clad chalet can get claustraphobic when one is confined for days on end due to bad weather and that was sometimes difficult, causing both 'Himself'and I to feel extremely 'Cabin-Fevered'.

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A month ago, when we were at a bit of a loose end one day, we went down to the local monthly horse-mart, just for something to do. We stood watching the ponies and shetlands when I saw a pair of ears from a taller-looking beast, standing outside the gate, waiting to come into the ring.

When he did, he wasn't led in or anything, just turfed out in front of the crowd; a slightly tatty-looking specicmen, which the auctioneer announced as being a Welsh Cob, Section D, 3 years old and expected to make 15 hands. He was quite thin looking, with a dull coat and although the price started highish, it went down quite quickly, due to an apparent lack of interest.

At 360 guineas (a guinea being £1 and 5p, the old British shilling)he was literally "...going, going..." when I don't know what came over me but my hand just shot up in the air and my bid was accepted. None other was offered and suddenly he was ours for the equivalent of £399. I turned to 'Himself', slightly stunned at what had happened.

"My God" I said "What have I done"?

It wasn't that I regretted my actions; on the contrary, something about the horse had just seemed to reach out to me. Apart from the fact that I knew he had attained quite a low price, given what he had the potential to become.

It was simply that although we had the facilites, i.e. a field of 3 acres, we didn't have any type of organisation i.e. fencing and that was a majot cause for concern. Also, we knew nothing of the horse's background, history or nature; we hadn't bought a catalogue as there had been absolutely no intention of us buying anything, anyway.

We decided to leave him in a pen at the mart overnight and rushed home to try to arrange transportation for the following day. I was booked in for doing overtime at work and so couldn't get home before late afternoon but 'Himself' located a horsebox and met up with a friend of ours who keeps horses and after 20-odd minutes, they managed between them to attach a lead-rope onto the headcollar which I had bought in haste the previous afternoon.

Surprisingly enough, 'Marl Benbra Boy' as he was named on his Welsh Cob passport was very easy to lead and load, once the lead rein was in place and when I got home from work, he was situated in the only secure place we had: our (albeit oversized) fenced chicken run, where he stayed for the next two nights.

In the meantime, 'Himself' worked hard on clearing and partitioning a corner in his big workshed and with a 12' metal farm gate comprising the fourth side of this makeshift stable, we were able to bring 'Marley' in on the third day.

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In total, he stayed in there for nearly three weeks. I did lead him around a little outside on a rope but was nervous as it's quite open here and I still knew nothing about his character and any potential problems. I consider myself a competent rider, in fact it's one of the few things that I pride myself on doing well but managemet is something I have limited exoerience of..

I took riding lessons between the ages of nine to thirteen and I was lucky to have a really excellent teacher; these weekly lessons were a gift from my sadly missed Nan, who loved horses herself although her only contact with them had been watching the big old shires that used to pull the dust-carts in the twenties and thirties, being taken down to the sea for a good wash off after a hot day.

I wrote to the woman whose name appeared on Marl's equine passport and got a phone call almost straight away. She had bred him from their 30 year established stud and sold him as a foal but had got him back after he remained unpaid for. She kept him for about a year and had him gelded and then he was sold to a farmer, who presumably didn't do a lot with him, given that he never even bothered to get the passport ammended. Ceratinly, Marl(ey) was timid in the extreme and wouldn't even take nibbles from my hand until the third or fourth day.

When the snows and frost cleared 'Himself' and I began working as fast as possible on splitting the field here into two, buying posts and rails before a local farmer came up and bashed in all the posts in about 2 hours, where it would have taken us heaven knows how long. Then we worked liked Trojans to get the rails all fixed into place. From this:

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to this...

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Eventually, five days ago, we were able to turn Marl out for the first time and after checking out his boundries and borders, he went temporarily beserk, tearing round, bucking and kicking out all over...it was truly a delight to see!

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Examining Marl's passport in more detail, it appears he has pretty good 'lines' i.e. breeding. 'Nebo Black Magic' who was a welsh Supreme Champion three generations back appears against a couple of Marl's Great and Grand dams and there are also a couple of 'Derwen's' on the other side. The original Derwen, back in the late 60's and 70's was also a Welsh Supreme Champion whose fame reached further when he went down to England and won countless shows there.

To a large extent, this is irrelevant to how I feel about Marl(ey). I was reassured by his breeder that none of their lines harbour any nasty habits and learning this gave me a much greater confidence when I was in the stable with him, brushing him and mucking out around him.

It's undoubtly early days for all of us but so far, Marl appears pretty 'bomb-proof' presumably from his upbringing on farms. He has no concerns about the chickens free-ranging around his feet and allows Flapsy, our 'labby to lick his legs???? :) 'Himself' was using power tools to cut wood in his workshop, feet away from Marl's gate and (after checking, of course) the horse showed no interest whatsoever and that power-saw does generate many decibels!

We have a long road to travel, Marl is of course still a baby and although in the ring it was announced tat he was "ridden around the farm" I am disregarding this and starting entirely anew with him. I have some knowledge of management from doing a horse-share 2 years ago and certainly, he is keeping me fit, cleaning out his stable and fetching and carrying hay and feed.

I am lucky to have friends who keep horses, who are willing to advise on future courses of action and a local farmer sells and brings up big bales of hay for us at a very reasonanble price; I've also located allergen free wood-chippings which seem to make a really good bed in the makeshift stable, which Marl still goes into overnight.

'Himself' and I have started work on paddocking the second half of the field and in a few months, we will be closing down the makeshift stable for the summer, whilst 'Himself' builds a proper one on the yard, enabling him to reclaim his workshop! One day, I hope to have a shelter up on the field(s) too, for protection from flies and sun, as well as wind and wet.

The initial outlay for fencing materials is proving costly but as I said before, I am lucky enough to be working and I reason too, that the £15+ a week that I'm saving since giving up smoking 5 weeks ago will be better spent towards 'our boy'. I would sacrifice an awful lot in the pursuit of this project, which has been a dream of mine since I was a very small girl.

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And finally, a picture of my late Nan, who arranged with her firends to place me on thh back of their pony on the old Council 'Dump' when I was aged about eight and who, I am sure, would love to have seen our newest household member...I hope and trust that she is looking down on us.

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PS, she also instilled in me my love of gardening, for which I am truly grateful; a kind and gracious woman who didn't have a malicious bone in her body and one of the best role models I could have hoped for...thanks Nan...without you, I truly believe that none of his would be occuring now...and many thanks, of course, to 'Himself' who has worked so hard lately here and whom is equally enthusiastic about all our future prospects...God Bless

...and...apologies for the length of his blog entry![/img]

Last of the 'Summer'??????????????

sharon mc — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:41:52 -0400

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:41 am (GMT 0)

It seems fair to say that our summer here is over before it's even began, weather-wise. Abnormally high rainfall and on the dry days, overcast and leaden skies. There have also been 'unsesonally high winds' which all together, has left the garden looking pretty bedraggled. There are some late flowerings but even these plants aren't having an easy time of it.

I've had mixed success with the 'black' plants. The Painted Fern comes and goes (currently 'gone') but the rhizomes should still be intact so hopefully next year, it'll come back stronger.

This dahlia is one of a pair but it's definitely had the better of the blooms; I realise now I should've restricted the flower-buds but Hey! it's all a learning curve!

But what is this...my beautiful 'black' cactus dahlia? No...

Interlopers!

Now, I'll be the first to admit that it is a lovely fiery red colour but - and I hate myself for my overblown tenacity at times - it's Not What I Ordered, Or Wanted! The upshot was, the bulb company have refunded me for that part of the order although I had originally requested replacements, if possible. So, I really can't fault them for that...Thank You J. Parker Ltd.

One new plant that has given me a lot of pleasure is this Golden Rod.

It was a clump that I was given and has proved really nostalgic as it was in our family garden when I was a child. It's my Mum and Nan whom I have to thank for my gardening interest, too, so that's a nice connection.

I wasn't planning to buy in any bedding plants this year but I when I found these Surfinia and garanium plants being sold at literally pennies, I had to give them a home. They looked very rain-battered at the store but they've really picked up with a bit of TLC.

I love the versatility of containers as you can just pop them anywhere to brighten up a space.

My overwhelmingly favourite plant this year has been my Amaranthus 'Ribbons and Bows'. I first saw these spectacular plants at my friend Sylvie's

and loved them. That's Sylvie with one of the three Arab horses she has bred; two are in their late twenties , which is a pretty phenomenal age for that breed.

Anyway, a few months after I'd admired Sylvie's Aramanthus plants, my gardening magazine gave away a packet of seed of the same type and I gave them a go.

The crimson red ones are my absolute favourites

but it's the lime green ones that have done better.

I have to admit, that those pics were taken a few days 'pre-Rupert' and he's since been out and about in the garden. He is notoriously difficult to capture on the move, photo-wise.

Well, as I say, Amaranthus before...and Amaranthus after!

But what little puppy could ignore those lovely fronds overhanging his head on the path? Not Rupert, certainly and I don't blame him. I was more concerned about accidental poisoning, as I noticed some chewed-up 'Gladi leaves at the same time but he doesn't seem to have come to any harm.

Watch Out, Watch Out! There's a Rupert about!

sharon mc — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:08:33 -0400

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 8:08 pm (GMT 0)

It's now 10 weeks since our black labrador, Flapsy, had her first and possibly last, litter. This is her a few days before they arrived...

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There were 4 pups, three boys (choc) and one girl (black) and they were a really bright, lively bunch and I named them: Monty, Rupert, Tyrone and Lil Sis, for the duration of the time that they were here.

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All of them were weaned a couple of weeks ago and over the course of the last week, three of them have gone on to new family homes. Their new owners seem kind and all were delighted to take charge of their new Honourary Household Members (i.e. Pets)

It was a bit sad seeing each of them go but they were of the age where they needed to get out and about in the world and I'm confident that they will each do well with their new people. Tyrone went first; biggest roly-poly of them all, Monty went next and Lil Sis the following day.

They had all been living in a proper penned area in an outbuilding here but when we waved goodbye last night to Lil Sis, me and Himself were a bit concerned about the remaining pup, Rupert.

We weren't going to leave him in solitary confinement in the pen but a puppy in the house would require a bit of forethought.

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Well, we brought Rupert in and he had the run of the kitchen and the adjoining porch for the day and so far, he's been absolutely outstanding. He's had his mad minutes of careering about, spooking at shadows and amusing himself with everyday objects before collapsing into puppy-naps but it's his toilet-habits that have really been impressive.

In their pen, we had shredded paper towards the front and then wood-shavings at the back and shortly after being moved from the whelping box to their new home, they cottoned on to resticting their toilet activity mainly to the wood-shavings at the back.

With this is mind, today we put wood-shavings into a makeshift tray-type affair and left it just outside the porch door, where Rupert could see it. And honestly, within an hour of plucking up the courage to explore the porch step, he had realised the tray's significance and visited it for it's intended use. The next time, he didn't even bother with the tray, just strolled outside and relieved himself in a quiet corner!

Well, the relentless rain that we've been having here for longer than I can remember was absolutely torrential, so we had to shut the porch door and deny Rupert outside access, so a bit of a dilemma!

We needn't have worried though, I brought the original tray back in and Rupert once again used if for it's intended use,in a corner of the porch.

I think that this shows that Rupert is a very bright boy and whether he ends up staying with us, or goes on to pastures new, I think he'll have a very good future.

Certainly, he should begin getting trained quite soon because I think he's got the intelligence and speed to catch on quick. He's certainly taken very well to living as part of a household and he's a genuinely lovely little pup: gentle, outgoing and intelligent!

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This is him in his new home in the kitchen and that's where he'll be staying from now on; he certainly won't be left pining in a pen on his own.

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...summer is delayed...

sharon mc — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:23:35 -0400

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:23 am (GMT 0)

The weather here is really similar to last summer: unusually high rainfall levels and unseasonally grey days. There has been some activity since my last Blog update though and I've taken some pics that reflect this.

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The flower bed is looking a bit bedraggled generally but there are a couple of plants that shine through, like these lime green Nicotiana plants. Unlike their more colourful relations, they don't have a scent but they are still a nice addition.

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The lilies have come into their own now and they provide an exotic feel amidst the gloomy weather...

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The 'black' poppies are another small success and I'm hoping that they will self-seed next year. These ones were lucky to have come to fruition; earlier ones had their petals all blown off before they had time to open fully...

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These french beans have had less of an assault from birds or bugs than they were getting before and hopefully they will go on to produce some beans for us

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The rose was here when I moved in but it was looking poorly, so I repotted it and gave it some TLC and it's come back looking lovely. No idea what type it is.

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And finally, the spring-sown sweet peas have caught up with the over-wintered autumn ones

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So, a bit of a slow summer, weather and flower-wise but still some nice plants to take our minds off it!

...summertime...

sharon mc — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:57:08 -0400

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:57 pm (GMT 0)

The weather in this part of the UK has recently dealt us lots of rain and "unseasonally strong winds" with warnings of possible trees falling. The trees here have remained intact but my Alba foxgloves have been hit really hard by it.

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Well, they were lovely whilst they lasted but I'll be cutting them back soon, as I don't want them self-seeding too much due to lack of space. The Sweet Williams however, have lasted really well and I was really pleased to see these white ones amongst all that pink...too much pink!

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So far this year, I've resisted the urge to buy-in bedding plants and I haven't really bothered with containers because I've been aiming for low-maintainance. I have got a couple though, with annuals I've grown from seed.

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I really like the little markings on these petunias; I've only ever seen single colour blooms before. Not sure what the daisy-types are though; it was free seed from a gardening magazine and I was expecting the big Michaelmas daisies for ages...

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The containers look a bit lost against the water feature here but next year, I've going to try to make it much more of a flowery feature; all home-grown, too.

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Not much has been going on in the veg plot since the rabbit invasion. I discovered they hadn't dug in after all; they didn't have to, they just strolled through the gap under the fence Id created during winter when Id dug a drainage trench to try and divert the surface water.

The broad bean bed had got really overgrown with weeds so I got out and spent some time with my trowel uprooting the unwanted invaders. Now that's done, I can re-seed for a continuous crop. I've been using the dwarf Sutton variety and they've done really well in standing up to the recent winds.

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Here are some of the cropped results...

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The potatoes are coming along ok; they'll be due for a second earthing-up quite soon.

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As the potatoes seem to be doing ok, I'm going to sow a 'second maincrop' variety, Maris Peer, in late summer / autumn.

Another plant which seems to be doing ok too, is sweetcorn. I started 9 plants off from seed and put them out and they're fine. I've tried starting some more off in pots since but none have germinated; reminder to self...start off again...

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The greenhouse has been a total pleasure. This being its first year, lessons are going to be learned over time but as a first attempt, absolutely brilliant!

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The soil is quite heavy and clay-based here and it dries really solid. It probably needs nutriments too, so I'm saving the contents of the kitchen compost bin specifically to put in the beds in here in autumn / winter.

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These bush tomatos are from seeds I had remaining from last year; they seem to be doing ok but the surrounding earth is pretty bleak-looking! The cordon tomatoes seem to like the surroundings though; these are all from seed, too.

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The plants went in early and they've flowered and started to fruit quite early, too.

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The salad stuff has gone quite well; I tried 3 different sorts of radish and they've all gone well...too well; no one could eat that much raddish!

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Wot a whopper!

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The 'red' lettuces have started to be ready for picking lately and they are very tasty.

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These Granada ones still have a bit of growing to do...

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So, not too bad a start in the greenhouse but lots of ideas for next season already...sweet peppers, for one thing. They're nice and they're currently costing loads in the shops...

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...comings and goings in nature...

sharon mc — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:13:03 -0400

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:13 am (GMT 0)

During the last few days, there has been quite a lot of animal coming-and-going activity here at home and it's 'been emotional'.

Flapsy's 63 days gestation was to be up last Sunday but in the event, she went into labour on the friday night and after several hours of 1st stage puffing and panting, she began to birth at 6.45 a.m. on the satarday.

I'd sat with her from the start until 6a.m. when I had to get some rest and it was at 6.45a.m. that Himself looked in on her and found her with a puppy, which wasn't breathing. Flaps had cleaned the puppy really well but despite our additional efforts, we weren't able to revive the puppy further and it died.

Over the next few hours, four more puppies came: three chocolate and another black: the chocolates all male and the black female, mirroring the colours of the parents and I'm pleased to say that the little family appears to be doing well. This picture shows them today (day 4).

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Flapsy's confinement however, has been an object of interest for another, other than us...

To explain...

Flapsy never barks a greeting, she never makes a sound unless she sees, smells or senses, a 'foreign' visitor to the premises. On many nights when we've taken both her and Bricky out for last walks, she tears over to a particular corner in the field, or runs along the trees and hedgerows which form a border between us and the field next door...this is a constant and we thought maybe it signified foxes passing by in the night.

On satarday, with Flapsy busy and ourselves working mainly outside, we came inside for a hot drink and a sandwich and I thought I heard a commotion with a hen. I queried it with Himself but it had stopped.

We were indoors no longer than 20 minutes and when we went out, the first thing we saw was feathers spread all over the middle of the field...my little Cocker-boy's feathers: one of my 2 Orpington cockeral brothers.

Here they are together, pictured in happier times...

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We didn't know how many hens might be missing too, so we herded those we could, back inside to their enclosed run. Generally, they free-range on the field.

We've all been very lucky to not have had a fox calling in prior to now - 9 months of hen free-ranging - but it may have been this which limited the numbers of hens taken because when they're on the field, they go into separate little groups of cockeral and hens and thus are not a single target, as they are when enclosed.

It seemed that apart from Cocker, we'd lost a white leghorn, a Welsummer hybrid and a little brown Warren hen, which was always to be seen out and about with Cocker-boy. We followed the feathers up to where the fox had come through and it's a well-used situation. I took this picture ages ago, standing with my back to more-or-less the point of entry although of course I didn't know this, then. Talk about a fox's eye view; right down into the hen-run!

[img]

It seems a very great coincidence that up until now and Flapsy's confinement, there has been no apparent fox-activity here; certainly the rabbits haven't been staying away in fear, as evidenced by my veg plot carnage. We noticed on sunday however, that the field, which is generally over-run, was near-empty of 'buns.

Last evening, I was up watering the greenhouse when Himself came rushing to say that one of the missing hens, the hybrid Welsummer, had returned from across the field. We were really happy for her and assumed she must have just scattered when foxy struck.

We didnt realise just how lucky she really had been up until later that night however, when Himself was walking Flapsy on a lead and saw, just from the corner of his eye, a fox slinking through the hedgerow...a couple of metres from the enclosed hen-run. He let Flapsy go and she tore across to the gap in the hedgerow which the fox had disappeared into but it had gone.

I can't wait to have Flapsy up and running again, keeping a guard on the land and the poultry from this and any other predator. I don't know what action we will try to take to deal with this one; it is, after all, normal comings-and-goings in nature...but that don't bring Cocker-boy back, or 'his' girls...[/img]

...life abounds all around...

sharon mc — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:23:07 -0400

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 9:23 pm (GMT 0)

These 2 are such good pals!

Flapsy the black Labrador will wait for as long as necessary...

to have full share of Bricky's spoils.

Currently, she is unable to move as fast as she'd like

...on account of her belly being stuffed full with little puppers!

...roll on Sunday, eh Flaps...9 weeks be up then!

Meanwhile, in the 'brooding coop'

...of the 6 eggs that Mimsi was sitting on, 4 hatched but one chick died after being jettisoned from the nest and the final two eggs weren't fertile, so...

...altogether, say "aaaahhhh"!!

"An unkempt corner" but nonetheless beautiful, I think

...survivors...

sharon mc — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:17:05 -0400

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:17 pm (GMT 0)

After the recent spate of destruction in the veg plot and, more latterly, in one of the flower beds, due to my oversight of leaving the gate ajar and letting in hens, it's nice to have a couple of pictures worth adding to this blog, even if, in this first picture, there are visible gaps where some black Poppy seedlings and the Painted Fern have been nibbled...

I'm counting my blessings though: the fowl didn't have a chance to start on the Dahlias or Lilies, the Fern should grow back and the Poppies, truth to tell, did need some thinning out...so..."Thank You" hens!

Mostly, I was glad that the current queen of my border survived intact and I feel very privileged to introduce 'Alba'...

From a distance and in this picture, I'd be the first to admit, she doesn't look very spectacular. The closer however, that you get...

...the more spectacular, I think...

...she looks.

She's an unusual variety of Foxglove, not just because she's white in colour but because she doesn't bear the 'pawprints' that give Foxgloves their name. Unique!

The other border / bed has fared slightly better in the destruction stakes.

There are a lot of young plants coming on but of those that have already started coming into flower, these autumn-sown Sweet Peas were the first.

I never really considered myself a fan of pastel colours, especially pink but as they and also this Aquilegia have come through, I'm staring to consider myself a bit of a convert!

Nothing much else of interest occurring here in this bed yet but as I say, there are other plants coming through, so hopefully some of them will be salvagable enough to include as the season unfolds further...

Meanwhile, in the boat, I haven't done anything much this year although to be fair, I haven't had to. These Sweet Williams have been in place since June last year and this is their first year of flowering.

I didn't recall what colour flowers the seed would be producing, so I was looking forward to seeing them come out but I really didn't expect this show and best of all, now that they're established, they should keep coming for a few years yet; so, Thank You plants!

...no pics, 'cos no plants...

sharon mc — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:07:09 -0400

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:07 pm (GMT 0)

After a bit of a shaky start in the veg plot, with the birds snaffling my pea plants and a couple of broad bean ones, too, I thought I'd 'fight back' and constructed various defences in order to do so(see Blog entry "...fighting back in the veg plot...").

Comparative peace was on the horizon and to celebrate, I bought a dozen summer butterhead cabbages and a dozen kale plants and was lucky to be given an additional 25 runner bean plants too, which put my own 'Red Rum' variety to shame.

All of these were put in and I hung silver foil from 'washing lines' above the beds to protect any further damage from the birds, adding to the already substantial defence lines.

And all to no avail.

The brassicas lasted less than 4 days. At first the tips were nibbled and then whole plants annihilated; these were very young plants, so I could understand the attraction to birds, so I thought.

A couple of days later, I disturbed a young...like really tiny rabbit in the plot. Like they come singly, huh? It scarpered so fast as I opened the gate that it didn't even stall at the corrugated zinc fence that surrounds the plot. I mean...straight underneath and NO hesitation.

When I got nearer, I considered it lucky to have escaped...every single runner bean plant was either gone or lay dead, leaves shredded, on the earth's surface. And these were quite big plants when I put them in. Not tender young nibbly's like the diminished cabbage and kale but hardy-looking plants!

Even my unassuming Red Rums had been
grazed...I mean, TOTAL DEVESTATION and if I can't even cultivate a runner; well, what hope have I got against nature?

At the time of writing, there are 9 sweetcorn plants remaining and the autumn-sown onions seem relatively intact. The broad beans have flowered although it's still early days...anything might happen between now and harvest-time.

The bed of second-early potatoes appears unscatehed ON THE SURFACE but of course, I may yet find they've been snaffled subterranaeously by other critters...I await with anticipation and suspended horror...

And to top this off, I inadvertently left the gate open to the tiny flower-bed here by the static and arrived home to find 10 hens in situ and that my painted fern, my black poppies and other assorted seedlings that I had been painstakingly cultivating were...well, vanished pretty much.

There are some survivors and I will photo and put them into my next Blog entry when I can re-fire my enthusiaam but until then, as I say...no plants, so no pics just now...

...fighting back in the veg plot!...

sharon mc — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:10:48 -0400

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 10:10 pm (GMT 0)

The long-range forecasters were proved right; April was unusually cold, unusually wet and unusually windy, all of which got our first season in our newly-established veg plot off to a slow start.

Outdoor crops which were sown: carrots, broccoli and beetroot just didn't appear and the potatoes (second earlies) which went in refused to appear, too.

I was blaming the birds; thinking maybe they'd snaffled the newly emerged seedlings? I still don't know if that was the case, it may have been rabbits or a simple failure of the seed to germinate in the unseasonally cold snap but I do know that one of these first two caused carnage with my little pea plants, before starting to have a go at the broad beans, too. There were no peas left to photograph but this was what the beans looked like...it was a bit of a knockback, really...

For a week or so, the assorted Magpies, Pigeons, Crows and Rabbits had won. We had thought that trying to start growing veg in a plot from scratch would be by trial and error and the fact that our corner of reclaimed field is sited right next to a woods seemed to have made our hopes foolish. But then, we decided to FIGHT BACK!! Or, at least, try.

The first thing we thought of was fencing what was left of the broad beans; we weren't altogether sure that rabbits were'nt to blame for the damage; there are lots of them about and to stop the birds too, we threw netting over the whole lot...

Next we thought of using cd's suspended above other crops we were hoping to grow, like these tiny sweetcorn plants...farmers and gardeners have used 'scare' tactics for years!

...and although they're obscured here a bit, cd's over the runner beans, too...

And finally, after hearing - God knows where - how they could be used to protect lawns from predators, I had one final trick up my sleeve...

[img]

And I'm delighted to be able to say that with this combined defensive strategy, we have at this time of writing, succeeded in slowing down the onslaught although there are still many slugs to contend with.
It has however, restored our hopes that we can last out this season and plan better for next year and most recently, the potatoes have come through; brilliant!

Compared to the outdoor veg, the greenhouse crops have done quite well although everything was quite slow in establishing itself...

Basically, we've got raddishes (red and white) bush tomato plants and cordon toms too and also, 2 types of lettuce...

It's still very early days but so far, it's not going too bad and best of all, we haven't yet given up!

...temporary setbacks to spring?...

sharon mc — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 07:10:12 -0400

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 11:10 am (GMT 0)

We are not having very nice weather here at the moment; the gale-force winds have switched to the north and increased in strength, which has made going outside quite unpleasantly cold.

Before the weather turned more wintry, I'd been spending time in the veg plots. Previously, I'd covered them with black tarpaulin to get some heat into the soil, having got all the weeds out first, so I uncovered 2 of these again and spent a couple of hours raking any stones out and breaking the soil down ready for sowing and planting. I've designated which will house peas and beans (broad, runner and french)but remain undecided about where the other stuff will go.

In the potting shed, the Sweet Peas that I sowed in autumn look fit to burst out of their pots but they can't go out until any frosts have definitely passed; the long-range forecast was predicting a sharp temperture dip in April, so I'm cautiously holding back with outdoor sowing and planting.

After two weeks, the melon seeds that I'd sown into pots were not appearing, so I moved them from my desk into the kitchen and overnight, 2 of them came through; brilliant!

The seeded bush tomatos were getting crowded in their pot, so I potted them on into individual ones and they are all coming on well. The MoneyMaker cordons, which I began in individual pots are all thriving and putting out sets of leaves and I gave them all a drink yesterday. Likewise with the runner and broad beans in their pots.

I put all the 'black' plants (lilies, iris and a 'painted fern')into the ground when the weather was milder and watching the fern develop is really fascinating; it has thrown out little tendrils, which look really delicate. I'm trying to guard it from slugs.

The white foxgloves which I grew from seed last year have really put on a growing spurt, with the recent rain and very warm sunshine, when we've had it and it looks like 4 Hollyhocks have lasted the course. I've no idea what colours these will be; they were from a free-seed offer in my magazine Amateur Gardener. I think a single delphinium might have survived, too.

I started another crop of the pastel Sweet Peas off in the potting shed a week or so ago and they are just beginning to break through the cover of soil and, major excitement, I took delivery of two other varieties: Cream Southborne and Firecrest; I'm hoping I can produce a red and cream background against the fence at the back of the flower beds.

The Twisted Hazel tree is starting to bud properly and its catckins have mainly fallen away now; the 2 dwarf apple trees that are in the veg plot are budding up, too, signs that spring really is trying to emerge!

It was lovely working outside here on Wednesday; light winds and the sun was really quite hot for the time of year although at the beginning of last April at Easter, we had tempertures of 70+ which provided a brief blaze of spring before descending into British summertime with 3 months of near-constant rain.

Hopefully this year, once this weather-cycle breaks, a more predictable pattern will emerge, allowing gardeners everywhere to get out and grow things! Here's Hoping!

. . . onwards into spring . . .

sharon mc — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 09:53:19 -0500

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:53 pm (GMT 0)

The 'black' plants that I ordered have arrived, so I'm full of ideas about where they will be placed in the 2 flower beds. I have to say tho, that they don't look much like in their catalogue picture!

The plant people do warn not to be alarmed by the dormant state! The two baby ferns are in their pots in this bed, which is where all the new plants will probably end up going.

The twisted Hazel is producing all it's catkins now, so spring must be 'officially' here!

Only indirectly related to gardening; these Maran pullets are now 16wks old. 'Himself' brought them home as 4wk old's, which was a bit of a challenge cos winter's not a good time for raising chicks, really. They've thrived tho and now, they have to be moved from their little run into the hen-house-on-wheels with the other birds. There might be some disruption whilst they all establish a new pecking order but hopefully it'll pass quite quickly and they can all go out onto the field and range together.

. . . spring into the digital age . . .

sharon mc — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:48:03 -0500

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 5:48 pm (GMT 0)

Yesterday was the first time I'd ever got to use a digi camera and I was really thrilled to bits at the picture quality. It also amazed me how quickly scenes can be transferred onto the screen; great for keeping track of what's happening in the garden.

The boat is looking good with its minature daffs and the Sweet Williams that I raised from seed last year seem really established. I've no idea what colours they will be but I'm looking forward to finding out.

The poor Cordyline is looking a bit wind-burned in this pic, despite its being tied for protection, so I'm hoping that it will recover once its unfurled when the threat of frosts has passed.

This is my secret den; the little potting shed that Himself built last year. Even if plants go elsewhere, into the garden or the greenhouse, they all start in here!

Here come some visitors . . . when they're free-ranging, the birds get everywhere!

Well, as a first-time experiment, I was really pleased with the pics and it's great sharing them with other gardeners here on G.S. Thanks!

. . . My Pond Effort & Hens . . .

sharon mc — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 05:00:27 -0500

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:00 am (GMT 0)

This is a picture of my pond, which I sank a few weeks ago.

Really, I should have dug the hole a bit deeper when I sank the thing but it's too late now; I'm not taking it out again!

It's early days though and I'm hoping that wildlife like frogs and toads will find their way to it throughout spring and summer.

This is a picture of the hen-run, taken from the other side of the field here.

I am very fond of the hens here, this black one here is a leghorn; we have 6 black ones and 3 white and they lay the most gorgeous white eggs; quite big.

This next picture shows some of the other hens grazing

The final picture is of some Maran chicks. This picture was taken several weeks ago and the Marans are now officially called 'pullets' because they've reached sixteen weeks old. This means they will be going to live in the bigger hen-house with the other birds, hopefully not too many feathers will fly whilst they are establishing the new pecking-order.

. . . anticipation . . .

sharon mc — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 14:12:29 -0500

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 7:12 pm (GMT 0)

In the fortnight since my last blog entry, the weather has stayed dry and there has been some excellent weather, which has made working outside really pleasurable. The land is slowly waking after the winter and is poised to spill over into spring and the air has been alive with anticipation and birdsong.

The prolonged dry spell meant that I could finish digging all the horse-manure into the three veg beds and I've since covered two of these with black tarpaulin. This should hopefully keep unwanted weeds away and should also help the soil to warm up underneath.

In the greenhouse, I've dug the beds over and forked some blood, fish and bone into the soil in readiness for the first crops to go in. I've currently got tomato plants and lettuce seed started in the potting shed and there's been a really good rate of germination. The poor greenhouse looks really bleak at the moment but it'll soon fill up, especially now that we're into March and the onset of spring.

. . . Spring Fever . . .

sharon mc — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 08:53:15 -0500

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 1:53 pm (GMT 0)

We are having the most fantastic weather here at the moment; the rain and winds having disappeared to be replaced by still, frosty mornings and clear blue skies with sunshine. The daytime temperatures remained in double figures for much of the week and it was officially recorded as being “The warmest February since records began”.

The phrase “ Most ----- (fill in the blank) . . . since records began” is a phrase that I anticipate hearing quite a lot throughout this year, being applied to different aspects of the weather here in the UK, as it was during 2007. Today however, the wind has moved round to a more northerly direction and it’s too cold even to open the windows here and air the place out, which is how a February should be, I think.

The sunshine has brought the spring bulbs out into flower and they all seem to have come through ok; there are miniature Daffodils and Iris and now the Crocus are starting to materialise, too. In the boat, this is combined with Primula and some Heather, which is still in flower. The Iris remind me of orchids a bit because the flowers are so delicately patterned and a lot of the ‘Daffs are coming up multiple-bloomed, which is an unexpected bonus. I’m very pleased with them and am starting to appreciate the benefit of a planned-planting structure, which I will endeavour to continue throughout the growing year.

With this in mind, I ordered some plants from a catalogue because I want some permanent features here in the garden, so on their way are

[img]

...and...

[/img]

...and...

[img]

...and, finally...

[/img]

...which I think is the most specatacular of these plants. Last year I grew some 'black' poppies that I really liked and if I can find the seed I collected, I'll add some of those, too. There are already white Foxgloves ('Alba') established in that bed and I've also got some white Peacock Orchids to go in somewhere, so I think that a black, or dark burgudy-purple and white colour contrast should look effective.

The pot of bush tomato seeds has sprung so they're out of the propogator and on a warm shelf indoors, along with one that has sprouted from the individual pot-sowings.

In the veg plot, the drier weather has meant a return to double-digging horse manure into the beds: three are done now; that's more or less it. I also had a chance to start constructing the raised bed; at least, I've put two planks at right-angles and spread raw chicken manure over the area of grass and weeds.

I'm hoping that the manure will be acidic enough to clear the ground so that I can hook out the weeds without too much digging and then there's a huge heap of topsoil that needs raking and spreading about, to fill the bed with, ready for planting up; that is the plan. If the manure succesfully removes the weeds, I am going to start using it on my 'horticultural Nemesis', this:

[/img]

...which is Bracken. It is endemic in the British countryside and what it thrives on best is slopes because treatments like spraying it are impossible on unaccessible land.

The UK Environmental Agency recommends crushing new growth of this plant for three years minimum, to prevent it's getting more established, which seems more like a form of maintainance than control.This is the second season of trying to prevent the spread of Bracken on the field here because it's such an invasive plant. It smothers all other types of plant that might fall into its path and it totally colonises its surroundings. It is also carcinegenic and harbours tics.

So far, my personal campaign against it has developed from flattening it with the back of a spade (it just unfurled and continued to grow)to hoeing out the new shoots as soon as they appear.If I can use chicken manure spread directly onto this plant to kill it, I am onto a winner, I think; of course, it could go against me, with Bracken being one of those plants that thrives in such acidic conditions but as an experiment it's certainly worth trying.

Finally in the gardening week here, I harvested some of the autumn-sown swedes. I was going to thin them out - very belatedly - by transplanting them but whilst doing this, I realised that after seven months in the soil, they'd probably be mature and certainly the colouring suggested this. Also, they had begun to lift themselves out of the soil, which should have been a give-away but I've never grown them before.

They are tiny specimens, probably from being to tightly sown and not having room to grow but apart from size they look fine. I estimate that six or seven will be needed for a decent portion for two. The next stage in the gardening here will be sowing more seeds and potting on the new tomato plants, whilst in this Blog, I should heve 'spring photo's' to add to the words, next time. Also, the ordered plants might have arrived. Brilliant.

[img]

Of which this is easily the most dramatic, I think.[/img]

...On a Roll...No Stopping Now...

sharon mc — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 21:25:52 -0500

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 2:25 am (GMT 0)

Feeling flushed with success at managing (eventually) to post a blog WITH PICS; unthinkable before finding this site, I'm encouraged to continue. I forsee late nights and droopy eyelids, unless the rain keeps up and prevents too much outdoor activity.

One thing, having read and seen what other folk are posting along with some really striking photos, I've promised myself a digi camera. I've almost finished the film in my camera and I'll put the pics in soon but I know they'll take a week to develop wheras digi = instantaneous, more or less.

The rain stopped overnight and today we had beautiful weather; sunshine, blue skies and the winds had dropped too. I got up extra-early (for me) to take full advantage and after feeding the hens and chicks got cracking outside.

I went and had an exploratory dig at the autumn-sown swedes. They are coming, slowly; formed but very small. I've no idea when they'll come to fruition as I've never done them before but so far, so good. I plan to start some more off come March as it's one of my favourite veg.

The autumn-sown onions seem to be doing ok but I've got concerns because of the incessant drenching they've been getting from the rain.I really hope they don't go the same way as the autumn spuds and subcomb to blight or some other type of wet-induced rot.

I put some of the stones that I'd brought up from the quarry round the pond-area, to help contain the soil that I need to build it up to a level. Really, the pond could have done with being about 6'' deeper but I'm not about to dig it out and start again.

I also transplanted a couple of the white (Alba) foxgloves that were still in the seed tray, looking very bedraggled. The ones in the flower beds seem to be thriving but there's a marked differnce between the size of the plants in the bed that I double-dug manure into and the other, which I didn't. As to be expected I s'pose. Have to see if these take; I'll start some more off in March anyway.

The bulbs are continuing to bud in the boat; I'm saving my last couple of frames of film to take some pictures of it in 'Spring-Pending' mode.I'll have to sort through the flower seeds I've got to see what won't grow too high. The Sapiglosis looks likely.

I had a look in the cold frame but the soil's still damp from watering the first carrot seeds in; hopefully they'll have got a bit of a boost from the sunshine today.

I've also got to think about where the potatoes are going to go; I'm loathe to put them direct into the ground after the other ones got blighted. I think that a raised bed is going to be prefarable, which would help reduce the pile of topsoil in the veg plot. Failing that, I don't know...containers, maybe?

In the potting shed, the autumn-sown Sweet Peas are going mad and I'm glad that I potted them on when I did. I need to look at the other colours that are available so that they can get a good start too.

A packet of beetroot seeds materialised whilst I was in there, unopened, so I thought that I could put some in one of the beds under the cold frame later on. It's all weeded and ready to go and topped up with fresh topsoil, so...

There's no sign of the Broad Beans in their pots yet but I gave them a water anyway, for encouragement. I also started some cordon Toms off (Moneymaker). I've sown them individually into yoghurt pots to save pricking them out later; great idea IF IT WORKS. Twenty-four might seem excessive, especially started so early on but the packet says from Jan-April under heat, so I've put them into propogators and put them on my desk in here.

I'm still harbouring ideas about trying to sell some plants at a car-boot and was considering possible candidates. The white foxgloves might be an option for that, as will runner bean plants be. I still can't locate the flipping climbing french bean seeds; they have to be around somewhere! Would people buy broad bean plants? I dunno. Anyway, loads to be thinking about...

...Like the length of time that Sprouting Broccoli takes to produce; I'm a bit confused by the instructions on the packet, to be honest. It seems to say to sow in April for harvesting next year, which conflicts with what it says in the seed catalogue, so that needs checking out again.

The last thing I did was to have a tidy up in the greenhouse. I was sizing up the space with the melon plants in mind; I have to do a bit more reading up about them; another job for a rainy day.

The list for veg this season is:
Potato,
Beans (Broad, Runner and Climbing French)
Peas
Sprouting Broccoli
Sweet Corn
Carrot
Beetroot

Salad:
Lettuce x 2 types
Toms; bush and cordon
Raddish (NEED SEED!)
Spring Onion '' ''

Fruit:
Raspberry
Melon

Flowers...haven't decided yet but cannot wait. The
Dahlias that never went in last year can this spring
and I've got the Gladioli and othr summer bulbs in the potting shed ready, too...onwards and upwards!!!

...Testing, Testing... Introduction... Take...Three...

sharon mc — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:51:27 -0500

Author: sharon mc
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 12:51 am (GMT 0)

I moved here to West Wales in 1997. It is a very rural area, as can be seen in this here picture...if I can make this flipping work...third time lucky!

In the foreground is Pencarreg Lake, which lies in the Teifi Valley. The lake is home for a lot of wildlife and it is currently being visited by migrating geese. It's brilliant watching them fly in as a group to land on the water. The downside is that they can make a lot of noise at night, which gets our two dogs barking...

This next picture should show the home which I share with my partner ('Himself' as I shall be calling him).

It was taken when we last had snow here in January 2007. Since then, the weather has been abnormally mild and apart from some sudden frosts at the beginning of December it's been almost tropical. Wales, like most of the UK, has had unusually high rainfall and this has hindered efforts in the garden because the ground had been too wet to dig.

This picture shows I hope my desk where I do my writing and online activity; I'm there now except that it's night and dark outside, so I can't see the view. This next picture was taken at the end of last summer and it shows my little garden.

I grew mainly flowers in this bit although I did have some Broad Beans too. They started off great but after the constant rain that we had from June to September, they got blighted. This year there I'm just planting flowers here; I had a lot of luck raising plants from seed last spring and I'm hoping that I can repeat that again.

This here boat

and

has been tidied up a lot since I took these pics. There weren't many plants in it, except for perennial weeds and the topsoil was pretty poor. Last season, I wanted to inject a bit of colour and some scent, which I did.

The problem was that my planting wasn't very planned. That was OK in the short term but I hadn't allowed for the strong winds that we frequently get here because we're quite high up on the side of the valley. Subsequently, the flowers that I grew: Poppies, Cornflowers and Nicotiana were a bit too tall for that position and they suffered.

So, as you can...hopefully...see, although it was colourful, it was all a bit chaotic. The two dogs are part of the household: Flapsy (background) is a black Labrador and Brick(y) is a Border Collie X. Brick(y) likes to help out in the garden by digging and guarding imaginary rat-holes.

Last year Himself and I rescued an old greenhouse that was going to be demolished and brought it up here, to a corner in the field. As it's out of the way, we have to cross a ditch which collects all the run-off water from Pencarreg Mountain, so Himself built this little bridge, to make life easier.

He is a carpenter-builder and is happy to help out my gardening efforts by building raised beds and doing fencing, bless. I'm very lucky. The walk up to the greenhouse, being a bit out of the way, always makes me think I'm entering a secret garden.

At the top of this path, we've cut the meadow grass back a bit but apart from that, nothing much has been done...yet. It's an ongoing project and this is only the first full season for this part of the place.

Not a tremendous photo but I should have some better ones later on to add to this blog as the season progresses.

Once the greenhouse was up, we began to spend more time in this part. It was too late in the season to do very much but we did buy some Cordon tomato plants; they were OK but they suffered a bit fom us not knowing how to take care of them properly. I also grew some Bush tomatoes and they did really well. Encouraged by that, I've just started some of both types from seed and will see how they go.

This last picture...

ought to show a side-view of the 'veg plot'. In actality, this is a corner of the field by the greenhouse that Himself kindly fenced for me with zinc sheeting. This is to provide plants with shelter from the prevailing winds and to hopefully give some protection from the rabbit population. Last year, there were lots of them; this year we'll have to see as they have been getting hunted by men who come up with their dogs and chase them into nets.

As well as our two dogs, we have 24 hens and two cockerals. The birds were bought as pullets and are just coming into lay, which is great; the eggs are really golden from the hens free-ranging on grass. We also have eight maran chicks which are now eleven weeks old and they will be joining the others in a new hen-house which himself has just built. As I said before, he's an excellent carpenter.

I've just sunk a small pre-fab pond in the veg plot. I'm not going to be putting fish into it, just aquatic plants and then we'll see what turns up; I've seen frogs and toads on the field and as they gravitate towards water, I'm hoping for a bit of pond-colonisation to help keep down the slug and ohter pest population.

Finally, we've put up five nesting boxes amongst the trees here in the hope that some birds might use it to accommodate their pending familes in; time will tell and hopefully, this is the first of many future seasons.

Well, that's the introduction over. I'm hoping to continue this blog as an online record of this gardening season and I will add photos as I go.

Now to see if this has worked...