popular What have you done today in the Garden?

Daniel OMGoodness sorry the moles need caging out of your raised beds. Yikes what a pain they are ..Right? They are sneaky. I always luved ur enthusiasm while watching your grafting talents with apples other plants- and how some were trained and presented with the espalier technique. If I remember correctly. It’s fun to watch your progress and harvests.

Happy to hear your hens are back to work. That's a good sign, considering the cost of eggs and with the holidays coming . It’s also the start of baking season. Hope your hens are productive for you and ducks too. Duck eggs make the best meringue for cookies and pies. I used to mix the duck eggs with chicken which made great omelets.
But.. I digress…

 

Depends on the look I want and the quality of the project. The rocker is just pure Spar Poly, the marine varnish. It would not soak anything in so it just needs protection. For most stuff I mix varnish, linseed oil and mineral spirits for a thin texture that gets absorbed by the wood, but do several coats. And depending on the wood, maybe a little stain.

 

I jet washed this today.



First job was moving all the troughs and pots down to the bottom of the garden.

Then I had a clear run at it.



The hardest job is getting rid of all the water the Karcher generates. I did put several drain holes between the curtilage wall and the patio when I built it, but the ground can't absorb that much water. So I have to use my wet and dry vac to clear it.
When I built the patio, I made sure it had a slight slope away from the house and toward the sides.
I did put a 2.5 inch drain pipe in the corner under the window, as there's a house drain the other side of the fence. but as it's higher than the rest of the patio it doesn't work as it is, So I made this little waste bin, "drain extension,"
A 1 inch pipe will push into it and I can empty my wet and dry vac into it, (I did, many times today).



I also did the drive and the little path that's below the front room bay window. That took far longer.

Of course with a jet wash you have to go round and clean the windows afterwards, as the water goes everywhere.

I started at 11.00am after doing some shopping and it was starting to get dark by the time I finished.

The patio needs re-pointing in places, I may tackle that next week

 

All I did was water one of my raised beds, the one with the brassicas I started indoors. Then I went to the Home Center and was going to get 4 bags of soil conditioner but, they were FULL of ants !! So, I got 9bags of raised bed soil, for my two new 1' high x 3'x6' raised beds. I intended to get only 6 bags of soil but had to up that amount because of the ants.

My friend I took with me helped me unload them and put them in the beds.

 

Anniekay you are always buzy planning ahead taking full advantage of what you have gained as a seasoned gardener and what the weather will allow in your growing zone. Smart to have someone do the heavy lifting for you.

DHR wow getting everything spic and span . Power washing easier to do on a sunny day for sure. Looks great . Your garden is gorgeous as usual any time of year.

 

@Pacnorwest I still have some residual effects from the Flu I had. It's got my back and thigh muscles a bit achey and my friend will do almost anything for a ride to go shopping and a free lunch !!

 

Annie— okra. I was thanking you for the cooking tip.

 

Calling it a day now ,just sat having a coffee outside watching hubs finish cutting the last lawn. We are set for a fortnight of rain off and on so no guarrantees if and when we'll get to enjoy the next whole day out here.

This morning I took all the overwintering plants out of the lean to and gave them a check over and a drop of water, being lovely and sunny today I left it open for them to enjoy the warmth.

Divided a couple of Heucheras and replanted them. Checked over the others in the borders, adding some mulch around their bases as they tend to heave a bit in the Winter.

This afternoon I weeded ,cutback and removed bedding plants from 7 borders. Removed all the tatty Hellibore leaves from the plants that are now showing new growth.

Bagged up some more leaves and stored them away to decompose.

 

Good job Oreti. You are definitely keeping your garden and bedding plants very happy . Your luv of plants , knowledge and gardening is written in the spaces between the lines .

I’ll be up on the roof again washing the fall leaves and pine needles off the patio clear corrugated see thru roofing material. You know that clear corrugated stuff available at big box stores, UV resistant that allows light thru but leaves and debris seem to stick to those ridges like glue. What a pain. Hoping the hose isn’t frozen with water from yesterday’s use attempting to unplug needles & leaves. It’s a royal pain in the caboose. I hate having to do that every year. I swear those pine needles are glued solid in those ridges.

I like having the light come thru the roofing material on the patio (so do the plants) and thru to the windows below. It allows the sunshine and light inside the home in that area. Especially this time of year when pre-winter late autumn weather is pretty foggy a bit gloomy at times so light is a good thing. Which reminds me to start taking vit-D since the sun is always hiding behind the winter clouds blocking the bodies ability to make vit-D . Here in the PNW Vit-D deficiency is a big deal in winters. The low angle of the sun makes it difficult for the skin to produce enough vitamin D. It’s important because the benefit from taking a vitamin D supplement is the best way to ensure adequate levels which can reduce the symptoms of vit-D deficiencies, & it also helps reduce the pain from arthritis.

 

Thank you Pac for your kind words.

You amaze me by keep popping up on your rooftops!!!! How long ago did you have your replacement joints done? I dread even the thought of climbing up a few ladder rungs....let alone reach the top and then hop off onto a roof!!! I'm in total awe of your capabilities.

Yes vitamin D is so important, many more people should consider taking it between Nov-April.
Despite ensuring I eat foods that contain it and making sure I get a good amount of daily outdoor time I still need to take prescribed Vitamin D ( twice a day) and Calcium every day no matter what the season is. I dread to think what state my joints would be in without having taken them for all these years.

 

Nothing today, other than washing in a bucket of hot water in the garage, all the clothes I wore yesterday when I was jet washing, then rinsing them off in the basin, so I was "allowed" to put them in the washing machine.
I might do a bit more leaf collection tomorrow if it stays dry.

 

Oreti remember that the roof I climb up on is the flat section of the roof . Not on the concrete tile pitched area. Those tiles are Way too slippery this time of year. Which reminds me to also bring up a spray container to neutralize the moss attacking the concrete tiles. I’ve tried that ‘Spray and Leave’ moss remover , not touching the issue on a pitched roof with so many seems for the moss to stick too. So I use bleach and water on a sunny day to kill the moss and lichen growth.

I think my new shinny steel hip joint helps with stabilizing the climb up the ladder. I also need to bring the leaf blower up again to clear the debris from the second wind storm 3 days ago. No rest for the wicked as they say. Besides it saves on wear and tear of roofing materials and they last longer.

Heck , I’ll probably be doing this forever. Already have over 30 years under my belt. It’s difficult to trust anyone to do the roof cleaning without causing more damage to the roofing materials. The pitched roof are concrete tiles with sky light windows that also need cleaning and collect all the moss and lichens the PNW has to offer. The flat roof section has material called torch down with white gravel topping to repel heat and cold. The far left roofing raised side is the UV clear corrugated roofing material . That area collects debris in the corrugated divots that drive me crazy.

DHR it’s worth the hassle to pressure wash the patios … Even if the ‘WashEE’ is covered in loose debris and soaked in the end. It’s a rewarding chore and always leaves a good feeling when that very messy job is done. Until next time…

I had to edit this cause I forgot to add the pics of the roof showing different roofing materials I was describing in the above post. Got the roof cleaned off again today.

 

I find using the jet-washer quite therapeutic......for the first thirty minutes, then it becomes a bit of a chore.

Not much done today. Went to B&Q this morning for some mortar for the patio pointing.
As it's going to rain for the rest of the week, it's not going to get done until we're promised two or three dry days. I managed to get some leaf collection done, before it started raining. Most of the leaves are now down of the acer tree in the front garden.
It's just the wisterias on the two pergolas to come.
I won't move the troughs and pots back onto the patio until I've done the pointing, however long that takes.
I needed some more yellow dye for the mortar, I try to get it as near the same colour as the York stone. I can only get it on eBay, it's not popular enough for local builders merchants to stock it.

 

Took down the hanging baskets and gave them a trim before putting them in the small lean to greenhouse, first i took some more cuttings of the trailing geraniums.

 

I'm watering the raised beds. You know, they keep saying we'll have rain. I'm dry !!