I Spotted a Roaming Zebra

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No. The circus hasn’t come to town. For a week I have been trying off and on to find the site of the weblog of the young couple who were the last to take on a plot at Bob’s Coppice. Then I had a flash of inspiration, if they had seen our weblog then their url would be in the statistics for our site, and there they were with just a forward slash and a wp at the end to confuse the search engines. Their address in now in my blogroll and they are well worth a read. Though it is a new site they are obviously not so new at growing as they have a thriving garden at home. They have very kindly given us a Chillie Pepper plant and after reading through their site I am wondering if it is a Pinocchios Nose as I see that they had some of those. I have it at home on the window sill so it will be interesting to see what develops.

Surprise Surprise –

Although the breeding season should only go from February to May, Jemima, our call duck, is once again nest building and has two eggs in there already. I hope for their sake that they have at least one success this time.

sean and deb greenhouseSean and Deb have bought a greenhouse for their garden and have done a good job of building a secure base for it. Well done both of you.

 

 

 

 

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Strawberry Time

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Here comes the sun and here come the strawberries. We had quite a poor crop last year but this year we have an abundance of fruit so if we can beat the slugs in the race to harvest we should have enough to eat, preserve and give away. yummy….

A disappointing time for Puddles and Jemima as not one of their clutch survived but we are just grateful that Puddles survived his illness and has proved his fertility to us as there were three fully formed ducklings in the eggs. Unfortunately none of them made it out which was heartbreaking for all of us. The chicks and growers are doing fine and are now all outside in their respective pens. Sadly we lost two of our big rescue girls within the space of five days so only one lonely girl now in the eglu. Tonight we plan to go down to the plots to plant more beans both runner and dwarf french and to water the plants that are under cover.

Full of Beans

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Today I have sown more beans in pots to start off at home. Runner Bean White Lady, Climbing Bean Blauhilde, Black Bean Delinel and some unlabelled small white beans sent to me by a forum member last year.

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Yesterday I potted on some Tomatoes Sweet Millions given to us by a friend along with a Cherry Belle and an Alicante.

Puddles also seems full of beans as he waits patiently for Jemima, who is sitting on a clutch of eggs, to produce his offspring.

Daddy’s Girl

Last evening we went to the allotment to find that work had begun on the parking area which is being tarmaced by the look of it. I planted the tomatoes in the left hand bed of the lean to. Tomato Lemon Tree, Black Cherry, 2 Alicante and 2 Money-maker. Over on the left hand bed the Cucumber Carmen is still looking good so fingers crossed. We will have to finish off the support structure in there soon. We prepared the left hand bed in the new tunnel for the swede plants. The cabbages and broccolli plants in there look strong and healthy so we gave them a good watering. Finally we measured out the area for the new tunnel on plot 8 and we haven’t even finished the first one yet.

The Heart Will Go On

It seems that the more that I have to write about the less time I have to write. We have had a few days of really warm dry weather and so the main task for everyone on the site has been watering in new plants. Both plots are looking tidy with plenty of planting and sowing going on. The ongoing battle with the weeds is in full flow and the compost bins are filling up fast.

lilacBack at home most of the plants that had been started in the house are now in the greenhouse in the garden or already in place at the plots. The window ledge in the computer room is still full with three Aubergine and four Pepper plants but the plastic greenhouse which was in here has gone and so has the broody box as the chicks have moved out into a pen in the garden so it is quite tidy by my standards. Outside in the garden the lilac is in full flower and looking beautiful.

 

On Sunday we sowed more Broad Bean Violetta and six rows of Dwarf Bean Borlotto on plot 18. I have sowed the French Beans, The Prince and Tender and True, in pots to get them started while we prepare the beds over on plot 8. I also have 16 Runner Bean Scarlet Emperor started in pots ready to finish the planting in the bean trench. The two Tomato Ildie are now in place in the lean to and two Tomato Roma are settled into the shell of the small plastic greenhouse in front of the shed. Eight Tomato Gardeners Delight are planted outside in front of the shed in the old nursery bed so I am hoping last nights cold hasn’t got to them. I have sown seeds of various flowers around the plots to brighten the place up and to attract bees and butterflies. here is a cool breeze this morning with a promise of rain tomorrow and we are planning to visit the plots this evening when Rob has had a rest after work.

On Saturday night we went to see Celine Dion at the NIA in Birmingham. The tickets were a Christmas present from Adam. The whole thing was an amazing experience.

Finally a special message for my Nephew Matthew who has had a brilliant report from school and an award for his work in Graphics. Well done Matt. We are all very proud of you.

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Tunnel of Love

This morning Rob went to the plots early to put the net cover on the tunnel. We both went back this afternoon to finish off and plant a few brassicas in there. It is looking very good. We still have to make a better doorway but it is safe from the pigeons for now. Just a few more finishing touches required. The weather today has been very hot and I risked putting Carmen ll in the lean to. On the home front Jemima is sitting tight on her eggs at last so we are hoping for new arrivals at the end of the month. We have to hope that Puddles is fertile however as although he seems fit and strong at the moment he was very poorly earlier in the year. The chicks are growing fast now and are swapping their fluff for feathers already.

Welcome Gifts and New Friends

dsc00027redcurrant.jpgAfter a wet morning this afternoon turned out bright and warm and we spent a few hours working on the plots. After the downpour we had during the night the site was wet and sticky but everywhere was looking green and lush again and there were plenty of blossoms on the trees. The bluebells which are scattered here and there were in full flower. We took six eggs for the young mom and her husband and we met the new young couple who have recently taken over the plot next to them. I planted the three Pumpkin Mammoth which were threatening to squeeze me out of the computer room and also eight Cucumber Delicaat in the lean to. The Red Currant bush bought last year has shot up and is covered in buds.

Trevor gave us a tray of Onion Red Baron which he had grown from seed and also eight Tomato Gardeners Delight so we dug over a couple of beds and put them in. Despite the blustery night and the heavy rain the fleece which we put round the runner bean trench was still in place. Tonight I have put some Runner Bean Scarlet Emperor into pots to start off.

 

 

100_3944roy.jpgRoy, Jan and Matt have been decorating and we think they are in competition with Mother Nature. A beautiful job folks.