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 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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Yesterday was a day of more clearing up as the greenhouse is now totally buckled and the glass shattered. Rob cleared all the glass up and we took it to the recycling bins. The plan is to move the house over to plot 18 which isn’t so exposed and cover it with netting. We also plan to move the old brassica cage over there with crop rotation in mind so I set to and pulled up everything still left in there with the exception of the three red cabbages which look as though they could still make it. The pigeons are now back in force and everything exposed has a decidedly nibbled look.
We went to our favourite garden centre yesterday. Just to take Libbie to see the horses and ducks. Came home with a pot of 10 runner bean plants, 2 melon plants and a hot pepper called Apache. We couldn’t resist a pot of sweet peas for £1 to add to the tepee and a few flowers for the new pot at home.
We spent almost the whole day at the plot today and caught up with loads of jobs. As well as weeding and watering the new hot pepper plant has been potted on and is in the lean to. The melon plants, Ogen, which will eventually be in the new greenhouse, are for now sitting in the lean to. The runner beans have been planted as have the sweet peas. We finished the sprout cage and planted the red sprout plants into their final place.
The first ten panes of glass have been put in the greenhouse. Tonight I have planted up the new pot at home. I planted a Begonia, Million Kisses, an ivy leaved Geranium called Tomcat, a small trailing Ivy and a scrambling alpine Viola called Papilio.
Rob worked really hard today laying the footings for the greenhouse. In the end he used the concrete blocks given to us by Frank and they fitted perfectly. The weather was scorching and the job wasn’t easy as plot 8 in on a slope. It’s all finished now and the metal frame is sitting on it so the next step is to put in the glass.There could be smashing times ahead. I worked in the lean to potting up the cucumbers, peppers and aubergines and building a framework of canes for support. Gordon told me to bury an upturned pop bottle with the bottom cut out alongside the plants to water into so that the water goes straight to the root and doesn’t rot the stems. Joe gave us a few dwarf Dahlias and I got those planted and watered in. We dug up some more International Kidney potatoes for tea and I planted a pumpkin plant in the ground we dug them from.
Another quick visit at 8pm to water and we collected a lovely box of strawberries. I am glad we went down. I bet the slugs were planning a party.
I sowed a tray of lettuce, All The Year Round, a butterhead variety. The ideal would be to have a crispy lettuce without snails and slugs so if they germinate do we plant them out into the salad bed or try to keep them raised somehow. I have a shallow plastic box. I may drill holes in the bottom of that and fill it with commercial compost and plant them in that. I shall have to think about it.
We have been given a greenhouse by a neighbour of my brother so the next big plan is to clear the old brassica cage and slab a foundation for it. How to get it to the plot will present a problem too. It does come apart so we are hoping we may be able to take it piece by piece in the car.
Chico is home and looking very bruised and sad. She is confined to a cage while her pelvis heals. Neither of her back legs seem much use to her at the moment so we are hoping that time will heal. Poor baby.
We made a quick visit to the plot this evening. It was very peaceful and beautiful and a welcome escape from the sadness at home. The ground, even after all the heavy rain, was incredibly dry so we watered the seed beds and the lean to. There were quite a few fruits on the strawberries but none red yet. The runner beans were picking up at last and almost all the potatoes are showing through now, some with flowers.