Future fruits

I've begun another bout of digging. This time it's the area next to the shed which I'm prepping for the installation of a fruit cage and a couple more raised beds. The jury's still out on what fruit to grow yet but I'm toying with the idea of having a Boysenberry. I only came across this fruit recently; we bought some for the care home garden because it doesn't have any thorns. A little different from the usual berries, it's a cross between a blackberry, raspberry and loganberry. Well I'll give it a go once the cage is up and see what happens. Perhaps I'll plant a blackcurrent and a couple of blueberries with it. I'll have to check the size of the fruit cage before I go shopping!

I'm making the most of this productive mood and have also started clearing the ground on the other side of the shed to make room for the log store. Maybe it's because I'm beginning to feel like summer is coming to an end and occasionally my thoughts are turning to autumn and winter.  It's time to look into getting some logs delivered. Two more pallets have been retrieved from work to provide the base and there are some large posts and planks of wood left over from when the fence was reduced which I'll use to make the slatted sides. It's a good job it's a Bank Holiday weekend; I'm grateful for the extra day.

As far as the vegetable garden goes, all the peas are now bagged and in the freezer, the last of the beetroot have been cooked and sliced and I've cleared the spaces and planted a small row of rocket and another of spinach.  The spinach will only produce small leaves at this time of year but I do love them in a salad.

The pumpkin I planted back in July is doing well but has developed mildew on the leaves.  A quick search on the internet has revealed a couple of non-chemical solutions. One is to mix 1/4 ounce of baking soda in a gallon of water and the other is a 50:50 mixture of milk and water.  I'll try the baking soda solution first and see if that helps.  I'm informed that the mildew doesn't affect the fruit but if it kills the leaves off then the fruit could get sun-scorched without the protection.

What else has been happening? Well, I've added a few more plants to the borders around the lawn; a couple of Gypsophyla, a Lantana and a Dahlia.  The Forget-Me-Nots are being removed as well as most of the Aquilegia.  They were very helpful in filling in the borders in the early days but are taking over now so it's time to replace them with more variety.

Oh and the carrot wine is finally away from the starting blocks. It's almost ready to have it's first syphoning.  But I must admit, it's an odd colour!  I expect only time will tell with this one.

Hopefully it'll be ready for Christmas and
will taste better than it looks

I've also been given a bag full of windfall apples by a friend and I'm wondering if I should get some apple wine on the go as well.  It's all down to the amount of equipment I have - which isn't much - and the fact that the elderberries are ready to be picked, both from my tree in the garden and from one at work so there's an opportunity to make several gallons of elderberry wine this year.   Decisions, decisions.

A little note to end on........I've accidentally stepped on several green hazelnuts lying on the ground in the garden recently.   I wasn't sure if you could eat them 'green' but have found a few tasty-looking recipes so I'll be out foraging along the hedge tomorrow and trying these recipes out.  It won't be long before the race against the squirrels begins to see who gets to the ripened one first; I think I can predict the outcome of that in advance!

You win some, you lose some

A trip to Ireland, then Milton Keynes (this girl knows how to travel!) and bad weather intertwined with bouts of illness equals very little time spent in the garden over the past few weeks.

Came back from Ireland to find that something had eaten all the leaves off my carrots despite the use of netting and some slug pellets! Still over the past few weeks my pea pods have appeared, the sweetcorn is flowering and I've been able to eat my own broccoli, rhubarb and some teeny weeny beetroot (well, I had to thin them out so one or two small ones have made their way into my salad for tea).  The broccoli wasn't huge, but enough for me in a meal, and there's still some florets coming on the plants.

Looking forward to eating some of these straight from the pod

Weeny beet; grated on a salad they're...
well....great!

Really delighted to see the peas coming on though; considering I got nothing at all from planting dwarf beans seeds.............I wonder if mice got to them?  Haven't seen any holes in the soil though.

Managed to strim a third of the field before the bad weather came in a couple of weeks ago (it is July isn't it?!! sure it's not October?) and now I keep looking at the rest of it growing and waiting for a chance to get out with the brushcutter again. I was hoping the weather would be kinder this month so I could keep on top of the strimming. Ah well sometimes you just feel like you're losing the battle.....but I will win the war!

at least it's not brambles and thistles this year

still got access to the shed........just about!

The Plympton Pippin apple tree that had the frost damage seems to be none-the-worse so far. I've wrapped up the damaged area using a piece of that fibrous material you use to line hanging baskets with.  It's good for retaining water, which will help the scar to heal.  One of the Sunset apple trees got attacked by Blackfly and several of the leaves were curling in and wilting as a result and it generally looked tired and poorly!  There was only one thing for it.....the bug spray I'm afraid!  I try not to use chemicals on the garden but every now and then I don't feel I have a choice.  If anyone knows of any other non-chemical way of getting rid of Blackfly from an apple tree I'd really be interested to hear about it.

A couple of weeks ago I bought some herbs from People and Gardens who are based where I work;  Basil, Lemon Basil, Purple Basil, Sage, Thyme and Oregano.  I've planted them in the bed with the cauliflowers in, as most of the caulis died off and left me with some space to fill. I haven't had much success with herbs in pots for some reason so I'm hoping they'll do well in the bed.  So far everything seems to be surviving. I also bought a pumpkin plant and a courgette plant and planted in the same bed.  The pumpkin has already started to spread along the bed but it shouldn't interfere with the herbs and both are flowering nicely.  Once the fruits start to show I'll mulch around them to keep the moisture in the ground.

Today was a goo day for getting out in the garden so it was time to attack the weeds that have grown up along the path into the garden and the Alpine bank I'm trying to create as you enter.  An accidental dislodging of a stone on the bank revealed an ants nest.  Talk about frantic! Operation 'Rescue The Eggs' kicked in instantly and I was so fascinated to watch them that I just had to record a little of the highly coordinated recovery plan!

Oh and I almost forgot to mention - I was surprised and delighted to discover recently that my two surviving cauliflowers have grown hearts! Brilliant - I thought I'd failed on that one.  Fingers crossed they grow a bit bigger. I read somewhere that it's a good idea to bend the leaves over the hearts to keep them white, so I've done that today and I'll be keeping a close eye on them - the Cabbage White butterflies are hanging around - time to get more fleece I reckon.