I had a meeting arranged for Saturday morning but it fell through so I had a few hours free before needing to head off to a birthday party in Berkhamstead for an old friend. I made a call and arranged to do the trailer run. I had a chat with horse owners about the horses shedding their coats. The horses think summer is coming because they are shedding their winter coats. I should have picked a handful up for the bird table. The birds would use the hair for their nests.
The trailer was emptied into the boundary hedge again. A couple more loads and the boundary is done. Next a whizzed round to the plots and backed the trailer up the poo pile. I part filled the the trailer with lovely aged manure. That is going back to my house the go on the front garden. Then the ritual of filling the bird feeders and checking the bees. No good news on the bee front. Click HERE for the blog on the bee bother. I figured I did not have enough time for digging but I had time for planting however foolish that might turn out to be. The bottom of Bed 2 had been weeded and dig over a few weeks ago. The soil has settled a little. I marked out six rows about a foot [300mm] apart then dibbed a hole about every eight inches [200mm]. Into the hole went one Sturon Onion set. When all the holes were filled I lightly raked the bed and dowsed the are with a couple of watering cans worth of water. The areas was thoroughly soaked which is just all well since their has been no rain to speak of since the snows melted. The crops in the fields around the locale are looking very poorly. The price of Oil Seed Rape is likely to rise once the meagre harvest is weighed and what are my bees to forage upon if there is no OSR?
I had a chat with my lottie neighbour who had brought along his lad to help or was that hinder him in building his new raised beds. I left them too it and went home with the trailer part filled with very well aged manure. I got the trailer as close as I could to the front garden i.e.on the pavement and spread the muck out from the trailer. I few plant got a biffing with lumps of manure landing on them. Nothing broken luckily so once the manure was lifted off the plants they look like they will be no worse off for the accidental burying. The manure will act a mulch. The front garden is in full sun and is already looking parched. The surface of the soil is dust. Hopefully hundreds of worms that came with the manure will help the soil out by incorporating the manure for me.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Pick up posts
I reported that I had planted loads of peas last week. This week I find there is no chance of them germinating as some varmint has scoffed the lot. The varmint has gone along the row and carefullt moved the manure out of the way to get at the peas. I knew there was a chance it might happen. Sad face.
I have started a new blog just for my beekeeping antics. There is a permanent link in the side bar of this blog. I have a facebook page for it too. Click HERE to take a look and why not "like" it whilst you are there or join as a follower?
The Zen-ness wears off
The weather this week has been very nice. Bright sunshine and a gentle breeze although it still has a cold edge to it. Yesterday was business and bees but today was partially dedicated to the lottie. I hoped that I would not find anything untoward at the lottie when I got there that would divert me from my chosen tasks. I got to the lottie and found that I was the only one there. The retired members of the society had obviously been busy during the week. Neatly tilled beds and straight rows earthed up spuds made my plot look shabby by comparison. I put up a new feeder and filled them all up. the Great Tits were on them in a flash. The Robin was a little more circumspect.
Since last week the Nettles have started poking through on the path by the Rhubarb bed. I got he big fork out and used it to loosen the gravel of the path so I could lift the nettles root and all. They came away fairly easily. The runners on Nettles run a few inched below the surface of the soil so are not usually hard to weed out. I just had to use the fork to rake out the path gravel to a reasonably surface before I tread it down. That corner now looks neat and cared for.
Everything was more or less as I had left it except for a bit of matting that had got away from its weights in the wind. The matting was re-secured and I began the weeding of Bed4 where I had left off. The soil was quite dry and compacted from not being touched last year. It was a bit of a bind to break the soil from the roots of the grass. I found a good whack with the flat of the spade broke the soils grip on the roots and was a small matter the shake the soil off the root before chucking the grass clump into the wheelbarrow. I chugged away at the weeding. Dave P turned up to build his raised beds. We had a chat and went our ways. The muffled sound of rhythmic hammering could be heard as Dave constructed his beds. I continued digging. Digging as I like to call it sound altogether better than weeding which is what I am doing. If you don't have to rush and accept that digging is a big part of caring for the soil then digging [weeding] can be a Zen like state. As soon as the Zen-ness wears off I put the kettle on to make a brew and whilst the kettle is heating up I work to the end of the row as a target. That way I get to finish a little more of the bed and get rewarded with Tea. I got to the peg that was my target for today. Just as I got the rake out my mobile went off. It was the missus. She was finishing her walk early and could we meeting an hour earlier than planned. The answer had to be yes but I had to sacrifice planting the onion sets. I gave the bed a good raking and tidied up.
The missus was doing a walk for charity. This walk was to support Parkinson's disease. We know a couple of chaps affected by this disease. Click HERE for the Parkinson UK charity's website. We had agreed to collect Mrs M from the Staff of Life pub in Ticknall which is very near the finish. Click HERE for their website. It was no hardship to sit in a pub and have a spot of lunch. Fisherman's Pie for me and Turkey and all the trimmings for she who must be obeyed. Then home.
Since last week the Nettles have started poking through on the path by the Rhubarb bed. I got he big fork out and used it to loosen the gravel of the path so I could lift the nettles root and all. They came away fairly easily. The runners on Nettles run a few inched below the surface of the soil so are not usually hard to weed out. I just had to use the fork to rake out the path gravel to a reasonably surface before I tread it down. That corner now looks neat and cared for.
Everything was more or less as I had left it except for a bit of matting that had got away from its weights in the wind. The matting was re-secured and I began the weeding of Bed4 where I had left off. The soil was quite dry and compacted from not being touched last year. It was a bit of a bind to break the soil from the roots of the grass. I found a good whack with the flat of the spade broke the soils grip on the roots and was a small matter the shake the soil off the root before chucking the grass clump into the wheelbarrow. I chugged away at the weeding. Dave P turned up to build his raised beds. We had a chat and went our ways. The muffled sound of rhythmic hammering could be heard as Dave constructed his beds. I continued digging. Digging as I like to call it sound altogether better than weeding which is what I am doing. If you don't have to rush and accept that digging is a big part of caring for the soil then digging [weeding] can be a Zen like state. As soon as the Zen-ness wears off I put the kettle on to make a brew and whilst the kettle is heating up I work to the end of the row as a target. That way I get to finish a little more of the bed and get rewarded with Tea. I got to the peg that was my target for today. Just as I got the rake out my mobile went off. It was the missus. She was finishing her walk early and could we meeting an hour earlier than planned. The answer had to be yes but I had to sacrifice planting the onion sets. I gave the bed a good raking and tidied up.
The missus was doing a walk for charity. This walk was to support Parkinson's disease. We know a couple of chaps affected by this disease. Click HERE for the Parkinson UK charity's website. We had agreed to collect Mrs M from the Staff of Life pub in Ticknall which is very near the finish. Click HERE for their website. It was no hardship to sit in a pub and have a spot of lunch. Fisherman's Pie for me and Turkey and all the trimmings for she who must be obeyed. Then home.
Four Furrows
I was too busy to post last week but here is what I got up to at the lottie. I was supposed to have a good few hours free to do digging. When I got the lottie I found that the gateway to my plot had been blown down. We have had some very strong winds this last week.
This state of affairs put paid to whatever I thought I was going to do that day. In the foreground you can see some poles. These were the ones I replaced earlier in the year. And would be the solution tot he problem. I cut two short lengths of pole and put a point on one end. I hammered the short post into the ground just next to the intersection on the middle path and the end path. The tricky bit was to cut a pole to fit between the top of the short pole and the middle of the gate post. After a couple of errors I got the slanted cuts just about sorted. Then I cut a rabbet on the short and long poles where the diagonal post would sit. This was a stop to prevent the poles sliding up and down the pole rather than simply relying on the nails to hold the post. I also secured the pole with and couple of nails I had saved from some demolition I down some time ago. I then had to reposition the wires over the top of the repositioned pole. I couple of staples secured the wires in place. My motto is "throw nothing away that might come in handy". The repair just cost me time since the materials were all recycled. The job took two full hours which ate into my allotted time.
I filled up the bird feeders, took a peek at the bees and had a brew whilst I figured out what to do in the remaining time. I decided that I would plant some peas. Peas are hardy so the cold wind would not be a problem as the bright sun should heat the soil up nicely. I drew four furrows Bed1. In each furrow scattered a full packet of peas. I covered the peas with manure. I had hopes that the manure would act as a mulch and would eventually be incorporated into the soil. It started to rain a little so that was pretty much it for the day. I did one last quick drill and planted the few Broad Bean seeds I had left in a packet from last year. That drill also got a coat of manure. With a portion of Bed 1 sown and the Rhubarb pushing through it finally feels like spring.
I filled up the bird feeders, took a peek at the bees and had a brew whilst I figured out what to do in the remaining time. I decided that I would plant some peas. Peas are hardy so the cold wind would not be a problem as the bright sun should heat the soil up nicely. I drew four furrows Bed1. In each furrow scattered a full packet of peas. I covered the peas with manure. I had hopes that the manure would act as a mulch and would eventually be incorporated into the soil. It started to rain a little so that was pretty much it for the day. I did one last quick drill and planted the few Broad Bean seeds I had left in a packet from last year. That drill also got a coat of manure. With a portion of Bed 1 sown and the Rhubarb pushing through it finally feels like spring.
Monday, April 01, 2013
Too Wet
This weather is highly inconvenient. A week off work and too cold to do any digging. I went to the lottie on Saturday to do some digging now the snow had thawed. Nope...no digging. The soil was too wet and it takes some wetting to be unworkable. I filled up the bird feeders whilst I figured out what I could do with my time. I decided today was they day to trim the hedges at the bottom of the plot. The pussy willows have sprung up but one of them is far too close to the boundary fence and is beginning to rub it the fence and bump it when it is very windy. After a quick shufty in Degsy I found the pruning saw then set about the tree in question. 45 minutes sawing, pulling and shoving saw the tree trimmed down and the brash stacked out of the way.
The little flower bed at the front of the is badly over grown with grass and weeds. In past years this little bed has looked after the Elephant Garlic with mixed results. I just got stuck into the middle of the bed with spade and pulled the weeds out by the handful and threw them in the wheelbarrow. I just round the bed until it was clear. Twitch has made in roads into this bed so a bit of careful weeding was needed in those areas. When that was done I dug a trench across the bed and filled it with manure. Then I dug another trench next to it and dropped the soil on top of the manure in the adjacent trench. A couple of trenches and barrows of manure later the bed was done then all I had to do was to flatten the surface out with the back of the fork.
Now I was in the barrowing mood I barrowed eight loads of manure onto the big Rhubarb patch. A good coating of the manure makes the beds look neat. The birds meanwhile where giving the feeders a lot of attention. I quite liked seeing a little flock of Long Tailed Tits squabbling over the fat ball. Something stirred on the floor under the feeder and caught my eye. I stopped for a moment but could not make it out. Then it moved. It was a grey Squirrel. I had been told they came to my plot but I had not seen them before today. The last job was to tip the contents of the trailer onto the border.
I took the trailer back to the stables. I had decide that I would also go up to the bees. I also decided to start a blog you for the beekeeping. It is not quite ready yet but soon.
The little flower bed at the front of the is badly over grown with grass and weeds. In past years this little bed has looked after the Elephant Garlic with mixed results. I just got stuck into the middle of the bed with spade and pulled the weeds out by the handful and threw them in the wheelbarrow. I just round the bed until it was clear. Twitch has made in roads into this bed so a bit of careful weeding was needed in those areas. When that was done I dug a trench across the bed and filled it with manure. Then I dug another trench next to it and dropped the soil on top of the manure in the adjacent trench. A couple of trenches and barrows of manure later the bed was done then all I had to do was to flatten the surface out with the back of the fork.
Now I was in the barrowing mood I barrowed eight loads of manure onto the big Rhubarb patch. A good coating of the manure makes the beds look neat. The birds meanwhile where giving the feeders a lot of attention. I quite liked seeing a little flock of Long Tailed Tits squabbling over the fat ball. Something stirred on the floor under the feeder and caught my eye. I stopped for a moment but could not make it out. Then it moved. It was a grey Squirrel. I had been told they came to my plot but I had not seen them before today. The last job was to tip the contents of the trailer onto the border.
I took the trailer back to the stables. I had decide that I would also go up to the bees. I also decided to start a blog you for the beekeeping. It is not quite ready yet but soon.
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