feeling hot hot hot!

It has been very hot and muggy the past two days. But at long last some of the strawberries have gone red and Octavia found the biggest one and promptly plucked it from the plant and went racing off into the coop with the other's in hot pursuit!

The girls had a couple of hours out in the garden, Bell was quite happy plucking at my lettuce and Dory was in my newly planted herb pot kicking out all the soil, Matilda was in the fruit border and Octavia was rummaging in the strawberries! So a good day was had by all. I cut some rhubarb which my mum has taken home to make a rhubarb pie. I have put netting round it now so the girls can't get at it. We had four eggs today which made a nice change. The girls are now back in the run laying down with their wings spread out relaxing after their hectic day.

I had visitors today so not much gardening has been done, however I have removed the broad beans as these had seemed to have finished and what pods were growing have gone black. This was quite a poor crop this year and I planted these in November last year for them to over winter. The Variety was Aquadulce, last spring I sowed The Sutton and I shall sow these again next spring as I had a much better crop from these.

The snails are busy feasting on my brassica's even though I have mulched with human hair on some of them the snails seem to still manage to get through where there is no mulch. A trip to the hairdressers is in order to restock up on mulch.

As it has been so dry it is perfect weather for weeding and hoeing so I have done the vegetable plot and the raised beds. The pods are forming on the peas, I just need them to fill out now. Everything that is in the ground is growing quite well. The cauliflowers, sprouting broccoli and cabbages I sowed a couple of weeks ago are coming through, hopefully these will make it into the ground soon. The swede that I sowed has started to poke through the soil and the parsnips are 3-4 inches high now.

Well I have almost finished my little project. I have just got to do the final sewing and it is finished. I was better at this than I thought. It is amazing what you can learn from just watching a video, even if they were going to quick and I had to keep pausing and replaying! I will have to upload the photo tomorrow as the battery has just gone on my camera. It does not seem to last long and always runs out of juice at the most inopportune moments!

Well that is it from me for another day, I have got a lot of watering to do. Until next time x

Pea-ing around!

Not much gardening got done today as other things got in the way. However I did get the peas planted out. I was going to plant them out in rows and  put in two posts with chicken wire running in between. But Jay had taken out the van along with his tools and I needed the wire cutters. As I wanted to get it done today I made wigwams using bamboo canes instead.

I was quite surprised at how dry and hard the ground is with all the rain we had, it seems like it has evaporated into thin air! It was solid. As you can see the peas at the front of the picture which were planted in the winter  have all but disappeared, what was left has been eaten by the blooming snails. I have sprinkled down a few slug pellets, something that I do not like to use, however as I don't want these to succumb to the same fate. I am hoping to collect some more hair from the hair dressers this week, which I shall then use as a mulch around the peas.

I had a bag of hair which I used to mulch round the cabbages as when I took a look today I found several snails nestled in there, which the girls enjoyed chasing each other for. For more information on mulching:
Mulches-for-the-garden

I cleaned the girls out today while they had a wander round the garden, Max was keeping an eye on them making sure they did not wander to far and would round them up near the run. A Labrador chicken dog! I wonder.... a new category at the local agriculture show! Clyde just sat on the step taking it all in. When I went out this morning to let the girls out of the coop, I had forgotten to take the scraps with me, I came back to the house and all the girls were following me as I had forgot to shut the gate, they were all standing outside by the back door, and then as I came back out they all came running behind me back to the run for their goodies. It sure is a funny sight with them running along.

I had to give all the vegetables that are growing in pots and containers a good soaking earlier as they were quite dry, seemed strange standing out there watering as it has been a while since it has needed to be done.

And finally..... I hope you have all had a great weekend, I would also like to say a big hello and welcome to all the new visitors x

A gardeners lot!

We have had all weathers today, wind, rain, hail and intermittent sunshine, so there was no gardening today. With all this rain everywhere is looking rather lush. We shall be having our first harvest of the year from the garden at the weekend. The rhubarb is almost ready for picking it has grown so much these past two weeks. The garlic and onions that were planted out last winter are starting to thicken up nicely too.

I have been thinking about mulching the garden, but if this weather keeps up will I need to worry! Since the hosepipe ban was announced it has not stopped raining. The local water company have been sending information in the post about conserving water and running a win a water butt competition online, which consequently I did not win. Most gardening sites and forums are talking about how to conserve water and how to cope with the drought and still be able to garden.

That is the thing with gardening you plan what you are going to grow for the oncoming season the winter before. However nothing goes to plan as we humble gardeners are always dictated to by mother nature and her whims. Even trying to harden the plants of is becoming a nightmare at the moment running in and out especially when the hail comes along. What I find frustrating is remembering how things were doing last year and how things are not doing so well now.

The girls have been busy running back and forth to keep out the the rain, they did look a rather soggy looking bunch earlier, but they have started to fluff up their feathers and dry out. We only had the two eggs today, just enough for the yorkshire puddings I am making to go with the roast beef for dinner.

I braved the weather and walked the dogs, I was just out in the open area when it decided to pelt down with hail, so it was a mad dash to get back among the trees for cover. Max got a thorn stuck in his paw which I managed to remove, and he went chasing off after his Frisbee whilst Clyde went scampering off on some scent that he had found.

And finally..... It has come over black again so more rain is imminent, I shall bid you a good evening/day. Before I go I have done my first book review, why not go and check it out.  My Place

Hairy hedgehogs!

Been a rather chilly day, we had hail this morning and it has been raining on and off all day. The forecast for the coming week does not show much improvement. I have not done anything in the garden today. I have been down to the greenhouses and summerhouse to have a peek and see how things are doing and sprayed the seedlings. I have found a snail in the greenhouse and the girls enjoyed that tasty morsel!

The girls had a feast this morning Dory was so excited that she laid an egg there and then on the ground! They always lay them in the nesting boxes. Matilda spent a lot of time clucking and twittering in the coop. She is not very impressed when I remove the eggs whilst she pops out to feed and drink and goes straight back in twittering again.

Remember I was on about using hair in the garden, well this article popped up on my face book wall, Using hair and hedgehogs. It is suggesting that by using hair as a mulch around your plants it protects them from attacks  of the slugs and by encouraging hedgehogs into your garden also helps. To read more about it visit:
Using hair and hedgehogs

The plans for this week are to sort out the flowerbeds in the front garden, hopefully we will get a dry period so I can get it done. There is some new information on the additional pages of the blog. I am slowly adding to them.

And finally.....I hope you have all had a great weekend and that some of you managed to get out and enjoy your gardens x