Frozen toes and an itchy nose....

I woke up to another lovely dry somewhat sunny day, I hope this is going to continue! My toes and feet were rather cold still today and my nose is peeling, hence the itchy nose! I had a fairly productive day out in the garden and potting shed today. I found half a bag of compost and half a bag of seed compost under the table in the summerhouse, I really must tidy up in there!

I potted up all of the flower seedlings that were ready, but I had used up all the seedling compost so I was unable to do the herbs or plant anymore seeds. I had enough compost to top up five of the potato bags, so it looks like a trip to the garden center tomorrow to be able to do the others.

I ventured into the little plastic greenhouse only to find a snail had demolished  twenty four Cosmos seedlings. These were doing quite well too, all that was left was a tray of soil, damn pesky snails! They had not touched the French Marigolds so I moved these to the large greenhouse before they find these and eat them too.

As it was a sunny dry day it was perfect for scrubbing out the chicken coop. I took out all the removable parts and brushed off any muck on the interior of the coop and nesting boxes. I then liberally sprayed with a Smite solution and scrubbed all the other parts too. I left it all in the sun to dry whilst I took the dogs for a walk. I had a good inspection to make sure that there were no red mites lurking and thankfully I could not see any. I suffered a bad infestation of these last year when I went on holiday for two weeks and it took a few weeks to eradicate them. I have written an article on how to treat an infestation of red mite which you can access through this link  Treating red mite in the chicken coop

The girls had their wander around the garden again today, Clyde kept his distance today and was watching them whilst laying on the door step looking rather wary! We had two eggs today, and I found another in my coat pocket which was from yesterday which I had forgotten about, but I had broken it, so I had a rather soggy pocket! The girls had a feast of rice, burnt toast and some salad this morning and then this afternoon munched through a purple sprouting broccoli that had gone to seed. They all went to bed quite content I should think.

My neighbor has cut his grass and left a big bag of grass cuttings by the gate, at some point over the weekend I will sort out the compost bins as it has been too wet of late to do this job. Hopefully there will be some lush compost at the bottom of the bins that I can put on the veg plot before planting out any more greens or beans.

As promised I have managed to get the photos onto the computer. Unfortunately the one of the vegetable plots on holiday have not come out very clear, these were taken whist we were travelling and it is hard to make out what it is.

You can just make out the rows of vegetables

 

 Top left is the first early potatoes and top right is some of the seedlings I potted up. Bottom left is the onions  that were planted in March and bottom right is the cabbages the ones at the back were planted out in January I think and the little ones were planted out about a month ago and were uncovered yesterday, hence why they look a little droopy!

And finally..... Still lots to do in the garden tomorrow so it's of to bed for me shortly, I hope you all had a good day and look forward to posting my ramblings tomorrow x

The girls have been having a great time in the run today. I lifted up the slabs and piled them up one side and there were hundreds of worms and other wiggly things. I put down the bark and let the girls out of the enclosure and it was one mad rush. Bark was flying in all directions with lots of clucking and flapping. It was like a scene from the January sales! They are still now busy flicking and digging. We only had the two eggs today however we all enjoyed poached eggs with breakfast this morning.

I have been quite busy pottering about in the garden today. I planted out the remaining strawberry plants,quite a few already have flowers on.

I pricked out some of the flowers that were sown several weeks ago and potted them up. For those of you that don't know what pricking out is, it is where you have sown seeds in a tray and you need to carefully lift them out and put them into individual pots. It is quite a fiddly job and you have to be so careful not to damage the little plants. There were Malope, Lychins and Sweet Williams, I done about a hundred plants today. My dad has been busy digging new flowerbeds so he will be pleased as he will have plenty of plants to fill them up with.

seedlings potted

Prior to pricking out

I sowed some French marigolds today, these are ideal as a companion plant, which will be planted among the vegetables as they help to keep pests away from your crops as the snails and other bugs love them and they help to attract the bees which aides pollination. A great way to be more organic in you pest control. I also sowed some cosmos from seeds that I saved from last years plants. These are prolific with their seed scattering and there are hundreds emerging in one of the flower beds in the front which still needs to be removed. Another job to add to my ever expanding to do list!

We are gradually getting through the job list, whether they will all get done is anybodies guess. We are going to Ardleigh tomorrow, where they have a big bootsale. I am after some more containers for the garden and I might even grab a plant or two! If you are starting out on gardening bootsales are the ideal place to buy your gardening tools. Not only is it cheaper but you often find the tools are much better quality than if you were to buy new cheaper tools. Last year I bought a ladies gardening fork for £8.00, it was old but very good quality and condition. If I were to buy a new one it would of been double the price.

The herbs I sowed a couple of weeks ago are now starting to shoot as are the extra tomato plants. One of the courgettes is up, and I'm hoping it won't be long before the others are out too. Still no sign of the pumpkins or aubergines yet though.

It has been a rather chilly day however the sun is now shining. I think we are in for some rain again tonight, which is great as my water butts are still standing empty!

And finally....I have a glass of rose' with my name on so I shall bid you all a good evening/day x

Opps I nearly forgot some new recipes have been added, so why not take a look and see if anything takes your fancy