Up the Apples and Pears

 Fun Fact: 'Up the Apples and Pears' is well-known Cockney rhyming slang for ascending the stairs. But did you know that children of a more elevated social status were told to 'go up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire'?The apple and pear crop is now safely gathered in ...Concorde Pears (top), Red...

Toms & Cukes

I grow tomatoes and cucumbers in our polytunnel - usually, four cucumber plants and up to twelve tomato plants (salad and cherry) using a Quadgrow system; see here and here. By this time of year (mid-October) the plants are looking a little ragged ...Polytunnel in mid-October 2022... but still producing...

Broad Bean and Leek Update (17th October)

 It is just over a month since my last full update and about ten days since I last mentioned these vegetables!The main broad bean and leek plot is still looking good ...Broad Beans and Leeks (17/10/22)... good sturdy pest-free growth and plenty of flowers on the broad beans.On a small test plot,...

Guernsey Lily - 2022 Flowering

September/October is the flowering season for our Guernsey Lilies brought back from our trip to that island in 2015. This year's display was a little later than last year's but did not disappoint. On October 9th, both lilies were in the unheated greenhouse ...Guernsey Lily - 9th October 2022... and...

Spot the Difference

On an early October evening (13/10/22), I was busy shredding some corn stalks after bringing in the sweetcorn harvest. From the crab apple tree in the wild garden, there came the unmistakable screeching tea-cher, tea-cher call of the long-tailed tit.From my position, I took these two photos. Can you...

Gwenffrwd Dinas, Twm Shon Cati and Pied Flycatchers

Gwenffrwd Dinas - RSPB Reserve Gwenffrwd Dinas sounds like something out of J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings but is, in fact, an RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) reserve in mid-Wales. We visited over a decade ago when the bluebells were in full bloom and the display and scent...

Hot Composting #3 (Part II)

In my earlier post, I listed the equipment used for hot composting. Perhaps not unexpectedly there were a few things I forgot or missed. So I've got 4 more items to add with no guarantee that there won't be more.1. BiocharBiochar Delivery from SoilFixerNot strictly speaking equipment but an important...

A Ringing Endorsement for Bell Peppers?

 2022 Crop of Sweet PeppersOctober 9th and we are getting the occasional chilly night (1 - 3 ℃) though the days are still quite warm (17 - 20 ℃). Time to bring in the crop of Bell Peppers (aka Sweet Peppers) from the Salad/Vegetable Planter in our polytunnel. Sweet and Chilli Pepper are best...

View from the Rear Window - September 2022

 September is the first month of Autumn - at least in the meteorological sense. A time for harvesting and tidying so a busy month for composting too. Just a couple or 'rear window' photos this month from the beginning and end of the month. Roses at the start with fuschias and dahlias at the end...

Who Put the Bee in Beans?

I may have mentioned once or twice that I am trialling late-sown leeks and broad beans in an attempt to avoid the usual pests and diseases that afflict these vegetables. This is what the leek and bean bed looked like on 7th October 2022...Leeks & Broad Beans - 7/10/22... with some plants now...