A Hot Composting Saga (Part 3) - Deja Vu all over again (Yogi Berra)

 Following on from Parts 1 and 2 ...In order to make inroads into the clematis garden waste ...Photo 1: Pre-Compost Storage Area... I would need to get at least one of my standby Super Compost bins running and preferably both of them. The first job was to empty the Super Compost Bin whose...

A Hot Composting Saga (Part 2): "Eyes Bigger Than Your Belly"

The story continues from Part 1 ...Before recklessly agreeing to take all my neighbour's garden waste, I probably should have given a little more thought to the amount and type of garden waste that I was planning to compost. In total, there were 23 very full plastic sacks: the pile shown in Photo 1...

A Hot Composting Saga (Part 1): When is Green Waste Not Green Waste?

Mary came home one day after having spoken to a neighbour who was putting out green waste for collection the next day by the dustbin men & women. Our neighbour had cut down a large amount of clematis growth and packed it in plastic bags - itself not an easy task. The bags, purchased from the local...

Frost Protection -Asparagus, Potatoes, Fruit Trees & Bushes

 On Sunday (23rd April), we were warned of widespread frost for Monday night and Tuesday morning due to an influx of Arctic weather (Figure 1). Subzero temperatures overnight were predicted even for  Herefordshire.Figure 1: Sunday's Weather Forecast for Monday Night/Tuesday Morning (BBC)This...

But Butt - Herb Garden

 Back in December last year (2022), one of our water butts developed a leak following a prolonged bout of frosty weather.Photo 1: Frost DamageThe leaky butt has since been replaced with a slightly larger version (227 litres rather than 200 litres, Photo 2) ...Photo 2: Replacement Butt in-situ......

Stop and Smell the Flowers

 There is a decent amount of colour in the front garden wall at the moment ...Photo 1: Front Garden Wall (11th April 2023)Photo 2: Front Garden Wall (11th April 2023)Photo 3: Front Garden Wall (11th April 2023)... although it is the smell rather than the colour that has attracted...

First Crop of the Year - Asparagus

 The first asparagus spear of 2023 was spotted on the 10th of April ...Photo 1: Asparagus Spears (April 10th 2023)... which was a few days earlier than 2022. However, in 2021, the first spears appeared nearly 2 weeks earlier at the end of March.When the first asparagus spears emerge after their...

Robin (without Batman) Caught Leaving the Scene

 A short video of a robin flying off from the garden bird feeder and captured by our NatureSpy camera ...Video 1: Robin Redbreast Leaves the Scene... along some stills extracted from the video ...Photo 1: Just LeavingPhoto 2: Mid-flightPhoto 3: Almost G...

View from the Rear Window - March 2023

"March 4th", the only day that's also a sentence" - John Green"In March, Winter is holding back and Spring is pulling forward" - Jean Hersey"Flowers and colours everywhere, I'm so glad that March is here" - Anamika MishraMarch 2023 in Herefordshire was grey and ordinary except for a sprinkling of snow...