Despite the cold weather (heavy frosts for the last few days) the birds seem to think that spring isn’t that far away. The days are starting to get longer and the birds are starting to look for nesting sites with the blue tits and great tits taking a look inside the nestboxes. In the last…… Continue reading The Birds think spring is on the way
Blog
Tomatoes for 2023 and other things
I’ve been sorting through my tomato seeds and trying to work out what to grow in 2023. As ever, its a balancing act, trying to select a range of cultivars that meet the conflicting needs of an amateur grower with not a lot of space. I have seeds for around 200 different cultivars and (as…… Continue reading Tomatoes for 2023 and other things
First signs of Spring 2023
Although it’s been a mild winter with only a few days of frost and no snow (as yet), it’s still nice to see the first signs of spring. The evenings are light later, the birds are collecting around the feeders and the snowdrops and aconites are starting to show colour. We’ve managed to protect the…… Continue reading First signs of Spring 2023
2023 Gardening Decisions
At this time of year when everything in the garden is quiet, thoughts turn to deciding what to grow next year. I’ve increased the space in the tunnel dedicated to strawberries which means there won’t be as much space for beans but it will be easier to separate them. There will still be space for…… Continue reading 2023 Gardening Decisions
Another Squirrel Bites the Dust
I’ve written about my battles with the squirrels before. At the moment they are concentrating on collecting and burying acorns around the garden. It doesn’t really matter as most of the vegetables and fruit are picked and either eaten or stored for later. The only things that are left are carrots and lettuces. However, concentrating…… Continue reading Another Squirrel Bites the Dust
Magpies vandalising our Lawn
Our lawn is in a bad state. The shading of the trees and the dry summer has encouraged the moss to grow. There’s not a lot we can do about it. But this year the magpies have had a real go pulling up the moss. I assume they’re after cranefly larva (leatherjackets). But it could…… Continue reading Magpies vandalising our Lawn
Tomatoes starting to finish – 2022
Ok, so the tomatoes are still producing a reasonable quantity (2.5 kg today) but it’s obvious that it won’t be going on for much longer. Unusually it’s the beefsteak that are turning off first. Today we picked the last of the Aunt Rubies German Green and Black Krim. It’s a few weeks sooner than other…… Continue reading Tomatoes starting to finish – 2022
Apple Harvest 2022
Todays Apple HArvest Dehydrating Discovery Eater OK, I’ve complained long and hard about the squirrels and magpies eating our apples and wondering what to do about it. I’ve even tried netting the trees and just succeeded in trapping birds. Well, they’ve started cropping now and I don’t know what to do with them all. The…… Continue reading Apple Harvest 2022
Tasty & Healthy Simple Vegetarian Lentil Loaf Recipe
This lentil loaf is something that we have reasonably frequently but only now have I decided to add it to the recipes on this website. The reason for doing this is that it today we made it using sieved juice from home grown tomatoes, rather than bought tomato juice. It seems to have worked well.…… Continue reading Tasty & Healthy Simple Vegetarian Lentil Loaf Recipe
Tomatoes Ripening Early (2022)
The hot spell we had a few weeks ago seems to have brought everything earlier than other years. This is possibly good or bad. We are about 6kg of tomatoes ahead of what we would have expected to pick by this time in an average year and it seems to be mainly down to the…… Continue reading Tomatoes Ripening Early (2022)