Today I did something in my Garden

paddylonglegs

Ok decision made to move the paving slab so I’ll be able to grow in the ground. Wifey would LOVE a rose so that could be an option if conditions suit...

CelticRambler

Is "Ozymandias" still on the Leaving Cert English syllabus? Coz I thought of him when I came back to my garden after three weeks' absence, looked on my work and despaired: waaaaaahhhhhh.

The kilo of just-ripe strawberries - 16€'s worth, going by the supermarket price for that variety - doesn't do an awful lot to mitigate the despair of seeing the amount of work I'll have to do to get on top of things again. The grass in the orchard is literally up to my elbows ; the pears and apples have been ravaged by caterpillars ; last year's leeks, looking "quite good" before I left, decided to bolt while I was away; and most of the self-seeded beetroot has also bolted, despite being little more than a leaf and a stem when I last saw it.

Sunflowers are doing really well; planted-out tomatoes are doing better than the ones I took with me to keep safe; all the lettuce has gone mad, but isn't bolting (yet); and the carrots - as much as I can see them in the weeds - are big and bushy. One recently transplanted rose that I thought had succumbed to the Feb-April drought is coming into leaf on one of its four stems, and the transplanted thyme and oregano look like they've been there forever.

hirondelle

paddylonglegs wrote: »

Ok decision made to move the paving slab so I’ll be able to grow in the ground. Wifey would LOVE a rose so that could be an option if conditions suit...

Make sure to get a climbing rose and not a rambling rose- they latter are like the wild dog rose and you get one flush of flowers for a couple of weeks and then nothing. True climbers give you flowers over a couple of months. Yes, I did make the mistake.

lrushe

Finally got the supports up for my climbing rose. Took this as a cutting last year, no flowers last year but covered with buds this year, can't wait for it to bloom.

Climbing Rose.jpg

Mimon

Realised my new apple tree was covered in aphids. Was hundreds of them. Went at them with diluted washing up liquid and then squished them, seem to have killed most of them. Will keep at them.

A lot of the new growth was curled up, with the aphids hiding out in there. Will the apple tree grow normally after this?

SnowyMuckish

lrushe wrote: »

Finally got the supports up for my climbing rose. Took this as a cutting last year, no flowers last year but covered with buds this year, can't wait for it to bloom.

Climbing Rose.jpg

Brilliant size for a cutting from last year!

CelticRambler

Easing back into the gardening mentality after three week's of what my mother calls "proper work" :mad: - earthed up my potatoes (second time) and finally got my ride-on mower back into action after a six-month hiatus. Not a moment too soon - it's got too hot for strimming, and I need those grass clippings! Oh, and I also need the mower in tractor-and-trailer mode for the next stage of my ongoing re-landscaping work.

GreeBo

Hocus Focus wrote: »

You don't need to use compostable bags for your garden compost, they are meant for the food waste that goes in the brown bin, so as to keep the bluebottles from laying eggs in it and causing maggots which make it stink.
Your fresh vegetable wast can just be kept in an unlined container to accumulate for a day or two, before being thrown on the compost heap.
TV chefs and other media people cause confusion when they refer to cooked food waste going "in the compost". Perhaps it does go in compost, but not the kind that you want near your house.

I'm not using them for the sake of the heap, its for the same of the brown bin in the kitchen

Day off today so I finally got around to putting up trellis on a high wall and planting clematis.

Anyone have tips on looking after clematis? Planted them fairly deep, as recommended.

Jim_Hodge

Deleted User wrote: »

Day off today so I finally got around to putting up trellis on a high wall and planting clematis.

Anyone have tips on looking after clematis? Planted them fairly deep, as recommended.

Nice job.

Keep them well watered. They don't like dry soil.

Look up the pruning requirements for the variety you have.

Assembled a wooden raised bed, filled bottom half with sticks, grass cuttings and left over soil from last season's pots... spread a handful of ammonium sulphate down in one half for plants that like that sort of thing. Filled top half w/ lovely wormy compost and peat. Planted sprouts, chard, spinach, turnips and more chard.

Then I got myself in a right mess thinking about birds and insects. Little fookers are everywhere. One of them (a bird, that is) shat on a cabbage leaf last week and I had to wash it. That is the level of depravity I am dealing with.

So I put up netting all round the bed to deter birds and some flying insects etc. Not bad, I thought to meself, but I better put up some fleece too, as it's a new bed and I want to keep it bug free.

So I put fleece up on three sides. Then I remembered that it's 30% light blocking, so I thought I'd be clever and on top and along one side, I put leftover polytunnel plastic.

So basically, I made a mess in the garden today, but I enjoyed every minute of it, got a bit sunbrunt and I have a bed that's always protected from insects, allows air flow and is part-polytunnel; i.e. a mess. :pac:

What I'm wondering now is, 1) why do I hate planning and 2) where have all my clothes pegs gone and 3) what are people's views on fleece at this time of year?

Would I be better off not having the fleece, let the veg enjoy the sun and just deal with any insects that fly in past the netting?

Fleece Side.jpg
Polytunnel Side.jpg

looksee

MeepMeep2021 wrote: »

Fleece Side.jpg
Polytunnel Side.jpg

so you are not expecting any wind then?

looksee

Deleted User wrote: »

Day off today so I finally got around to putting up trellis on a high wall and planting clematis.

Anyone have tips on looking after clematis? Planted them fairly deep, as recommended.

You have a layer of mulch there, but I would suggest putting a few flat stones over the root area - they prefer to have their roots cool.

SouthWesterly

Bought a black elder today.

https://plantophiles.com/plant-care/black-tower-elderberry-care/

Out this evening and put down some dwarf beans

looksee

looksee wrote: »

so you are not expecting any wind then?

There's a lot to be said for drunk gardening! :P



Normalcy/sobriety returned to the bed today: IMG_20210606_132418_3.jpg

looksee

looksee wrote: »

You have a layer of mulch there, but I would suggest putting a few flat stones over the root area - they prefer to have their roots cool.

Thanks. I had actually added the stones after the photo was taken.

One is doing really well and has already started climbing, but the other one looks a bit weak.

fryup

there's greenfly on my strawberries, i sprayed it with greenfly killer ....how long should i wait before eating the strawberries?

nigeldaniel

Today I put down a new row for potato as the last one was raided during the night by unknown intruders. No night cams in my garden to find the guilty suspect but it made a big mess so might have been a badger. Would not rule out hares or rabbits same things happened last year.

looksee

fryup wrote: »

there's greenfly on my strawberries, i sprayed it with greenfly killer ....how long should i wait before eating the strawberries?

One of the advantages of growing your own crops is that you decide whether you want a side order of pesticides. Its a bit late to say that it was probably not a good idea to spray and that a strongish jet of soapy water would have dealt with the greenfly. Also any purchased strawberries you have ever eaten probably had lots of pesticides, and you survived them.

It usually tells you on the bottle how long to wait before eating sprayed fruit and veg, but you can remove a lot of the residue by washing with cold water. Some people suggest vinegar in the water, but I reckon your strawberries might taste a bit pickled.

New Home

You could also rinse them in water and bicarbonate of soda, but don't let them soak too much. Incidentally, strawberries with balsamic vinegar (proper one) are delicious.

looksee

New Home wrote: »

You could also rinse them in water and bicarbonate of soda, but don't let them soak too much. Incidentally, strawberries with balsamic vinegar (proper one) are delicious.

Yes I have heard that, though I haven't tried them, I didn't make the connection though, my brain was going the 'fish and chip' route.

I did on one occasion wash fruit (might have been grapes) in a mild Milton solution, then rinsed well. It didn't improve the fruit.

SouthWesterly

Was out in the garden 5 minutes after finishing work today.
Weeded the leeks and pulled some volunteer spuds from last year.
Sowed, carrot, parsnip, beetroot, halblange, chard, spinach, fennel, chicory, kale and a few types of cabbage, swede and turnip on 2 spare beds.
Hoping they come up as root veg hasn't done well this year.

New Home

I think I remember reading something about sodium bicarbonate "absorbing/breaking down" the toxins/the components of the pesticides, for lack of a better/more accurate expression.

Ah, here, I found one of the articles!

CelticRambler

New Home wrote: »

You could also rinse them in water and bicarbonate of soda, but don't let them soak too much.

New Home wrote: »

I think I remember reading something about sodium bicarbonate "absorbing/breaking down" the toxins/the components of the pesticides, for lack of a better/more accurate expression.

Ah, here, I found one of the articles!

Washing for 10 to 15 minutes! :eek: There wouldn't be much of a strawberry left after that, unless you're growing those tough aul' out-of-season Spanish varieties!

New Home

I don't recommend soaking soft fruit, but even a quick rinse with water and bicarb would be a damn sight better than nothing.

SouthWesterly

Was reading a book recently called quality agriculture.
Well worth a read

It looks at regenerative agriculture. They were discussing the rise in cancers etc to the rise is the use of chemicals in food production.

I don't use any herbicides or insecticides in my place.

CelticRambler

New Home wrote: »

I don't recommend soaking soft fruit, but even a quick rinse with water and bicarb would be a damn sight better than nothing.

SouthWesterly wrote: »

It looks at regenerative agriculture. They were discussing the rise in cancers etc to the rise is the use of chemicals in food production.

I don't use any herbicides or insecticides in my place.

Without trying to put a label on it, that's more or less my strategy too - "nothing" is better than trying to fix one treatment problem with another (sodium bicarbonate is, after all, a "chemical" - E-number E500) And while I'm still at the stage of powering my mower, rotavator, strimmer, hedge-trimmer and chainsaws with liquified dinosaur, I'd rather go hungry than eat home-grown fruit that had been deliberately sprayed with washing up liquid!

SouthWesterly

Amaranth coming on nicely

nigeldaniel

Yesterday I finished cleaning up an almost forgotten corner of the garden. Lots of briar and nettles needed to be cut back. A troublesome green Lawson cypress hid a wonderful suprise... A big 5ft wild foxglove. I have a picture and might post it sometime.

Fann Linn

I've the Golden Wonders planted since the 30 April and now they've produced very large and full stalks and some are now beginning to show some nice pink flowers. There's no evidence of any blight and they look very healthy.

Can anyone advise when they can be lifted?
Thanks.