Friday, September 18, 2015

Imitation is the greatest form of Flattery.

Rudbeckia, Bergamot, Echinacea, Tansy and Dianthus. This weeks flowers.
A month ago we paid a visit to the Organic Centre in Co. Leitrim, we were very impressed with how much the centre had improved since our last visit,
Garden seat at the Organic centre.
we were also smitten by a rustic seat in one of the poly tunnels, definitely something for a new project, the only problem was where to obtain suitable wood. A visit to a friends place at the weekend solved the problem, she and her son had been very busy maintaining their ash hedgerows and were only too willing to let us have five pieces of ash two to four inches in width. To cut up small diameter pieces of wood takes quite a lot of time in relation to the heat that it would have provided. So we came away with the basic materials to make the seat. I, in exchange, will provided her with cuttings from my garden as she is trying to develop a flower garden.
Our new garden seat.
The seat has worked out beautifully at a cost of fourteen euros, and four hours work. The seat part is made from split posts at a cost of six euros and the screws were eight euros, why are screws so expensive? All we have to do now is a coat of wood preservative and  decide where we want it.
It seems just a few weeks ago that we were harvesting the garlic and onions and already the time is approaching for planting next years crops. I don't think we will  bother with onions outside this coming year, they all suffered badly with thick neck and I ended up having to slice and freeze them, plus we seem to have every crow and jackdaw living on our land, they have removed every one of the leeks and feasted on the young spinach and turnips. The leaks and seedlings have now got cloches over them until they are established. The new plants that I had ordered arrive the day after ordering them and I duly planted them, complete with labels, ( I often forget what a plant is called). Every day since planting  I have found the labels removed, every day I have replanted them, I had blamed one of our cats, then I discovered the culprits, dam jackdaws! No doubt by now the label's are well muddled, so I still won't know what's where, never mind, the plants have all taken and the new bed should look good next year.  To date a further one hundred and twenty spring bulbs have been planted in this new bed, just another sixty to plant and it will then be complete.
Pansy's are such jolly flowers.
The garden seems to be more colourful now than it was in July,
Perpetual sweet pea, we have waited all summer for it to flower.
so many things have bloomed late or have just continued to flower.
This rose grows in one of our hedgerows, this year it has tried to reach for the sky, and is now ten feet high.
The pansy's have been flowering for eleven months without stopping,
It keeps on flowering.
and one of the clematis has been blooming for over two months.
They keep on coming.
The sweet peas are the best we have every grown, with very long stems and they just keep on coming.
It has been a good year for most of the vegetables, and for hatching, we have finished hatching now until next year, the last hatch was yesterday,  ten quail, we had set twelve fertile eggs, so ten out of twelve is not bad.
Another duck with attitude.
 The duckling that hatched with our goslings has now been named, Jemima  Puddle duck, she does show a little independence now, and loves to sit on top of one of the hen houses, fortunately the geese have not followed her lead.
Three boys? Three girls? or a mix? I don't know,can anyone tell me?
We are still not sure as to the sex of the goslings though, maybe someone will be able to tell me?
The weather has been mixed, but by and large not too bad, we manage to get washing dry on the line so it can't be that wet, and there is always something to do on wet days, making jam from fruit that was frozen is a good way to spend a rainy afternoon,
More jam for the store cupboard.
the last lot I made was raspberry, and I still have some Seville oranges waiting to be made into marmalade.
Very late to start blooming even though it had spent the winter in the green house.


20 comments:

  1. Love the bench/ garden seat. Great photographs too.

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    1. Thanks Dave, I love the garden seat, now all we need is the sunshine.

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  2. Me to lovely seat, very different, Lovely flowers, lovely colours, I love a bit of jam making.

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    1. Glad you like it, the garden is looking good I wonder how much longer the flowers will continue after such a slow start.
      I often find at the time of cropping fruit that I don't have the time to make jam so the fruit gets frozen to be made into jam on rainy days.

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  3. Your bench is beautiful, much nicer than those I've seen in garden centres, it looks so natural and will be really set off in your garden. Aren't pansies brilliant flowers? They just go on and on blooming their socks off, and they're great plants for winter too as they seem to cope really well with all the weather has to throw at them.

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    1. I planted them last Oct Jo in the containers that I do my spring bulbs in, I like to have colour all year round, so I planted the bulbs then pansy's and cyclamen on top, the pansy's have flowered throughout.
      I love the bench, when we saw the proto type we were smitten.

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  4. Im not sure if its study enough for our crew. We need cast iron seats which are hard to find these days. Im having trouble with a little bird called a mynah. Its destroying my beds and seedlings looking for bugs in the soft straw cover. I go out each day and its a mess. Flowers lovely, especially the rose.

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    1. I'm sure the bench would be sturdy enough, it carries 30stone without a creak!
      I'm afraid we are going to have to wage war on our bird population.
      That particular rose was in a very poor state when we bought this place, there was just one stem still alive, there had been two very bad winters here that had killed lots of bushes and trees, I have gently pruned it for the last couple of years and it now has four sturdy stems, it also has a beautiful perfume which is unusual for that colour rose.

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  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REWu0qkVOCI

    This might help I can account for 3 and 4

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  6. Thanks, I had found that video a few weeks ago it didn't help, I think they were too young, but a couple of days ago I replayed and think that just maybe we have one goose and two ganders, but that opinion might change, they are still quite young.

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  7. Anne,
    Your flower arrangement is so beautiful, and the bench is so much nicer than the one shown at the garden center. Screws and hinges are so expensive here in the state and most are made in China! Your gardens have done so well and net spring I look forward to seeing pictures of all the bulbs you have planted.

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    1. Thanks Carole, I am very pleased with the seat and yes, most screws and hinges come from China. I have lost count how many bulbs I have planted since we bought this cottage it must be over a thousand now, and adding to them all the time!
      Hope you can get your barn sorted before the winter sets in.

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  8. Good luck with the goose sexing. If it is any help, we know their Mum(s) and Dad apart mainly by size (Dad is bigger) but also that the females, once they have laid a few eggs, get a much more saggy belly just behind the legs, like a very rear-ward 'dewlap'. One website I found says "The gosling's voice changes into its adult tone around 4 months of age, and males generally are noted to have a cry that's more ear-piercing. The female usually will sound more hoarse and less shrill." I'd agree with that - when it kicks off out in the orchard here, it is the ganders "screams" for attention that you hear most.

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  9. Gorgeous flowers as always and the bench is fantastic! Really impressive...I don´t even remember you sizing up a bench at the organic centre? Perhaps I was looking at the frogs! Sounds like you have been busy and looks great xx

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    1. Didn't exactly size it up, I had taken a photo and then joined you all in another tunnel, I think it was the flower tunnel, then Simon asked for the camera to take a picture of the seat, but I had already beaten him to it. Great minds think alike and all that!

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  10. Love your bench! I keep plant labels too but I put them beside the plant with a stone or a piece of slate over them so the sun doesn't bleach the writing and they don't break off and blow away. Love your flowers, September is a wonderful month.
    Kim

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    1. I am very pleased with it as well Kim, that's a good idea with the labels .It's amazing how much colour there is in the garden now, I agree September is a lovely month.

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  11. Love your bench, you've done a really great job, hope you're pleased. I've been busy caring for my little dachshund that's had a spine operation, so these last 5-6 weeks have been hectic. He is ok now and starting to walk again :)

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  12. Thanks BG I'm really pleased with it. Hope you little dachshund makes a quick and full recovery.

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