Gathering Fertility.

A calm day, just gentle waves.

No excuse needed to take a trip to the coast again, second trip in a week, the change of air is supposed to be good for you, but we were there to get more seaweed.

We can never get enough compost, even though we have two large cu.m. Dutch compost bins we just do not provide enough for the gardens needs, we used to be able to get spent mushroom compost, but the mushroom farm shut down, squeezed out by one of the big boys. We have the poultry, donkeys and  rabbits manure plus all the weeds and what little veg trimmings we have, but it doesn't go far.

Another load of seaweed.

In the last week we have returned from the coast with twenty two sacks of seaweed, times that by five and we might have enough compost for next years vegetables.
Sea weed is one of the best fertilisers there is, with fifty eight trace elements ,and for some reason worms love it, we also used seaweed meal, and liquid seaweed. Most of our nettles  get composted as well as  comfrey . Nettles are great to increase the organic matter and comfrey is high in potassium, also as the leafs are not fibrous it breaks down easily in the compost bins, comfrey and nettles also make great liquid feeds.
All the potatoes have now been lifted and that bed has been 'put to bed' for the winter, potatoes take a lot out of the soil so the bed was covered with compost, including seaweed and then covered with black polythene, the  worms will do the rest for us and come the spring we will have soft friable soil which hopefully will not contain too many weeds. Most of the remaining vegetable garden is raised beds which are so easy to cope with.

The last of the Autumn cauliflower's have now been harvested, some frozen and some used fresh,

the courgettes are still producing, just enough for us not to be sick of them, and the tomatoes are still producing well, although this has been a non summer,

the Physalis is still doing well, we are getting over a quarter of a pound every other day, lovely to just munch on,

and we are still picking sweet peas.
The late sown mange tout peas and French beans are now giving us pods, so summer veg is not off the menu yet.

I'm trying again with Watsonias.

At the market last week I spotted some pots of Watsonia, so I have decided to have another go at growing them, this time they have been planted in a very free draining soil and I will cover them to protect them from frost,

I should have asked what it is. No, it's not a Dahlia.

I have also found another plant which I am totally unfamiliar with, so unfamiliar that I don't know what it is, I should have asked in the garden centre, I do know that it will also need some frost protection, why did I not ask for it's name?

I think they look great together and next to the right colour Berberis.

I have planted it next to one of the Watsonias  so they can share the covering, they look quite stunning next to each other.

Now the nights are longer the cats are practising the art of total relaxation,

Suzy having pleasant dreams. 

they head for the lounge before we do, normally occupying the most comfortable seats,

A relaxed Freddy.

once they are turfed off they still manage to relax as only cats do, stretched out full length they take up a lot of floor space.

They like to stretch out.

The dogs like some comfort as well, Tess and Meg enjoy the fire.

The Autumn colours are slow this year,

Some colour on a Spindle tree.

I love to see the richness of the colours in the trees but I shall have to wait a little longer, I just hope we don't get any strong winds that take the leaves before they have had time to take on their Autumn hues.

There are still plenty of bees around, in fact there seems to be more now than there was earlier in the year, they are certainly enjoying the poached egg flowers.
The year is moving on, but do supermarkets  have to move it on so quickly, Lidl had the first of the Christmas  Luxury food items on sale before Septembers end, totally unnecessary, and most of it is junk in any case. Can't we go back to how it was, Christmas in December? Now there's a thought.

Toad lily, why should it be called that I wonder?