Friday, October 9, 2015

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?

12 comments:

  1. I agree about Christmas. We should have a law against selling Christmas-themed merchandise before the beginning of December!!

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    1. I'm so glad we are not the only grumpy olds! Christmas decorations are often up in houses here by the 1st of Dec. When I used to bother they went up on Christmas eve and came down on 12th night. If we put anything up now it is holly from the hedges and some ivy and that's only on our candle candelabra.

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  2. It looks like you're still getting plenty of fresh veggies, the season might have started off slow but at least it's been prolonged. Lovely to see all the animals relaxing, we've had some quite cool evenings now so I expect they're enjoying the warmth indoors.

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    1. We aim to have fresh veg all year round Jo. For the winter we have cabbage, sprouts, P.S.B curly kale, perpetual spinach, and chard plus all the roots. We have one cat that likes to do his hunting at night but he's always waiting to come in by our bedtime.

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  3. Do you dig the seaweed in or do the worms take it down for you?

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    1. It depend Dave, if it's a new bed then we dig out the bed put a good layer of seaweed plus any other available compost then replace the soil, once the bed is established then we would use it as a mulch, if there is nothing growing in the bed such as the empty potatoes bed then we cover it. One a bed has been prepared we try not to dig again just keep adding compost and let the worms do the rest. We do hoe beds and rake them by try not to disturb then too much.

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  4. I love the Autumn colours, but your garden feels like summer still. Love the sweet peas

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  5. It's been an odd year BG, we have flowers that should have bloomed in early summer blooming now and some that should be in bloom have already done so, very strange.

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  6. I just loved that time we went to the coast and collected seaweed, looks like you got a great haul! Love the snaps of the pets, looks so cosy. I imagine Tess and Meg must have been safely outside for the cats to be lounging around on the floor so relaxed! x

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  7. We have to make a few more trips to the coast before we have enough seaweed, still any excuse! Tess and Meg lay at the other end of the lounge normally so they don't take up the cats spaces.

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  8. I cant believe i missed a post. Im going down the coast this weekend so i might just see what seaweed is laying around for the garden and the worm farm. Goodness, you have a lot of animals. Tilly is more than enough! LOL.

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  9. Hope you manage to get some seaweed Lynda, it is a fantastic fertiliser.
    Yes we love our animals, Three dogs, one who is now coming up for 16 and a grumpy old man, the other two are young. Then we have the six cats, eldest one is now 14 the youngest two are fifteen months old. They all get on well together, cats and dogs alike.

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