Oh I feel so sorry for you, there is nothing worse than losing a treasured plant. Just grit your teeth and hope for better things next season. Must go and beat up cats -Molehills all over the place this am -I love the soil and save it to top up pots etc but cats not doing their work!!!!
We have moles too and an occasional corpse but I have recently started asking OH to scoop up rather than sweep out the mole hills so I can use the soil to mix with potting compost when potting on bigger plants whose next home will be the garden. I have yet to find a loam based compost here and there's no "body" in the pure vegetable matter compost.
Could you tell me please the best lunar times for taking cuttings of things like roses, clematis, salvias, fruiting bushes.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I’ve got a bed of Hostas in the garden which are liked by slugs 🐌 , however , it grows through gravel & grit which I top up each year and it works
At the allotment , I have found that the bark chipping paths seem to drastically reduce numbers compared to other plot , obviously to rough for them Moles , the allotment is riddled with them , unless a mole hill appears in the middle of a bed , I’m not bothered
Obelixx next best date for taking cuttings roses etc as per your Post is 15/16th Augustwhen Moon descending in Gemini. This is also a good date for Geraniums (As opposed to Pelergoniums) -For anyone thinking of taking and planting out Strawberry Runners 20th August is a good day.
No moles today , Pushkin on standby next to latest hill which does keep trembling, so he is transfixed!! Last night I went for a walk around the Fishing Lake next door and heard this deep bellow to the side of me i the scrub 'Wuuuh!Wuuuh! noise. Dog put his tail between his legs and ran home (No thought for protecting mistress!) I stepped back a few places and out leapt a magnificent Roe Deer (A Buck I think) He was truly majestic and he just stood and watched me then like a gazelle he sprang elegantly away up the firebreak into the woods. I could hear him calling for a good 20mins drifting further away.
Now, on hindsight it could have been sounding the alarm for others or indeed a doe alerting its young but whatever it was I have been really close to deer before (mainly on horseback on the Ashdown Forest years ago) and even here some have started up but without a sound. So nice to have a 'first'.
Did you see the Comet around 4am (UK time)this morning?? I stomped round the garden as had to get O/H up to go to Farmers Market, but no joy. Another thing that I have not seen before and we are in a 'dark' area.
So made Lemon Curd this morning and now off to make Carrot Cakes -Then out into the garden to play!
There are roe deer and wild boar and badgers in the woods around this area but never in the garden as there is a fence all round. Expect there are foxes too but haven't seen any nearby. There are also lots of coypu which aren't very nice and, as Rasta doggy learned the hard way, a lot more vicious and feisty than rats. She needed the vet after that encounter.
I am making cucumber, lettuce and pea soup for lunch as I picked 3 cucumbers yesterday. I shall do an Asian salad dressing for one of them to have with our dinner tonight. No carrot cakes here as we're on a lockdown diet but I did have to make a banana cake the other day with 4 very ripe bananas. OH has switched to eating Mirabelles with his morning Weetabix. The cake will either be frozen or used as high fuel snacks when he's playing golf.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Forgot to say thanks for the rose cuttings info @biofreak.
Yesterday I opened a jar of purple gooseberry and elderflower jam I made in 2015 and it is luscious. We rarely eat bread or toast with jam so I shan't be making any this year after checking out the store cupboards. Enough to last us years!
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
All these recipes sound great. O/H handed out samples of my Elderflower Cordial (officially!!) to faithful clients last week to see if they would be interested in buying it next year. Very positive response. Found recipe in ancient WI Book. Just Elderflowers water/lemons and a drop of vinager (which I guess acts as a preservative) Supposed to keep 8mths. O/H off to UK on 28th -Sending him with homemade food parcel for non baking cousin, with whom he will be staying. Always rewarding to make cakes for others. Just thought -This has nothing to do with the Moon -but good to chat!! Moved sulking Rose to new spot (in its pot) -I am just trying to find out where it will be happy before planting it out in Autumn seems to hate sun and shade!!! -Sprayed blackfly with prele (marestail) purin on shrub roses. and found cosmos in rockery where they must have seeded because I did not put them there!! BioD Tip -Make purin of Tansy and water all around brassicas to deter white cabbage butterflies, plus water carrots with garlic purin of you have not grown spring onionsor leeks in between. Found new website which looks interesting www.gardenfocused.co.uk Really useful for follow on crop ideas on plots. Bought some BIO herbs in pots yesterday and popped them in spare corners in raised beds -too late to sow seed. Little Lidl Climbing Rose bought back in Spring thriving -Lovely tangerine) Obelixx re Bush Fruit Cuttings -You could try 22/23rd July but make sure you pop them somewhere where they stay damp. Normally I take cuttings from these when I trim in Autumn and that works for me.
Bio , fantastic to see the Deer 🦌 so close , we have occasional seen a Muckjac deer and fox on the fields opposite but need binoculars!
Have been away for a few days to see family So back to Gardening this afternoon and allotment tomorrow , it will be interesting to see what’s grown and how big the courgettes will be
O/H will need a mask 😷 for public transport and for shops from 24th in England 🏴 , different rules for Scotland 🏴 & Wales 🏴
O/H makes a lot of jam & marmalade , regularly have it on toast for breakfast
We should have a nice week of sun shines so can gets lots done Happy Gardening
So glad it rained Sunday night -Water butts for Potager already empty again!! O/H has personal Barrel for washing vehicles -I have my eye on it -but he is very possesive!!
Anyway Heritage tomatoes are setting fruit at last and Cherry ones in greenhouse romping along. Possibly 3 melons coming. Courgettes a disaster even though I grew them from seed (But it was old seed) Cucumbers coming along well too.
So thrilled to find Festival of 1001 Vegetables is back in the Diary following initial cancellation . Last w/e in September now firmly stamped on the Calender! They have a wonderful gite which is a huge barn conversion that they use primarily for cooking demonstrations and students stay in the 15 bedrooms. We have it all to ourselves Friday-Monday in exchange for a donation to the Biodynamic Association. The atmosphere is wonderfully therapeutic with views across the fields to a magnificent Chateau that looks as though it should have been in one of the Hammer House of Horror films -very very spooky in the morning mist!!!!
Anyway -I digress
Here is the Lunar Calender 21-28th July
21st July Moon descending in Cancer so Leaf Day - Start blanching scarolles and loose leaf chicory.
22/23/24th July Fruit DaysPrune Apple and Pear TreesEspaliers. Keep picking off side shoots and Tomato tops to encourage fruit to bulk up. Cut back courgette and pumpkin leaves to allow air to fruit and to increase flower vigour. (remember to sprinkle with sour milk or yoghourt if you have mildew -or a putin of prelé (marestail) Prepare new strawberry beds with plenty of compost -BioD Tip -Wilted Nettles and Comfrey are a good addition here -This Bed should be ready to plant up a9-20th August.
25/26/27th July Moon descending in Virgo so Root Days. On the 25th no gardeni g recommended before 11.10am (UK time) as Moon perigée. Prepare a Bed with no manure and not where Beans and Peas were grown last. This bed will then be ready for you to sow Onions 12-14th August. Harvest Onions Shallots and Garlic, remembering to lay them out in the sun (or greenhouse bench if wet) for a day or two to dry out, then pack away in net bags or baskets in a dry airy place. Start digging up potatoes for storage -I personally prefer to dig as we need them for cooking up until late Autumn but many gardeners prefer to store them -What do you do?? Thin out Turnips and Carrots sown 7th July and Beetroot sown 18-20th June.
We ate our first beetroot (3 chunky little things) with Roast lamb last w/e. A variety I have not met before Norbol -Really tasty with that great earthy taste only gained from garden to table inside the hour!!! I had bought these as plugs initially but I shall look for the seed next season.
So plenty to do and lots to talk about. Keep the comments and/or questions. Recipes welcome too for all those home grown goodies.
Posts
Could you tell me please the best lunar times for taking cuttings of things like roses, clematis, salvias, fruiting bushes.
At the allotment , I have found that the bark chipping paths seem to drastically reduce numbers compared to other plot , obviously to rough for them
Moles , the allotment is riddled with them , unless a mole hill appears in the middle of a bed , I’m not bothered
I am making cucumber, lettuce and pea soup for lunch as I picked 3 cucumbers yesterday. I shall do an Asian salad dressing for one of them to have with our dinner tonight. No carrot cakes here as we're on a lockdown diet but I did have to make a banana cake the other day with 4 very ripe bananas. OH has switched to eating Mirabelles with his morning Weetabix. The cake will either be frozen or used as high fuel snacks when he's playing golf.
Yesterday I opened a jar of purple gooseberry and elderflower jam I made in 2015 and it is luscious. We rarely eat bread or toast with jam so I shan't be making any this year after checking out the store cupboards. Enough to last us years!
Have been away for a few days to see family
So back to Gardening this afternoon and allotment tomorrow , it will be interesting to see what’s grown and how big the courgettes will be
O/H makes a lot of jam & marmalade , regularly have it on toast for breakfast
Happy Gardening