Given the all clear to go home tomorrow morning 😊😊😊 Even though it is a Bank Holiday Loïc the hospital taxi man said he would come and get me!! O/H has already put champagne in fridge!! I don't even care if it is nearly dark when I get home ..I am going to walk around the garden with dog and the cats😊 Spent yesterday afternoon browsing through seed catalogues on line..Surprised how much is unavailable. So glad I ordered through Thompson & Morgan on Promo online even though seeds are in UK and not here..I shan't need to sow anything until Feb/March so will ask O/H cousin to send them over when she is allowed out again!!. Have you got the same problem Obelixx? Unfortunately I missed the date for ordering through the Gardening Club as in hospital plus had not received Seed List. I believe T & M are still running promos in UK but not through their French arm. Yes I scatter Chicken Pellets and rake them in but difficult to find organic ones. Watched Gardeners World on catch up this am. Have not seen the Yorkshire Terrier before. Is this cute little thing replacing Nigel? Shame not on again until the Spring. New Lunar Gardening Calenders now in shops. Have just ordered Biodynamic Calender for Christmas. GWRS I preferred the Scottish Garlic to Isle of White when I bought it on a visit there 2yrs ago. Much hardier.
The Yorkshire rat was introduced about the time Nigel went. A gift, apparently.
I buy seeds from Chiltern, Plant World, Seeds of Distinction and the RHS seed distribution scheme with no problems @biofreak. That may well change next year but then I'll get them delivered to rellies or friends and brought over or posted as something else. I don't actually need any for ages as I have just discovered an embarrassment of assorted veg and ornamental seeds in the salad drawer of the drinks fridge.
I buy local garlic suited to local conditions. Doesn't need to be too hardy here. I sowed a packet of sweet peas the other day in a big pot on th eterrace after adding a generous dollop or two of pelleted chicken manure and some fresh compost. All our chicken "output" and their bedding goes on the compost heaps but won't be ready for use till spring. They are really very productive. And we're getting 3 eggs a day now they've got over the shock of moving here and then storm Alex thundering thru.
I hope all goes well for tomorrow and that Loïc can come and fetch you. The only dark gardening I do at the mo is occasionally picking herbs for dinner from the new bed by the kitchen terrace and if I'm a bit late going down to close the door on the hen house. They're good at putting themselves to bed but I like to do a head count now they can roam in the whole potager.
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)."
Thank you GWRS..Loïc comes at midday..I was already packed at 9am!!! Obelixx That's cruel!!!! (Yorkshire rat!!) When owners don't tie ribbons round their topknots and dress them up in daft costumes they are actually cracking little dogs ...if a bit snappy. I wouldn't have one though. Our Lévrier Italien (Italien Greyhound) looks weedy but he is very sporty. Saw my first star here last night😊 Will be so glad to get back to countryside and dark sky. Had not realised how little you see in a City. No wonder people look miserable here all the time. Raining here this morning. Thank you again for all your best wishes.
We have a medium sized rescue dog of unknown race tho she looks and behaves like a Wheaten terrier. She'll be 14 next April and is getting a bit arthritic in her back legs now but still has mad puppy moments. We also have a rescue Labrador who will be 11 or 12 next year and is definitely never going to grow up. Nervous anyway and giddy with it.
No streetlights here and houses have shutters so there is very little light pollution and we get to see the Milky Way when there's no moon or clouds. Street lights and Xmas lights in the nearby village and small town go off at midnight but we can see a distant glow from an industrial estate way over towards La Roche-s-Y to the north.
I'm off out to finish planting my garlic and shallots this pm. No doubt the hens will help. OH was forking that bed over for me yesterday and had 5 of them clustered round his feet and fork ready to pounce whenever he turned over a clod to remove bindweed roots.
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)."
Question @biofreak if you can help please. I have some comfrey to plant to grow as a green manure/plant tea crop but also for early flowers for pollinators. Do I plant it on a leaf day or a flower day?
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)."
Hi Everyone. Home at last!!First thing Thursday morning I was out in the garden and what a welcome it gave me! dahlias/cosmos and roses still in flower. Broad Beans and Garlic already sprouted and Broccoli plants biggest I have ever seen, really strong solid stems.😊😊 Found a few tomatoes in polytunnel plus last of the Cayenne Chillies had ripened. Started to clean pots and staging but ran out of puff! Yesterday I weeded around rhubarb which I intend to move to make room for gooseberries and redcurrants plus raspberries that have outgrown their present plot. Lifted wooden frame from one raised bed, cleaned rubbish off wood and stored it away for next Spring where I have earmarked a new place (Made lots of plans in hospital!) Looked up Comfrey for you Obelixx Treat as Leaf crop along with other Herbs. The spring bulbs I potted up 10th October have sprouted and there are one or two primevera in flower plus Rosemary in flower.. I know it is mild but I truly feel that my garden has put on a Show just for me. Boots the Bengal would not talk to me when I came home. Other cats and dog ecstatic 😊 Went for very wet and windy walk around fishing lake this morning and Boots followed me --Talking again! Here is he Lunar Calender for 17th -24th November.
17/18/19th Nov...Moon on cusp of descending and ascending so no gardening before 7.15am on 17th as noeud descending.. Pitch black so why would you!!! Fruit Days Sow Broad Beans and Round Peas. 20/21st Nov..Root Days. Check out stored crops, rubbing off any sprouts on potatoes and checking that there is no mould forming around beetroot/carrot tops in particular. These must be kept in a dry place to avoid rot. 22/23rd Nov..Flower Days. Sow perennial Sweet Peas in pots popping in 4/5 seeds in each to plant out in the Spring as a bunch. Keep under cover and fleeced in colder weather. Sun has come out at last and I am off outside again.. Off to hunt for Onion Sets and Shallots tomorrow at local Farmshop where they had an excellent range last year. They have a nice little organic gardening section which is allowed to be open as it is an Organic Market Garden selling fruit and veg on Mondays and Thursdays only. Happy Gardening!😊
Thanks @biofreak. Glad you're home safe and sound and with a welcome too.
It has been mild here but very windy and wet and that combined with high tides has our coastal and lower areas of flood alert but we've been OK. Finished planting my garlic and shallots yesterday, helped by the chooks, so we've netted off that bed now. Today they're reorganising OH's compost heap behind the polytunnel.
Thanks for the comfrey info. I shall wait for a leaf day then. broad beans not yet sown as I have nowhere for them till we move the dahlias out of their bed and that means OH has to strim their new bed and put down membrane or cardboard and some mulch to plant thru. Might have to start mine off in toilet tubes then.
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)."
Bet hens had a field day playing in compost!! My 2 Robins are ecstatic that I have lifted the Raised Bed Frame, going potty around the edges picking out all sorts of edible joys!! Blackbirds now pigging out on old apples that we buy in the 'rubbish' section of Super-U. Whilst I am thrilled with Broad Beans outside I shall still sow a few in the polystyrene boxes in the polytunnel last year as it worked so well. Never know quite how many you may lose outside. Foul weather on Sunday but did some more tidying up yesterday despite gusty wind. Silver Birch has lost alot of Twiggy branches, I gather these every year and store them under cover, they make great pea sticks and ground cover protection against birds and cats when scattered over newly sown crops in Raised Beds as just the right length. OK so they don't last a second season as break up but their free!! The Marais (Salt Marsh) is rising so the farmers have bought their sheep and cows indoors for the Winter and the local Stud has moved the mares and foals onto higher ground. There must be about 50 of the latter on the last count, looks like the wild west. Lovely to see them roaming free. Off to hospital for Scan tomorrow (10hr round trip!) better get in the garden for the rest of today, as nuclear stuff always knocks me out for a couple of days. Still last Consultation next week 26th -Then hopefully nothing for a couple of months.
Happy Gardening. Off work until end March so can pick and choose my gardening days.
Have been catching up on here. Glad to hear you are recovering @biofreak. I have just spread Rock Dust round my winter onions & garlic. I have used it on other crops in the past hoping it will help them resist the dreaded white rot. We will see.
Posts
I don't even care if it is nearly dark when I get home ..I am going to walk around the garden with dog and the cats😊 Spent yesterday afternoon browsing through seed catalogues on line..Surprised how much is unavailable. So glad I ordered through Thompson & Morgan on Promo online even though seeds are in UK and not here..I shan't need to sow anything until Feb/March so will ask O/H cousin to send them over when she is allowed out again!!. Have you got the same problem Obelixx? Unfortunately I missed the date for ordering through the Gardening Club as in hospital plus had not received Seed List. I believe T & M are still running promos in UK but not through their French arm. Yes I scatter Chicken Pellets and rake them in but difficult to find organic ones. Watched Gardeners World on catch up this am. Have not seen the Yorkshire Terrier before. Is this cute little thing replacing Nigel? Shame not on again until the Spring. New Lunar Gardening Calenders now in shops. Have just ordered Biodynamic Calender for Christmas. GWRS I preferred the Scottish Garlic to Isle of White when I bought it on a visit there 2yrs ago. Much hardier.
I buy seeds from Chiltern, Plant World, Seeds of Distinction and the RHS seed distribution scheme with no problems @biofreak. That may well change next year but then I'll get them delivered to rellies or friends and brought over or posted as something else. I don't actually need any for ages as I have just discovered an embarrassment of assorted veg and ornamental seeds in the salad drawer of the drinks fridge.
I buy local garlic suited to local conditions. Doesn't need to be too hardy here. I sowed a packet of sweet peas the other day in a big pot on th eterrace after adding a generous dollop or two of pelleted chicken manure and some fresh compost. All our chicken "output" and their bedding goes on the compost heaps but won't be ready for use till spring. They are really very productive. And we're getting 3 eggs a day now they've got over the shock of moving here and then storm Alex thundering thru.
I hope all goes well for tomorrow and that Loïc can come and fetch you. The only dark gardening I do at the mo is occasionally picking herbs for dinner from the new bed by the kitchen terrace and if I'm a bit late going down to close the door on the hen house. They're good at putting themselves to bed but I like to do a head count now they can roam in the whole potager.
We have a medium sized rescue dog of unknown race tho she looks and behaves like a Wheaten terrier. She'll be 14 next April and is getting a bit arthritic in her back legs now but still has mad puppy moments. We also have a rescue Labrador who will be 11 or 12 next year and is definitely never going to grow up. Nervous anyway and giddy with it.
No streetlights here and houses have shutters so there is very little light pollution and we get to see the Milky Way when there's no moon or clouds. Street lights and Xmas lights in the nearby village and small town go off at midnight but we can see a distant glow from an industrial estate way over towards La Roche-s-Y to the north.
I'm off out to finish planting my garlic and shallots this pm. No doubt the hens will help. OH was forking that bed over for me yesterday and had 5 of them clustered round his feet and fork ready to pounce whenever he turned over a clod to remove bindweed roots.
17/18/19th Nov...Moon on cusp of descending and ascending so no gardening before 7.15am on 17th as noeud descending.. Pitch black so why would you!!! Fruit Days Sow Broad Beans and Round Peas.
20/21st Nov..Root Days. Check out stored crops, rubbing off any sprouts on potatoes and checking that there is no mould forming around beetroot/carrot tops in particular. These must be kept in a dry place to avoid rot.
22/23rd Nov..Flower Days. Sow perennial Sweet Peas in pots popping in 4/5 seeds in each to plant out in the Spring as a bunch. Keep under cover and fleeced in colder weather.
Sun has come out at last and I am off outside again.. Off to hunt for Onion Sets and Shallots tomorrow at local Farmshop where they had an excellent range last year. They have a nice little organic gardening section which is allowed to be open as it is an Organic Market Garden selling fruit and veg on Mondays and Thursdays only. Happy Gardening!😊
It has been mild here but very windy and wet and that combined with high tides has our coastal and lower areas of flood alert but we've been OK. Finished planting my garlic and shallots yesterday, helped by the chooks, so we've netted off that bed now. Today they're reorganising OH's compost heap behind the polytunnel.
Thanks for the comfrey info. I shall wait for a leaf day then. broad beans not yet sown as I have nowhere for them till we move the dahlias out of their bed and that means OH has to strim their new bed and put down membrane or cardboard and some mulch to plant thru. Might have to start mine off in toilet tubes then.