Both our cats have been very much indoors since mid December and huntress Minstrel is clearly frustrated tho has become a lot more cuddly, seeking warmth. Even the dogs don't ask to go out much. We are all getting fed up with this weather but we did, finally, have a bit of sun today when it finally burned thru the murky stuff. Still only 1C tho.
Set to get warmer over the next few days which should get the broad beans going again and means I can think about sowing tomatoes and chillies at last. No sign of flowers on the PSB yet but it's looking healthy.
The chooks are fine thanks @biofreak and laying 5 or 6 eggs a day. Their favourite treat at the mo is a can of sweetcorn kernels which I toss out on what will be the new dahlia bed to encourage them to peck it clean - tussocky grass at the mo.
Still waiting for chappies to come and clear away all the barn roof crud and remove the remaining beams and secure the walls. Need to be frost free tho and preferably dry. We will recycle the beams ad bed edgers in the 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)."
Hi everyone and welcome chriscavell😊 At last warmer days have arrived as promised and snow has gone. I don't know why we complain really because my cousin has just emailed me to say it's not bad there -20c!!!! She told me that she would be starting her seeds off this week!! Here is the Lunar Calender 15-22nd Feb. 15/16/17th Feb Leaf Days as per every month when the Moon is in front of Pisces sow lettuce and Batavia to harvest in May.Sow some Spring Spinach and Dandelions (I have never tried cultivated ones..just pull young leaves from flower beds and potager) Start sowing herbs. In particular Parsley Chervil & Chives. 18th Fruit Day No gardening recommended before 3.30pm as Moon apogee. Sow some round peas. Mangetout and broad beans.preferably where they are to be situated. 19/20/21st Feb Root Days sow onions and leeks. No gardening recommended before 6.50am on 21st noued descending. I shall recap on Noeuds/apogee and perigee later this week. So pleased to have you with us chriscavell, have you joined a Bio Gardening Club yet? Happy Gardening 😊
Bio , thanks for up date and warmer weather has arrived Went to plot yesterday but still doing work on the area where we had the old shed and still more to do Booked in for my first Vaccine 💉 this Thursday and May for my second
It was still cold this morning but I went to see the chooks this afternoon and ended up watering and weeding pots in the polytunnel and spraying dust off the foliage - chooks have their dust baths in there and make clouds. Anyway, teeny new leaves coming on the fuchsias but also swelling buds on the nectarines and new growth on the lemon grass which is in the ground.
Ended up watering the rhubarb and covering it with a cold frame to save it from further pecking. If it survives it will be moved to a raised bed at the back of the hen house to make it easier to water from the two butts there. Also checked and watered all th epots growing outside along the sheltered south side of the PT and found clematis and roses in bud, shrubs getting excited and the new pomegranate in the ground looking uninspiring. Need to have a chat with that then.
I believe tomorrow is fruit from around midday here so planning a fruity afternoon.
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)."
Gosh isn't it warm?! What a joy to attack the garden with relish yesterday, whipping out great tufts of grass & weeds from rockery, sweeping out the polytunnel ready for a fresh season. (Noted lots of roots on Chilli plants from last year although tops dead -would these have resprouted??) Planted Graham Thomas Rose. Lectured O/H on where to mow this year and more importantly where NOT to mow as I have just transplanted some snowdrops amongst the daffodills. Bought new daffodill bulbs sprouting in packets in shops for only 1Euro a pack of 12!!! OK so they may not flower this year but they were lovely and healthy. Lost a Thyme to the cold weather. It was 5yrs old so I bought a new clump for 3Euros. I say 'clump' because the Fruit & Veg people here dig up great bushes of Thyme and Rosemary and sell them for a song on the Market. I can easily get 6 or 7 new Thyme plants from the one I bought.
Anyway here is the Lunar Calender 22-28th Feb. Thank goodness the Lunar Weather prediction ended up right. I was beginning to lose faith!!
22/23rd Feb - Moon on the cusp of ascending and descending in Gemini so Flower Days. Prick out Cauliflowers sown on 16/17th January. Split and replant Artichokes. Take cuttings from Chrysanthemums/Fuschias and Pelargniums.
24/25th Feb - Moon descending in Cancer so Stem and Leaf Days. If you haven't done it yet finish preparing your Asparagus Bed Plant Conifers and Evergreen Shrubs. Prune Topiary and Box Hedging.
26/27th Feb - Full Moon 8.17am on 27th Fruit Days. Earth up Peas sown 21/22nd January. Prune and take cuttings from Currants. Prune Peaches at the beginning of flowering and palissade Apples.
28th Feb - Root Days. Plant Garlic and Shallots but do not water them in.
I was going to write a piece to recap on apogee/perigee/noeuds etc but decided that it was far to complicated to describe the BioDynamic view in one hit. So instead I shall take each phase as it arises in the Lunar Calender so that whilst we learn at a slower pace I think it might be clearer.
Taking the fact that we have a Full Moon on 27th it would be interesting to follow the work of Researcher Hartmut Spiess of the Institute of Biodynamics at Darmstadt. He found that sowings carried out between 2 and 5 days before the Full Moon sprouted much more rapidly with healthy root growth however fungal infections were more likely, and therefore it was a good time to spray with a decoction of Marestail.(Prele) This period also favoured the development of snails so it would be a good time to turn over pots and scrape soils to allow birds to access the eggs etc. The rhythmn of the Waxing and Waning Moon is possibly the best known, and takes 29.5 days. From the New Moon, the Moon is waxing (croissant) for 15 days until it becomes the Full Moon when it starts waning (decroissant) during the next 15 days. The New Moon is always in conjunction with the Earth (opposite) and the Full Moon is in opposition to the Sun (opposite) hence we can see the whole face lit up.
I shall pause there and wish you a warm and productive week, when at last we can do something constructive towards the new Season in the garden.
Hi Everyone..Welcome to Spring and the 1st March. Here is the Lunar Weather Prediction for this month. Over all warmer and drier but interspersed with high winds and rain. From the 3rd it will turn colder again with rain.7/8th it will change to progressively warmer weather until the end of the month. Watch out for freak heatwave and possible storms around the 16th. Did you see the 'Snow Moon'? It was very impressive towards dawn here. Biodynamic hint. If you want to avoid shallots or onions bolting plant them on a Root Day whilst there is a descending Moon. This would be today 1st March or the 29th. Good dates for planting Asparagus are on a Leaf Day with a descending Moon like the 5th March, or the same Root Days as the Onions ..1st or 29th. 1/2/3rd March are Root Days so plant Garlic/Onions and Shallots. Start to harvest Winter Lettuce as they begin to heart up. 4th March For smallholders the 4t is a good day to sow Oats and Lentils 5/6/7th March Fruit Days Prune Fruit Bushes for the last time. Plant Figs and Grapevines. Plant the last bare rooted Fruit Trees from grafted stock whilst ground is cool and damp. Happy Gardening.
It's very difficult for the average observer to see a really new - new moon - it's almost invisible. Much easier to see a full moon, it stays full for about three nights ( to your eye but not in fact) then it starts waning for roughly eleven nights until it disappears completely. The sky remains moonless for three nights (it's still there but in the wrong position to reflect sunlight) the thin crescent new moon appears and waxes for a further eleven till full again. In the distant past the Moon was in a different position and is still moving away from us at about 50mm per year - gravity being constant ( as far as we know!) the moon's velocity can't change without something occurring to speed it up or slow it down - so lunar cycles gradually change but so slightly you wouldn't notice, since about 1600 A.D. and 2600A.D. the lunar month is (fairly precisely) 29.530575 days or 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2 seconds. While the scientific facts can be rather dry and daunting - the view of the recent full moon from my part of the Chilterns was a truly awe inspiring sight!
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Weather is forecast to improve a bit next week , lots of jobs waiting for me at allotment
Cats 🐈 obviously want to say in the warm , to cold for hunting
Set to get warmer over the next few days which should get the broad beans going again and means I can think about sowing tomatoes and chillies at last. No sign of flowers on the PSB yet but it's looking healthy.
The chooks are fine thanks @biofreak and laying 5 or 6 eggs a day. Their favourite treat at the mo is a can of sweetcorn kernels which I toss out on what will be the new dahlia bed to encourage them to peck it clean - tussocky grass at the mo.
Still waiting for chappies to come and clear away all the barn roof crud and remove the remaining beams and secure the walls. Need to be frost free tho and preferably dry. We will recycle the beams ad bed edgers in the potager.
At last warmer days have arrived as promised and snow has gone. I don't know why we complain really because my cousin has just emailed me to say it's not bad there -20c!!!! She told me that she would be starting her seeds off this week!!
Here is the Lunar Calender 15-22nd Feb.
15/16/17th Feb Leaf Days as per every month when the Moon is in front of Pisces sow lettuce and Batavia to harvest in May.Sow some Spring Spinach and Dandelions (I have never tried cultivated ones..just pull young leaves from flower beds and potager) Start sowing herbs. In particular
Parsley Chervil & Chives.
18th Fruit Day No gardening recommended before 3.30pm as Moon apogee. Sow some round peas. Mangetout and broad beans.preferably where they are to be situated.
19/20/21st Feb Root Days sow onions and leeks. No gardening recommended before 6.50am on 21st noued descending. I shall recap on Noeuds/apogee and perigee later this week.
So pleased to have you with us chriscavell, have you joined a Bio Gardening Club yet?
Happy Gardening 😊
Went to plot yesterday but still doing work on the area where we had the old shed and still more to do
Booked in for my first Vaccine 💉 this Thursday and May for my second
Ended up watering the rhubarb and covering it with a cold frame to save it from further pecking. If it survives it will be moved to a raised bed at the back of the hen house to make it easier to water from the two butts there. Also checked and watered all th epots growing outside along the sheltered south side of the PT and found clematis and roses in bud, shrubs getting excited and the new pomegranate in the ground looking uninspiring. Need to have a chat with that then.
I believe tomorrow is fruit from around midday here so planning a fruity afternoon.
1/2/3rd March are Root Days so plant Garlic/Onions and Shallots. Start to harvest Winter Lettuce as they begin to heart up.
4th March For smallholders the 4t is a good day to sow Oats and Lentils
5/6/7th March Fruit Days Prune Fruit Bushes for the last time. Plant Figs and Grapevines. Plant the last bare rooted Fruit Trees from grafted stock whilst ground is cool and damp.
Happy Gardening.
In the distant past the Moon was in a different position and is still moving away from us at about 50mm per year - gravity being constant ( as far as we know!) the moon's velocity can't change without something occurring to speed it up or slow it down - so lunar cycles gradually change but so slightly you wouldn't notice, since about 1600 A.D. and 2600A.D. the lunar month is (fairly precisely) 29.530575 days or 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2 seconds.
While the scientific facts can be rather dry and daunting - the view of the recent full moon from my part of the Chilterns was a truly awe inspiring sight!