Fruits of hard labour

It’s the TRHA seventeenth year in existence and that is why we were keen to have the BBC’s Gardeners Question Time visit us this year. We have also enlisted the services of a handyman, to build us a display. To help keep the plants viable, there are pots screwed onto the board, and we have two sets of plants in the same size pots, these fit inside the pots screwed onto the board. The ones not on display sit in a tray with water in, to allow them to recover, as it’s hard to water them when on display. I hope it works. 


Meanwhile I am dog sitting the St Bernard again, I know him well. He really doesn’t like to walk, well with me that is. I did go for a walk with him and one of his owners to get some tips. Sadly despite this, he still isn’t keen. He comes to see me during the night and often sleeps by my side. He absolutely loves cuddles any time of the day. There is a small field behind his house and he enjoys going in there. 


The garden at home is looking nice, we have the Welsh Poppies which are self sown, but also the huge ones, which should be red. The pink ones just don't cut it! They are absolutely beautiful in their prime.


At the allotment the first batch of Pak Choi are all eaten, more have been planted. I have had a few more Radish, the Kohlrabi look ready to me, everything else is doing well. I rubbed away the larva of Whitefly, on some of the Brassicas to avoid using pesticides. The Onion sets are a bit disappointing, the raised bed they are in, is the worst bed for Bindweed, maybe I will take it apart and rebuild it earlier than I planned, when the onion sets finish growing. The Peas and Broad Beans are flowering, there are a few pods on them. Black fly on the Broad Beans has been avoided by pinching out the tops, on Runner Beans, using soapy water. The fruit trees have fruit that is starting to swell. 

The Summer Raspberries were swamped by weeds, so this year I did not expect much. But I have had a mouthful.



I have also booked a week in Penzance, encouraged by my friends and watching the BBC’s Race around the World Series.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Deja Vu

Image
It is the last day of looking after the Cocker Spaniel who lives in the house where  one called Neville used to live. As time goes on the two Spaniels are converging, there are some subtle differences, the  youngster is becoming less black on his back. The youngster is very vocal, he talks non stop. Ignoring him increases the volume of the chatter until you involve him in some way. He loves doing things, non stop, action all day is the name of the game. He loves water, but he won’t swim. It’s been hot, so the walks I have done I have tried to ensure he had the opportunity to cool down. A walk from Aston to Henley, along the river Thames. Pub visit at the Angel on the Bridge. He loved that of course. Another day, another walk. This time around the pub at Waltham St Lawrence, another favourite pub, but we did the walk too early for opening time. Another dip in the lake by Shottesbrook. He found a dead mouse early in the walk, decided to carry it about, but thankfully dropped it!...
Read more

A few days off in the sun

Image
Like many tourists of yesteryear I have just got back from a holiday in North Wales, based in Colwyn Bay where my brother in law now lives. I have stayed there before but many years ago. He was down in our neck of the woods, so I hitched a lift in his MX-5 car to save me using the train or driving. The weather was still nice up there, just a little cooler, with a sea breeze thrown in for good measure. In the evening after we got up there, as  Monday is a quiet night, we had a few drinks in a local bar, where they have a reciprocal arrangement with a local pizza place, you order at the bar, they get delivered to you and you eat them with your beer. Result. All are priced the same. I had Peking Duck ( amazing ), he had Smoked Haddock ( also amazing ). The bar does all sorts of things like film nights, to tempt to punters in. We also had another drink in the local Wetherspoons, which I think was an old cinema, still featuring lots of its old fittings. On the next day we walked to near...
Read more

Remembering two tragedies

Image
After breakfast in my room, I had a leisurely start and left Penzance by foot to Mousehole, not pronounced as it is spelt. I walked through the town, heading to nearby Newlyn, which is a proper fishing village. Along the route was a lovely wide promenade and a Lido, cleverly designed to withstand the force of the sea and heated from a geo thermal spring. It’s called Jubilee Pool because it was built to celebrate George V’s Jubilee in 1935. There was a nice old art deco pub opposite, sadly with the parked cars it was not easy to see its full design. Along the prom, lots of people were walking, and many of them had black Labradors, which was nice as it got me thinking about the one I know who now lives in Oxfordshire, they contacted me today, I might see them next weekend. I carried on into Newlyn, a smaller conurbation with several buildings with a fish themed rectangular mosaic on their front walls, a nod to its fishing heritage which is ongoing. There was a statue to honour all the fi...
Read more