ON YOUR MARKS . . .

 GET SET . . .

 GROW !!

The bigger tray has Onions Walla Walla and Leeks Blue Solaise. Onions have 16 individual sections with two to three seeds each-to be thinned to one , the leeks have 8 individual sections with two seeds each-to be thinned to one, these are both for planting out . The smaller trays have salad mixes, one lettuce leaf mix, one spicy/ beet leaf and also scattered leek seed into a smaller tray to be used as salad, young leek looks like blades of  grass and is very yummy. 
All seeds only used part of the packets, so there can be a second planting later on or seeds saved for next year. 
That's a good start today anyway. There was a ray of sunshine when I started but just about sleet/rain by the time I was done, got a bit cold and wished I had put a jacket on. 

From the MetOffice;; This Evening and Tonight:Clear intervals and further showers this evening. The showers becoming more confined to Kintyre and Ayrshire tonight with many areas becoming dry with clear spells. Minimum temperature 2 °C..Monday:Sunshine and the odd shower in the morning then cloud thickening to bring rain in the afternoon, some becoming heavy later as southerly winds strengthen. Maximum temperature 9 °C.

little by little

 The twisted hazel is difficult to get under and into. One branch was really getting to the greenhouse so I've reluctantly taken it off... its a crazy thing to prune back so I just went as close to the base as I could, with a saw.

There is another branch reaching the same way, but I'll leave it for now. Also took height off the hedge from behind the greenhouse, little by little , and maybe in a year or so it will believe its a hedge again and not Trees.... eeeeek.

I've had a long weekend off work and intended to start some seed planting. Lost impetus..... mostly due to weather and temperature swings from 9c to -2c with a bitter wind.
here's the list of seeds, note some in here gifted from a friend some time ago. 

 Vegetables . 

·                     Aubergine, De Barbentane, Grow More Veg

·                     Beetroot, F1, Boldor, Suttons

·                     Broad Bean, Express Eleanora, Grow More Veg

·                     Broccoli, joint pack of Red Arrow and Rudolph, Suttons

·                     Cabbage, F1, Wintersweet, Suttons

·                     Carrot, baby type,  Ideal, Suttons

·                     Cauliflower, Romanesco Green and White, Suttons

·                     Celery, Giant Red, Suttons

·                     Chives,  Middleman, Lidl (Gartenland)

·                     Courgette, F1, Golden Griller, Suttons

·                     Cucumber ,Armenian, from Wildside home collected in 2015

·                     Greens, F1, Mustard Spinach,  Suttons

·                     Greens, Bright and Spicy Baby Leaf Mix, Grow More Veg

·                     Greens,  Lettuce Mix red/green salad bowl (looseleaf), Grow More Veg

·                     Greens, Leaf Beet, Perpetual Spinach, Grow More Veg

·                     Greens, Spinach Giant Winter, Grow More Veg

·                     Leek, Blue Solaise,

·                     Pea, Sugar Snap Deliket, Grow More Veg

·                     Pea, Kelvedon Wonder, Grow More Veg

·                     Pea, Aparagus (not actually a pea though, lol), Grow More Veg

·                     Pepper Mix Anaheim and Jalepeno, from Wildside... note these home collected in 2015

·                     Pepper, Chilli Zimbabwe Black, Suttons

·                     Pepper, Largo de Reus Pairal, Grow More Veg

·                     Pumpkin, F1, Hooligan, Grow More Veg

·                     Tomato, Constoluto Genovese, from Wildside home collected in 2015

·                     Turnip, Milan Purple Top, Just Seed

·                     Turnip, F1, Sweetbell, Suttons

Herb Seeds

·                     Coriander, Green Aroma , Grow More Veg

·             Mint, Pennyroyal, Grow More Veg

·                     Parsley, Bravour , Grow More Veg

·                     Rosemary, Grow More Veg

·                     Sage, naturally nurtured seed , Grow More Veg

·                     Thyme, Large, Grow More Veg

Flower Seeds

·                     Cosmos, Bipinnatus, Lidl (Gartenland)

·                     Poppy Seeds, Backrow Farm, collected 2019

Cowboy Dressage Finals Free Style, Jeff Sanders

sharing just because this is a beautiful example of practiced good horsemanship. and I love the song.

holiday booked !!

I'll be travelling down to deepest England to see this very talented horseman in July. Excited !!

hellebores

 hellebores. always hang their flowers down, and this is what they hide, just beautiful

 and the dark  purple one, still so pretty underneath

Casper looking out of the window, he does not enjoy going out into the wintery weather, so if he's out I need to keep an eye on whats happening outside so I can let him back in, he's never very far away when you call him in.

What To Sow In MARCH | Easy to grow outdoors (2020)

I like this lady, way down south in the Uk, her planting times are way ahead of here. lovely garden.

Making a Living on a 10th of an Acre Farm - Part I - How to grow your fo...

oh i used to follow their blog.. but not had a look for that for a long time.

A year on a Campsie farm. Part 4 Autumn

not far from me. I know the photographer.

How to Make Junk Journal out of an Old Book!! (Part 1) Step by Step DIY...

Homemade Weed Killer (Natural Weed Killer - Alternative to Roundup)

This Could CHANGE EVERYTHING! How It ALL BEGAN...

Permaculture, Capitalism, and You

Eco-nomics: A Permaculture Design Perspective- Tammy Turner...

greenhouse clean

Spent a couple of days this week moving stuff in the greenhouse to start sweeping and cleaning, lots of snails - pinged them out into the garden and hope the birds get them.

tipped out the shelves so I can wash them with soapy water... this large spider, at least one other a similar size.. and lots of little ones... eeeeeek, again off into the garden with them and hope they make a meal for a bird or two

Looking better, the back half of the green house swept and tidied. so I feel like I've done something useful this week (its only taken me since last April to get myself going ).  I also cut the grass today, a bit strange to be cutting grass in February, it didn't get an end of year cut due to the weather  being so bad, and the weather has been off and on mild so its kept growing !! Glad to have it looking a bit tidier after today.
I'm not sure when any seed planting will take place, I've yet to organise  seed trays and compost. I do have plenty of seeds now though, will make a list of those and make that another post.
I'm back to work on Monday though so , yet again, I'll have little time and be tired out. Hey ho, life.

flowers in the garden

 Cyclamen, looks a bit lonely, I think there is a bigger clump elsewhere in the garden, but I forgot to look for it.

Leucojum, they are usually quite tall. so I'm not sure why these are so little.

Hellebore, not opened

Hellebore, again not opened.
I tagged this with spring and winter flowers, as it seems like spring , but winter is surely not over yet. As I've had more time this week I've been collecting a bag of the well rotted manure from the farm every day and I tip it into my compost bins. One bin was mostly filled with weeds, the other mostly with grass clippings and then autumn leaves. I eat a lot of fruit and veg so any peelings, skins, cores etc... all go in as well. I have three bins and a fourth one is dismantled , in future I'm going to place the empty bin right on top of a veggy bed.. so once its 'cooked' I can just lift it and spread the compost.. currently when I have to empty the bins.. not likely till the end of this summer... I'll have to get them tipped over and mostly onto a tarpaulin and then move it to where its needed. More thought.. less lifting.

underneath views of todays snowdrops

Eating Seasonally | What Can Be Harvested In January (2020)

on the subject of forks.. with  my ''new garden'' I received and expensive spade and fork set from my employers, the fork broke very quickly, the shop replaced it.. it broke again.. the shop replaced it... it broke again.. at that point I told them not to replace it to refund the money.. which was quite a lot.. and I bought the shops own cheap brand for £5 (Homebase). 15years or so later I am still using the Homebase one, and thats a shop thats gone out of business now.

Snowdrops

I was patiently waiting for the snowdrops to come up, inspecting a clump near the front of the garden every day.. they still haven't come up... but elsewhere in the garden, behind shrubs and under leaves, these have come up , I will have to wait till the weekend to see them open, to see if they are singles or doubles. I can see from a quick look round this morning that more have come up and nearly at the opening stage.

Hugelmounds - Perfect for the Patient

1/2 Acre Permaculture Homestead - View From Above

How to Grow LOOFAH (Luffa) for Sponges | Late Bloomer | Episode 15

What to sow in JANUARY | 7 Easy To Grow Crops (2020)

Growing 85% of Their Food on UNDER 1 Acre!

Winter Worms! A red wiggler bonanza under the snow...

Worm Bin ~ The Banana Trick

Grow Salad Greens All Winter For Less Than 20 Dollars | Gardening Tips |...

Permaculture Farm Tour & Herbalist’s Plant Walk (w/ Sarah Wu @ Punta Mon...

Compost MOVES!

All About Dandelions + DIY Wild Edible Recipes

Cold Climate Food Forest Tour

The 'Paradise Gardening' Concept

The 7 Layers of the Forest Garden with Maddy Harland

Seeds and thoughts. thoughts that ramble.....

lots of information available about seeds here https://www.permaculturewomen.com/fpc24seedstewardship.html

this is part of the free permaculture course available from https://www.freepermaculture.com/#Courses

''myself''  is starting to feel some enthusiasm about starting the garden up again next year. Thinking of things like  purple sprouting broccoli and asparagus peas. There are some tomato seeds that I've had for years.... and they can still be viable even after all this time. not 'stored properly', they've been in a squashed bag of saved letters...... PAUSE.... I have been to have a look for the seeds.. to photograph them to accompany this post... however I cannot find them and cannot think where else they would be, I will leave their inclusion in this post and hope to solve the mystery at some point. the photograph posted is from google earth dated 11th may 2005, showing a busy busy garden indeed. maybe it will be so again, maybe not.

''myself''... perhaps an entity in its own right, the who you want to be, who you are, how other people see you, somewhere there's ideas of how you think you should be, but day to day thats not actually what happens. perhaps this ...... ah ....... someone text my phone and I lost this thread of thought. there's a thing too.... forgetfulness.....

Over 1 Million Gardeners Have United to Create Global Network of Greenery That Nourishes Bees and Butterflies

Over 1 Million Gardeners Have United to Create Global Network of Greenery That Nourishes Bees and Butterflies: Anyone with a garden or outdoor space can join the team of 1 million international pollinators who have used their greenery to save pollinators.

Sing the water song. on vimeo

Sing the Water Song from Sing The Water Song on Vimeo.
I don't think this will play on blogger but if you can follow the link , its a lovely video. 

15.10.2021 edit to add

phonetic  lyrics are Nee bee wah bow, En die en, Aah key mis kquee, Nee bee wah bow, Hey ya hey ya hey ya hey, Hey ya hey ya hey ya ho. 

sing to the water four times in total, once in each compas direction.

Fireworks... why

this article covers the history https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/bonfire-night-2019-guy-fawkes-fireworks-a4273351.html

I think as the UK population enjoys a more affluent lifestyle... people seem to have what they want when they want it, to excess in a lot of cases.... instead of just having one night of a celebration it now seems to go on and on, people can afford to have fireworks whenever they want , for birthdays, weddings, new year, any celebration...
maybe just for the joy of it - I do have a friend who loves , really loves fireworks, and will buy expensive amazing fireworks for her bonfire night.
if it was just one night I would likely love them too... however this constant night after night for weeks, and having an old cat with a heart murmur who is terrified.... this makes me fed up and grumpy.
and once this weekend is over, those fireworks available in the shops will go onto a reduced price sale: so the next couple of weeks will also be full of unexpected explosions.

leaves, a lot

I've had a couple of leaf collecting sessions, not to tidy up but to add them to the compost and to feel they aren't being wasted. The tree has hardly any left now, I will try to remember to take a couple of photos with the little camera.
I sometimes feel I have no inspiration/imagination left, which is sad as I used to love to take photo's and post them on here. The lack of a decent camera does not help , though its said a good workman does not blame his tools? I just don't think you get as good a photograph with the little compact and there are no funds for better.
There have been fireworks nearly every night for two weeks now, last night they were still going off near midnight and tonight they have started from half five, Casper is hiding in the desk cupboard again.

many miles to go

the lovely Quince with her rosette for taking part in ''September Miles'', about once a year friends get together ''online'' , we log our riding miles for the month and then we have rosettes for it. I think last year we did a whole years worth, and one of the other ladies got the rosettes for us.
I had a nice afternoon collecting leaves in the garden yesterday, not that I would ever be able to clear them all up, they fall faster than you could rake... I got a good amount and added them into the compost, it won't be just leaf mould as its a mixed bin for now.  Today was so windy a lot of the leaves have blown off the tree and even the ones on the ground have blown away , so I was glad I made the effort to do something yesterday.
Also yesterday, I took Quince out just a short walk, riding, as she's had more than a week off recovering from a couple of swollen legs from a kicking match in the field, horses will be horses...... she had a Photonic Redlight treatment, which is an amazing thing , she's had a couple of treatments over the last two years, how it works I don't know, but it does.

permaculture

photograph probably from 2000/2005 ish

I've been reading a lot of permaculture stuff online recently.A lot of it is very big scale, not really applying to a ''small'' garden like mine, so pleased to find this article about a more average type of house. https://midwestpermaculture.com/2008/12/front-yard-rain-garden-and-berm/
Its also interesting to note that a lot of permaculture goes on and on and on about saving water, well that really doesn't apply in the west of Scotland ... you just about turn around and it rains again. LOL.

''on birds'' REPOSTING THIS OLDER POST FROM 16TH APRIL 2007

I recieved this photograph in an e-mail, its an quail, an very unusual bird to have in your garden! and such a fabulous tree full of spring blossom.

and my garden won't get such exotic visitors, due to the continuos ripping out of hedges its rare to see anything at all, a lot of starlings and thats about it.

I'm a Starling. . . me Darling. a poem by Pam Ayres

We're starlings, the misses, meself and the boys.
We don't go round hoppin', we walks,
We dont go in for this singing all day
And twittering about, we just squawks.

We don't go in for these fashionable clothes
Like old Missel Thrush and his spots,
Me breast isn't red, there's no crest on me head,
We've got sort of, hardwearing . . . dots.

We starlings, the misses, meself and the boys,
We'll eat anything that's about,
Well, anything but that old half coconut,
I can't hold it still. I falls out.

What we'd rather do is wait here for you
To put out some bread for the tits,
And then when we're certain you're there by the curtain,
We flocks down and tears it to bits.

But we starlings, the misses, meself and the boys,
We reckon that we're being got at.
You think for two minutes, them finches and linnets,
You never sees them being shot at.

So the next time you comes out to sprinkle the crumbs out,
And there's starling there, making a noise,
Don't you be so quick to heave a half a brick,
Its the misses, meself and the boys!

useful Wildflower links

https://www.growwilduk.com/blog/what-leaves-reveal-about-wildflowers?utm_campaign=354976_August%202019%20newsletter%20-%20Take%20Notice&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Grow%20Wild%20%28Board%20of%20Trustees%20of%20RBGK%29&dm_i=4VE8,7LWG,RK3NN,S48V,1

https://www.growwilduk.com/wildflowers/how-grow-wildflowers/growing/how-look-after-your-wildflowers-end-summer?utm_campaign=354976_August%202019%20newsletter%20-%20Take%20Notice&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Grow%20Wild%20%28Board%20of%20Trustees%20of%20RBGK%29&dm_i=4VE8,7LWG,RK3NN,S48V,1

I signed up for their wildflower seeds and receive emails regularly.
keeping these for reference

EDIT just found a link to their sign up page if you were interested in joining
https://www.growwilduk.com/form/sign-grow-wildflowers-us-autumn-advice-and-seeds 

crop !!

one little ripe cherry tomato. very tasty.
it has about six friends waiting to ripen, poor neglected tomato plants.
the greenhouse is still a mess. the garden is .. one thing at a time... might take years to sort.
I did not build the garden in a day... I cannot fix it in a day either.
hey ho
edited to add.... Permaculture... Obtain A Yield..... well I did. lol

Casper clip

cute

garden gate

friend made a new gate with  ''cat access'', so he can run in and out and not always have to jump.. he can jump, but he is old and stiff so I think this is a good idea for him.

saving for reference.

facebook link to grass identification

https://www.facebook.com/phil.barnett.397/posts/10217635393588099

in the greenhouse

 I took some stinky carpet off to the dump.. and managed to snag these sparkly stars out from the dumpster..... just the thing for the greenhouse

the tomtatoes are needing tied up..they're a bit neglected...  I had some little metal posts but no string... a hunt in the house produced a couple of feet of parcel wrapping ribbon in gold, so the theme is sparkly... ha. 

I started cutting the hedge, its so overgrown, between the hedge trimmer and a pair of loppers I got about eight feet along... now I've run out of space to put the cuttings so need to wait till the current ones are away.. so it goes slowly... hey ho.
I've a second hand wardrobe and drawers coming today, they'll have to sit in a room with no carpet for now. I've not chosen curtains or paint for that room yet, just have to add looking at carpets too.

Permaculture Ideas: Free eBook: Bill Mollison's Introduction to Permac...

Permaculture Ideas: Free eBook: Bill Mollison's Introduction to Permac...: Click Here: http://www.bettertimesinfo.org/pdc_all.p df