Busy Weekend

Plenty of work was carried out over the weekend as you will be able to tell from the pictures.

We pressure washed the main patio area ready for bringing out the wooden table and chairs complete with the 10 foot span umbrella.

The weather was so good on Sunday that Andrew was able to work outside until 9.30pm. His jobs included mowing the 4 lawn areas, finishing off the feather edge fencing, turning over the compost heap and planting out the runner beans.

These runner beans, Polestar, were started in the green house and planted out when they were 8-10 inches tall. This, we find, helps combat the slug damage as the plants are off to a flying start already.

We have slug traps around the raised beds that we empty and fill up ever 3 to 4 days. Not many slugs this year so far, perhaps it is because we used Nemaslug last year and this has kept the population down this year.

The strawberries are doing really well in one of the coldframes with plenty of flowers and some berries forming. Grace can not wait to taste the fresh sweet flesh of sun warmed strawberries from the garden. She has not liked the imported ones from Egypt as they have had no taste.

The early potatoes are ready for their first earthing up too. Last year we were plagued with slugs but them traps seem to be doing their jobs this year.

And finally a lovely clean patio, albeit wet, and also showing the fencing that has just been finished awaiting a volenteer to finish painting it.

The other gardeners at BerryFields

On oldish picture of a few other gardeners at BerryFields taken at the top end of the garden that was discovered after clearing over 100 foot of brambles.

Renovating a tired bed

Looking out from the kitchen window is a raised bed that we have not done anything with since moving in a couple of years back. Now with the hot weather upon us we thought it was time for a raised bed makeover.

Andrew, the Head gardener enlisted the help of Clive, to do most of the heavy digging.

The bed is approx 5 foot wide and 12 foot long.

The earth was covered in a woven material with a couple of plants pushed through it and gravel over the top. It was a half hearted idea by the previous owners who never carried the idea right through to the end.

After the plants were removed, the woven sheet was removed, only to find a mass of Mares Tail weed. After 3 black bags full of weeds removed, 2 bags of well rotted horse manure was added along with the gravel, all well dug in.

The obelisque that Charlotte and Andrew made a week ago was placed centre stage with 4 clematis (Madame Le Coultre, white and Ernest Markham, Red) planted at the corners. Dry sand was then used to mark out the areas for the other seeds to be sown. Then Candy Tuft, Convolvulus, Californian Poppy and Godetia seeds were sown in a geometric semi circular pattern after.

Towards the back of the bed 4 penstamens were planted that had been hanging around in pots for a few years outside of the greenhouse( always new they would come in handy one day).

All in all a good afternoons work was had by all including Jacqui, Clives wife, who helped paint the newly errected fences.

A bit of DIY

It has been frantic recently what with all the sowing and transplanting. Charlotte and Andrew took some time out and decided to put together an obelisque using roofing laths, scrap plywood and a ballcock.

Guess where the ball cock is?

Slugs

The notorious slug population have polished off all but 5 carrot seedings. I am trying the gravel method now, I have sprinkled gravel around the row where the seedings were, hoping to nurture my last few carrots.