What did you do in your garden today?

[Oliver Buckle]

The storm we had a while ago blew three out of four end panels out of our greenhouse. It is an ancient wooden structure and I had thought 'take it down and get a new one', then I started looking at prices, it is about 8ft by 14 ft, so no small job just dismantling the rest of the old one. I have compromised, I am getting a smaller new one and repairing the old one. Some heavy duty agricultural grade polythene arrived this morning and I spent a large part of the day repairing the worst of the three missing panels, making sure it is all taut and supported, hopefully I can get the other two done tomorrow. In between I tidied up my little 8x6 greenhouse and got all the frost sensitive stuff on one side so I can dig over the other side and bring some fresh soil in to get planting, I have tomatoes, basil and peppers and chili which will soon be ready to plant out and half the old house is taken up by a fig and a grape vine I inherited from the previous occupant. The fig really isn't worth the space, but the grapes are good and it is good to know they haven't been doused in chemicals, I don't suppose either will last long, but they can stay for the moment.

 

[Sean Regan]

Not a lot other than "fettling" 'arry's new summer house.

Having installed the second trail camera on the shed yesterday, I decided it needed a rain coverr/sunshade like the first one, which has a short piece of plastic roof guttering over it, which I found in the garage.
I've no more of that, so I had a look round for anything I had which was suitable. I settled on an old plastic paint roller tray and cut it in half.
Ideal for the job and not too obtrusive.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I picked up sticks, and then I picked up sticks. After a break I picked up sticks. Wanna live in the trees? Learn to love sticks. Then I mowed a little.

 

[Sean Regan]

I picked up sticks, and then I picked up sticks. After a break I picked up sticks. Wanna live in the trees? Learn to love sticks. Then I mowed a little.

I'm playing golf in sticks at the moment, far too many loose ones on the course.

 

[Neno Baylov]

The proletariat came, the bees woke up, a few spring flowers from my garden. And the other pair of hens.

 

[Sean Regan]

Another golf day so not much,

Tied up a few clematis and finished painting 'arry's summer house.

This was the last photo I took on my ageing Lumix DMC TZ60, before it gave up the ghost. Took the card out of it and stuck it in my laptop to get the photos.

Cameras are expensive to have repaired even if you can find some one to do it.

It was eight years old and had a lot of use. Over the years, I'd dropped it a few times (on the carpet of the front room).

Anyway, I've ordered another Lumix, a DMC LX15 It has a swing up screen so you don't have to hold it up to your face to take a photo

It'll be the third Lumix I've had. I've still got a little DMC LZ7, that's in a cupboard, it still works fine, but the photos aren't nearly as good as those from modern cameras.

Our kids will get the house and everything we have when we're gone. So as they say, "We're spending the kids inheritance," but actually, not even making a dent in it.
The value of our house increases each year by far more than we spend on "luxuries and non essentials"

So whenever either of us are thinking of buying something reasonably expensive, we discuss it, but end up saying, "Do you think the kids will buy us....(whatever)?"

So the other one says, "Yes!"

 

[dirtdigs]

Do I dare say it again?

Light dusting of snow this morning

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Finished another greenhouse window, one to go. Dug over where tomatoes will go in other greenhouse after a sudden bombardment of snow in the form of mini snowballs drove me inside. Potted on the last few left over sweet peas which were starting to suffer, they will go up the side of the shed in a bit.
Neno, I love the way ground ivy gets a top with three flowers, one open and a bud each side. The flower is worth taking a glass to for the markings on the upper part; I think it is where the stamens get insects as they go in.

 

[Neno Baylov]

These herbs are edible, and soup can be made from them.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

It is difficult to tell from the photo, purple dead nettle and ground ivy are very similar. Ground ivy makes 'runners'; the plant roots at the nodes and spreads vegetatively, that's partly what made me think it when I saw how dominant it was over an area. It is in the mint family, so I guess it is probably also edible.
Are you off migration routes? Your birds are lucky to be out, bird flu means our friend has to keep hers inside and there are no free range eggs available anywhere. Feeding birds 100% of their diet and selling eggs as inferior quality is costing commercial producers a fortune.

 

[Neno Baylov]

This is the herb that appears to me every spring, after mowing the grass it disappears. It has a very nice aroma. I look after the hens freely, I feed them corn and wheat and the grass from the yard whatever they find. There are no diseases, and these are chickens at the age of 5, for these years to be twice antibiotics, that is, I do not poison them with antibiotics, it weakens the immune system of the animal and damages the internal organs. Antibiotics.

 

[Neno Baylov]

I raised purebred Brahma chickens, a few photos below, they were very capricious, they got sick regularly. Now I have, they are already a mixture of several breeds, they do not get sick.

 

[Sean Regan]

Bought a couple of clematis to fill some gaps.

We finished the last two panels in the side fence. so the job's done. Well it is for me. My neighbour will be getting someone in to clear the "carpet" of ivy he has covering the border on his side.
Putting the panels in was easy enough for me, to stand on the roof of the tea-house and drag them up whilst my neighbour centred the bottom edges in the slots.
Still needed a bit of "fettling" as the end panel's concrete base panel had been lifted at the far end by the roots of the tree in their garden. So I had to use a crowbar and spade to lift the other end to level it off and pack some bits of brick under it. I've put wedges in to stop the wind rattling the panels.

I'd previously re-painted that side of the tea-house and cleaned the paving slabs to the side of it, so we're looking quite tidy.

I've finished 'arry's summerhouse. I'm leaving it on the veranda of the tea-house, so it will get a chance for the smell of the paint to dissipate and weather a bit, before I swop them over.

I'm using my old Lumix DMCLZ7 at the moment which is about fifteen years old now, still works, but needs AA batteries.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Finally got that last window in the greenhouse filled. Got a fair bit of plastic left over, so I am thinking about a cloche of some sort. Took a barrow load of earth from the small greenhouse where I grew tomatoes last year. It went to top up the raised bed and I shall replace it with something nice for this year's crop, or I might put chili there, haven't quite decided yet. Planted mange tout, made a square of four large flower pots and put a sheet of glass larger than them over it, then stood the peas on top. It worked to keep the mice off my sweet peas, so fingers crossed. Potted on some lavender cuttings that were getting pot bound with a bit of the earth I took from the greenhouse.

 

[Amateur Gardener]

Used my weed whacker to cut these weeds.