Tuesday 10 March 2009

Tidying and pet proofing

We've had a spell of lovely gardening weather. Not hot, not cold, not windy ... just right. Grabbed the opportunity to get outside and do some major tidying up on the hardstanding next to the veggie plot. The water doesn't drain well on here and it accumulates, along with any mud and muck trodden in be me (as main gardener), so it needed an enthusiastic sweep and wash down. While I was at it, I decided to tidy all the larger plant pots (and get rid of all the dead plants), sort and store all the plastic seed pots and generally put things where they should be. Although the photo still seems to show it as messy, in my eyes it's now "organised mess"!!!

Note the gorgeous bay tree in the (temporary) pot, given to me a friend - can't wait to get it into its final destination, somewhere good in the garden - a new herb section perhaps.
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Note also in the picture the leeks still going strong. As I type we're down to just 4 now. They've been probably the best veggie we've grown in 2008 and have lasted us well.


During my tidy up, I came across a basket stuffed full of old bulbs, some of which were showing good signs of life, so I cleared a section in my flower bed in front of the conservatory to plant them up. They seem to have taken well and will look great when they finally spring into action.
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Pleased to announce that the garlic are doing extremely well, and the onions have finally decided to show (having been planted in November for over-wintering). I'd layed mesh over the top of them to keep the hens off during the main part of the winter, but the other day I noticed the young shoots were being squashed so I decided to take the mesh off. After just 24 hours half my baby onions were missing or dug up, either by the hens or perphaps the cats. Brainwave moment - after putting lots of unwanted CDs threaded through string attached to canes I then used leftover chicken wire to make an animal (and feathered friend) proof "tent" to keep them all safe!

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The culprit I wonder? Gina looking very cheeky but very cute!

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2 comments:

Claire said...

Your hen proofing measures made me smile :-) We tried lots of things but in the end gave up and now have the vegetables fenced in for their own safety with a five foot wood and chicken wire fence. Sill had to chase one extremely keen chook out of the patch yesterday though *sigh*

Elaine, Ellies Treasures said...

My daughter would like ducks, but I've read they are even worse! Actually I know this for a fact because last year my next door neighbour planted a row or iceberg lettuces in my plot (to get me started) and the visiting ducks from over the road eat the lot in lightening speed!