27 June 2006

Berry Good Morning

The garden seems to be holding its breath this morning. There is a hushed stillness over everything. Even the birds seem reluctant to break the silence and those that do seem shy of their own chatter. Other mornings they are full of exhuberance and vitality but not today. Today everything seems to be tapped into the well of power behind life and is drinking quietly, gratefully, together.

Religion is one of the most destructive and divisive forces known to mankind. Each would have us drink from their own branded well and so divide us and have us destroy one another; in the name of what?

Things are waking up now but the stillness and silence has been established and no amount of noise can break it. The redcurrants are positively dripping off the bush and the first rasberries are ripe and ready to pick. I feel a fruity breakfast coming on.

20 June 2006

Midsummer Moments

The cooler weather and rain has been a blessing and is giving me a break from watering.

Most things are pretty much established now and are
growing well. The broad beans, tomatoes and sweetcorn look particularly fine and, touch wood, the dreaded black fly seems to be keeping a low profile for the moment.

I am pleased to say that most of the scurvy has cleared up now and I am able to get my hands mucky again though I have to be careful and smother them with emmolients to try to prevent it returning.

Today we be mostly 'arvesting strawberries and radish and lettuce and it do be so pleasing I am going to put them all in one sandwich and eat it neat so I am. Was getting very jealous of all the more southerly plotters who have been munching their own lettucees for weeks if not months now. The asparagus lettuce is very nice but I think my second sowing of it has been ruined as I left the seed tray out and it got thoroughly swamped by the rain.....der...should've sown it straight into the ground and that's the last of that seed I think. Oh well.

Was reading Seed News last night and I must confess I did not realise quite how much of a badness it was to use F1 Hybrid seeds. Now I have been shown the light, verily I vouchsafe unto thee, tho I be tempted 40 days and 40 nights, never again will I be seduced into such
wickedness no matter how tender, succulent, juicy, long, short, fat, hairy, smooth or disease resistant or damned cheap the product shall be amen..... three hail marys and four alfalfas.

When firms like Monsanto start taking over seed companies.....yech! tis time to revolt neh?
maybe long past time?

The eggs are from the very nice man further down the plots with the er....chickens. They were so warm and fresh and delicous but clearly they have been genetically engineered because they are making Ben's legs grow twice as fast as is normal for a seven year old.



After he'd stuffed me down the water barrel I thought it jolly decent of him to let me know that help was on the way and would be here in an hour or two and would I like a rocket sandwich to keep me going?


16 June 2006

This Life


What IS this life so full of slog
I have not time to sit and blog?

.....nor even eat vanilla fudge graham
wafer clusters with cashews whatever they
are.

08 June 2006

Cinebar

...What's this chap doing about at breakfast time (Cinebar moth - Tyria Jacobaeae)? He's supposed to be nocturnal.

Oh dear, that's why he's not camera shy...it seems his night time wanderings in between the sticks of restless beans are over for ever.

What a beauty he was. The black and gold caterpillars of cinebar were used to control ragwort which they love to munch.



Seems to me there are far far fewer butterflys and moths around than there should be for the time of year. Anyone else noticing this?

Some of our plant outs will not yet be deep rooted enough to cope without water in this heat and it looks set to continue into next week by which time I will have hoiked 50 zillion cans of water 30 metres. I should then be ready to take on Arnold Swartzenegg.......er and similar oiks. Who says allotmenteering isn't aerobic?

Moons nice tonight. Hope it's clear when it comes full. There something special about the midsummer full moon neh? Flower Moon, Strawberry Moon, Rose Moon, Hot Moon are other names it goes by.

06 June 2006

Felix

Felix sunning himself on the rocks at the bottom of the garden. He's about to stick his head in the spiders web in the crevice.



"whatya lookin at wise guy - gemme a croaka-cola"

05 June 2006

Boraging

Looking forward to these in a week or two with a nice single malt....I mean single cream.

The dreaded eczema has struck again and is doing a passable job of turning my hands into mincemeat. Just when I thought it was clearing up too. SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) has put me on a dairy free regime to see if that helps.....What, no cheese...intolerable. Anyway we'll give it a go and if it doesn't work I'll just have to chop my hands off and garden with my teeth. SWMBO is doing sterling work keeping it all going and has caught up with the planting out of stuff and much else besides. I did manage a bit of trimming the grass and another sowing of lettuce and collected a pile of comfrey to make some smelly fertiliser. No sign of of parsnips whatsoever which were sown yonks ago. So who looks a dumb ass now after all the blurb on parsnips last month? D'oh. Maybe it was duff seed. I dunno.


Fossicking about with
a camera is relatively
painless and I like these of the bees
borageing about in a buzzy
sort of way.