Gone .... All Gone

 

 

My greenhouse is gone ..... all gone.

 

Our landlord turned up as arranged with his handyman to remove the old shed, (the one with the lovely original 1940's wallpaper on the inside) so that he could begin to make plans for his decking area which is to be adjacent to the oak framed garage, what he didn't tell us was that things were more imminent that first implied and that the greenhouse was going too.

 

I was surprised at how sad this made me, but I guess it was my space and I don't have any other that is truly all mine.  Yes it was draughty, it was rickety, the slugs and snails all found their way in to party like they do in the wee small hours, but I had spent many happy hours with the radio on, with one or two doggies sat in the doorway guarding me while I planted all the little seeds of goodness that turn into our food for the year ahead in there.

 

Oh well, hopefully by this time next year I will once again be the queen of my own polytunnel, now that will make me smile  :-)

 

In the meantime the contents have now been sorted and are sat around the place, seedlings in the utility room on a bench, all the big tomato plants in the sunniest spot I could find for them and all the pots and miscellanea in and around the Man Shed ..... yes, I've managed to claim a section of the Man Shed, I shall have to be on my best behaviour then :-)

 

Sue xx

It's my time of year........

 

 

It's my time of year ...... the time when I can finally get stuck in to growing our own veggies again. 

 

In past years I have been able to start much earlier, to even have some things growing throughout the cold and harsh winter months, but without my polytunnel I have been lost.  Here I have for this year at least, the use of the old greenhouse.

 

 

 

If you could get closer you would see it is actually falling apart, cleaning the outside last week we managed to loosen even more of the rickety and broken panes of glass.  There is almost as much cold air inside as there is outside.  But while I can use it I will, next year our landlord is taking it down so that the side wall can be put on the oak framed garage that he has had built, I don't mind at all, a year without it will make me adapt even more and it should only be for the one year as we potentially have exciting developments afoot :-)

 

This morning I cleaned the inside, just with washing up liquid and a dash of bleach to kill off the mould and mildew that was stuck to the glass, frames and shelves. Somehow it has survived the onslaught with the hot soapy water and brush and is still standing, I finished by hosing it all down inside and out and now it is drying in the rising warmth of a lovely March sun.  Tomorrow when it is properly dry I will go round with a big roll of duct tape that I found in the shed and try to repair some of the cracks and holes, I will stick together the more rickety uprights and make it ready for action.

 

 

 

 

Because now it is time to get planting, my favourite task of the Spring. 

 

 



 

I have picked out the first of the seeds to be planted and have them ready ... lined up in order of what I want to get in first. 

 

 Later today while this wonderful sunshine lasts I will go and cover the raised beds in the Veggie Patch that Lovely Hubby has turned over for me while I was away at the weekend.  They are looking good, the compost from last year with addition of all the hen house cleanings out has made the soil rich and ready to impart it's goodness to the veggies I will be putting in.  So the first task must be to cover them with the net tunnels and various lengths of plastic netting so that the earth beneath will begin to warm and dry ready for the outside planting to be done in a few weeks.

 

It's a time of year I love, it's my time of year, one of planting and hope, one of wonder at the miracle that nature provides us with. That tiny seeds bought, gathered and saved from last year will grow to become our foods, that later will flower and give us delight with their beautiful colours and then set seed to start the process all over again for next year when our supplies are running low in the larders and freezers in the house.

 

I think I put it as well as I ever could with THIS POST last year.

 

 

I am not the only one that enjoys this time of year the dogs and cats love it too, the chance to be outside in the sun with Mum close at hand is their favourite occupation. All the time that I'm pottering around and getting done the jobs that need to be done, the dogs take it easy laying on their waterproof mattress on the patio, occasionally jumping up to bark at a bird flying overhead or an imagined threat, but mostly snoozing away the day in the warmth of the sun sometimes joined by the cats but mostly spread out on their own.

 

Sue xx

Greenhouses and Cider

 

I don't know if I like greenhouses.

 

I know I don't like the one I have at the moment, it has holes that slugs and snails crawl through, it's glass had all shifted both on the roof and the sides so when it rained it actually rained inside, but not on the plants .... on everything that I didn't want to get wet.

 

It was cold and draughty and although the first flush of seedlings grew well every subsequent sowing I had to watch like a hawk as things ate them, I'm sure a message was passed around pest world that this ancient old greenhouse was back in action.  I even resorted to some slug pellets in the end, not something I enjoy using.

 

Well I've cleaned the inside of it now ready for it's Winter rest, I pushed all the loose panes of glass back into place, I had found some greenhouse glass clips amongst Dad's stash of goodies in his garage so I've been using them to do as many of the repairs as I could.  Now we just have to use some duct tape or something similar to have a marathon sticking session where the two halves of the greenhouse have shifted and the glass simply won't stay in it's groove.  Once that's all done and all the holes are also filled with tape to keep out the whistling gales I will wash down the outside and remove all the white sun shade stuff and then that's it for this year.

 

I don't like greenhouses ....... I'm a polytunnel girl.

 

But I'll give it another go next year.

 

 

#

 

While I was clearing out the greenhouse and doing the running repairs,  Lovely Hubby had a rather nice little job for once.  It was too damp and miserable outdoors to continue painting the Man Shed so he came indoors and bottled some more of his Cider.

 

 

 

He has a nifty little gadget to put the tops on, I wondered how they would go on.  I had a go and it gave me the urge to bottle all sorts of things ..... I don't think bottled Berkshire air would sell well though do you?  Maybe I could say there was a Genie inside (Mum's joke is still in my head...lol).

 

 

I don't know how long we have to wait to drink it, but it's looking very promising.

 

Now I'm off to list some more things on eBay, 10 more possessions less and more space in the house.  It's good this decluttering lark.  I can sell as much as I want as long as it's .......

 

 



 

 

... capable of fitting into one of these.  I found a whole box of padded envelopes and I'm determined to use as many as I can.  It's amazing what you can fit into them if you try!!

 

Sue xx

Hot in the House

Yes it's hot in the house, the greenhouse that is.  I've painted out the windows to dilute the heat of the sun and give my seedlings a fighting chance.

It makes it look messy, but I don't mind, nor do the occupants.

The tomato plants due to be potted into their grow-pots this week...

... the Courgettes, strong and healthy (my favourite plant, so sturdy and strong)...

...the little Cape Gooseberry plants.  We discovered how much we love these last year.  They start off so tiny and yet yield such wonderful fruit.

The Carrots, ready for transplanting to the raised beds this week.

My compost, made in it's entirety by my Lovely Hubby and that's why......

You get such lovely foods to eat, all for a lot of effort and a bit of love.

Sue xx

And so it starts......

And so it starts.... my growing season that is.

Yesterday I emptied the greenhouse of rubbish and old pots etc, and then weeded out everything I could reach and dig up, washed down the windows inside and out and generally made it a much happier place for working and growing in.

Before, this side was full of nettles and other weeds, we dug them out covered the ground with cardboard and then topped it with the dry used up old soil from the greenhouse beds.  Nutrients sucked out by years of use, it should come to life again in the future, but I needed fresh vibrant compost full of life for my little plants to thrive now.

Before - well after sorting out all the absolute rubbish, but I forgot to grab the camera at first!!

After - clean glass, washed down staging and the first couple of Lovely Hubbys barrows of compost, brought all the way from our old place in the trailer fresh this morning.  Made by his own fair hands, well with a bit of help from a couple of thousand worms, and full of well rotted manure.

Pots unpacked and ready for action.

The outside view of my domain, to the left my tumble down, rickety old shed and to the right the brand spanking new four bay oak framed garage frame, under construction over the Summer by our Landlord.

Todays task .... can you guess.... planting!  I'll be unpacking  the toilet roll inners and the seeds and we are off!!

What are you up to this fine Sunday?

Sue xx

Bank Holiday

It's a Bank Holiday weekend, so what does it do in this country......it rains, it always does, there's no point in getting upset about it.  We have a hosepipe ban here in Berkshire and Lovely Hubby has just re-planted all my lovely Lavenders from Jointers into their new bed by the house here, so I for one am definitely NOT complaining. 

After giving them a good drink from a watering can after planting we are now letting nature take over.   Lavender likes to be neglected, ignored and generally left to it's own devices......my favourite sort of gardening.  It leaves me to get on with growing the food, which needs attention,  nurturing, watering, thinning out and looking after in general.

So today after I get back from a spot of shoppping, I'm gritting my teeth and playing a Joker, we are sorting out the greenhouse.   This picture isn't mine it's a Google pic, I Googled 'tatty old greenhouses' and this was the nearest image to mine.  I'll take before and after shots to let you see the actual state of it when we start, at the moment it's raining much too hard to go out and get a photo.

We started the day well with a delicious cooked breakfast of fresh free range eggs on toast with home produced bacon for LH and all the scraps for the lucky dogs, that way when I get to the supermarket I will have a satisfyingly full tummy and will not be seduced by offers and bargains of things we don't need.

The reason for the supermarket shop.......we need a big stock up of fresh fruits and veggies to keep us going until our own produce is available.  We feel as though we are coming out of a tunnel of fast food, junk food and food grabbed on the go, and we need to get back to our healthy eating days of last Summer, so one big shop should get us sorted.  Mostly fresh things and some frozen fruits and veggies too and I won't have to darken Mr Sainsburys door again for a long, long time.  I also have £24.41 available on my Nectar card so that will be deducted from my shopping bill - happy days.

What are you doing this rainy Bank Holiday Monday, or do you have some sunshine, I hope you do.

Sue xx