Well, I have done something the last week – picked a few
courgettes and 2 batches of spinach, but admittedly, not a great deal. Yesterday
was going to be different. I had great plans for tidying up the back garden. During
the week I have been working on the concrete base for the play house and I
finished it on Wednesday. Spurred on by the thought of future tidiness once the
house is up and the toys are inside, I wanted to spruce up the garden and
yesterday was going to be the day. My plans were a jolly good lawn mow as it
has had none since we came back from holiday, a good weeding session all along
the borders, a washing of the large containers, especially the ones that have
had blight-ridden tomatoes growing in them, a washing of the toys that have
laid out through a wet summer and are now sporting a slight green tinge of
mould, a folding up and putting away (hidden behind the shed) of the children’s
swing that both boys have now grown out of and various other tidy and clean-up
jobs.
So what went wrong? Diarrhoea and vomiting. Oh wonderful. The
eldest boy had it on Tuesday and went back to school on Friday just a few hours
after my wife had it which in turn was 24 hours before it hit me. Saturday was
spent remaining very still and lifeless with a throbbing headache and muscular
aches and stiffness, adding to the ache of wanting to be out in the garden on a
lovely warm, sunny and dry September day. So today, incidentally after the
youngest was up 4 times in the night, not with the expected D&V but with a
raging fever, I was bursting to do something outside so as said youngest got
some fresh air. I cut down the Ailsa Craig tomato plant which has blight and
counted 33 tomatoes that I had to throw away. Then I cut down the even more
blighted cherry tomato plant with 249 tomatoes, again, all destined for the bin.
On the plus side, I potted up 3 of the 4 fuchsia cuttings I took a few months
ago that have rooted very well (the fourth one died), gave the pepper plants a
good feed of the last of my home made nettle tea and then was able to put the
nettles on the compost. I also cut a handful of sweet peas. They are still
doing well, but you can tell by the amount I bring in that they are declining.
I picked 3 more red peppers, but 2 of the yellow ones had rotted on the stem
before ripening – perhaps I should have picked them much earlier and allowed
them to ripen on the window sill.
In the front garden, the rogue tomatoes also have blight so
that is absolutely nil fruit on the tomato front this year (the 1 saved from
the last gathering became blighted), but I have found 2 decent sized pumpkins
to add to the 6 growing at the allotment.
22nd
September
I gave the lawn a well overdue mow and a decent rake which
produced a huge clump of dead grass and moss, and so I have begun the major
tidy-up of the back garden.
23rd
September
I took the 4 year old to the allotment to harvest the
pumpkins. He was quite excited by it all, especially when a train rolled past
with lots of wagons. We also picked a cucumber which looks like being the last
and 4 courgettes, likewise, probably the last although I live in hope. Of the
pumpkins, the largest 2 were from the rogue plant from the compost whereas the
others were shop bought seeds of the F1 type which should mean better yield. The
2 rogue pumpkins were 3.5 and 2 kg in weight, the rest being 1.3, 1.15, 0.8 and
0.65 kg so in all a 9.4 kg harvest, although still awaiting the 2 from the
front garden. A lot of that weight will be rind and seeds though, but still, a
good amount of pumpkin for roasting, pie and soup.
25th
September
I painted the concrete base for the playhouse with a sealant
that will make it waterproof. I wouldn’t have bothered but my neighbour passed
a huge can of sealant over the fence for me to use (well, as much as I needed
anyway). Most of the concrete will be under cover once the house goes up.
Next post: 26th Sept
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