Tidying

Well I have spent most of today pottering about doing bits and pieces, and quite a bit of weeding so everything is tidy before I go on holiday.

I finally managed to sort out the tiny plot at the side. I am going to give up trying to grow vegetables here as the soil isn't good enough. So I dug in as much compost as I could and planted some beautiful lavender and heathers. I have a yellow jasmine plant (I think) that will go in the middle and climb the wall when the one bean plant I have is finished(!)

Yesterday I dug up the last potatoes, composted and covered the ground the stop the weeds - this is where my winter brassicas will go when they're big enough.

And I did lots of weeding, planted some black radish, endive and more swedes and replaced the pea contruction with a much bigger one so they can grow as much as they like. I planted these really late but they are covered in flowers so hopefully I will get a few peas before the weather gets cold.

I got a bit carried away...

I decided to go outside for a potter and chat with my plants last night but somehow a spade found its way into my hand and the urge to dig stuff overtook me.

And so Mr Butternut looked out the window last night to see another vegetable bed had been created in the middle of the little grass we had left. I got the desire to plant peas you see, and unable to think of any place to put them decided that some more grass had to go. Now.

And so I marked out the bed, lifted the turf, dug it up, dug in some compost, made a pea wig-wam type thing similar to my dads and got planting. I also put in some lettuce underneath hoping that it would help stop the weeds and give the ground in the middle something to do.

It will have to revert back to grass in the autumn to make way for our chickens - already provisionally named Mrs Cluckerson and Mrs Henry.

Growth and Plans

Well it has been a busy week though not for me in the garden unfortunately, the weather hasn't let me get out much. Things are growing nicely without me though and it looks like I will have blueberries this year - yum.

I've had a trip up north to my parents where me and my pa constructed a rather spectacular frame for his peas to climb up. Here is the Eighth Wonder Of The World:

I did get a bit of a fright when I went out one morning and all my brocolli and sprouts had completely wilted - a complete mystery as they weren't too dry or waterlogged and there were no beasties to be seen. I had a panic but the next day they had all totally righted themselves and are starting to form heads of broccoli.

The squashes are growing well too though I can't remember what type this is:

And then the plans...I have decided and persuaded Mr Butternut that it makes sense to dig up a lot more the back garden to create three raised beds. I want to put asparagus in one and then include the other two in the vegetable rotation but next year use one for salads and the other for strawberries. I am also planning things for the front garden which is such a mess that I am too ashamed to post a photo. We are having some building work done but once this is finished I'll be able to tidy it up and completely re-design it - very exciting!

Construction Work and a Murderous Deed

Well I'm now back in Scotland finally which is a great relief as I'm not used to non-Scottish climates! All my plants were doing well and I have some of the largest strawberries ever seen by man in my fruit bed. Mr Butternut wants to eat them now but we are just waiting for some sunny days to redden them up.

Now I'm up north staying with family and yesterday helped my dad weed his vegetable plot and we constructed a very impressive looking pea tee-pee type-thing and planted some more seeds. Photos will follow...

Another thing - is it wrong to feel evil glee at murdering slugs? When I was home at the weekend I nipped out to water the lettuces and found the most enormous slug I had ever seen - no joke, it must have been about 15cm long - drinking out of my beer trap. I thought, 'hey ho, you look like you're enjoying that, fancy a swim?' And so I nudged it in but it keep trying to climb out and I thought 'NO, I will not be beaten!' and so I held it under the beer for a couple of minutes with a look of evil satisfaction on my murderous face. And yet it wasn't enough so I reached for my scissors to cut its drunken body in half when it finally went off to the massive lettuce in the sky and I did a dance with delight.

Does this make me a terrible vegetarian?