MustardPlaster

My feeling about this past season encapsulated in one image. By now of course I have shrugged off this lousy year and am filled with optimis...

  Well, in the event, the camera decided to focus on the bluebottle instead of the rather magnificent Hornet-Mimicking Hoverfly.

Anthocyanin must be disagreeable to their tastebuds. I have noticed that cabbage whites are less likely to lay their eggs on purple cabbage,...

Summer is done. Time to plan for next year and dream about the bounteous pest-free crops that I'm going to grow. I'm cutting the hed...

 ( and they are in excess of 7 feet tall! )

  ... and courgettes, peppers and beetroot coming out the wazoo!

 But nobody told the weatherman. It's been a slow cool spring, but at least there's been some rain and everything is green and lush....

I planted out 10 asparagus crowns today in a trench along one side of the 'hugelkultur'.  And whilst doing so I unearthed (and rebur...

Seeds sown March 12th growing on in the greenhouse. Cabbage Savoy ' Violacea di Verona ', ' Rodynda ', ' Green Acre ...

... far, far away...

 My experiment on the greenhouse this year - meh. I guess they needed a longer season, but then, as they don't store as well as potatoes...

 Now at 6:00p.m.  End of day and end of a dismal summer with no rain. Big rethink for next year - more drought proof crops, more perennials,...

 I didn't think they would survive the drought, but only a few days after last Wednesday's rain life began to emerge ... ... just ha...

 My faithful ( as long as there is seed ) friend through this long dry miserable summer.  If you struggle to see the resemblance between the...

 It's not all bad news. Plants that I held back in the greenhouse are happy and even the outdoor tomatoes are looking as if they may sur...

And, lo and behold, on May 17th the heavens did part ...

 

This little brimstone has taken up winter quarters in the greenhouse. I tried putting him out, but when he just sat and stared for a day and...

Sowed broad beans 'Aquadulce Longpod' yesterday and continued garden clear-up in sunny 16°. Also liberated the seed from 'Lady G...

Fougasse Luck of the Draw 1936 ( click on illustration to enlarge )

"There are pretty curtains drawn around, the sheets are fine and thin;   And if you like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in....

This might have looked promising back in July/August, but I hold out little hope now of getting a bathscrub out of this vine. Perhaps next y...

I put a question mark beside Zucca Mantovana because it doesn't look like what it oughta. It's either a sport or some mis-labelling ...

 Well, in the event , it was 2 and a half years. But here they are!

Today I liberated the head from it's stem and hung it in the potting shed out of harm's (in the shape of a squirrel) way. With remai...

Yesterday I dealt with some of my cucumber overload - 5 x 1 litre jars of sweet and sour ... ... made with some love, spices and half a pack...