Tuesday 31 March 2015

Visitors around and about!

I love living at the edge of a village in the countryside...we get such wonderful visitors....

starlings and sparrows
starlings and sparrows

is it a thrush??
is it a thrush??

we all love the Robin Redbreast!!
we all love the Robin Redbreast!!

I saw this two birds of prey frolicking out my bedroom window!!
I saw these two birds of prey frolicking
out my bedroom window!!
 
Of course...you don't always have your camera handy at that perfect moment and it was really
unfortunate that I didn't have it a couple of weeks ago when Juliette and I were on our way home
from the pub after an allotment committee meeting and a barn owl swooped down in front of the
car windscreen and landed in the tree branches right next to us. It stayed there for a few minutes before taking flight again and it was a wonderful thing to witness.
 
I did however have my camera to capture this...
 
pigeon on the bedroom window sill.
pigeon on the bedroom window sill.
 
I cam home from work a few weeks ago and found this on the sill outside the bedroom window. I didn't want to scare it so didn't open the window but could clearly see the tag on it's leg so new it was a lost racing pigeon. If it was still there in the morning \I was going to call the R.S.P.C.A. to see about getting them to retrieve it in case it was hurt in any way but it soon took flight once the sun rose, I hope it managed to find it's way home!! 
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Sunday 29 March 2015

Do you remember the Dehydrator??

Well I promised a long time ago...back here in fact that I would share a few things that I tried drying out.

Anyway going through my camera memory card I found a few random photos so thought now was as good a time as any to share them with you!!

Dehydrated Tomatoes
Dehydrated Tomatoes

Different fruits blended for dehydration.
Different fruits blended for dehydration.

A selection of fruits and banana for dehydration
A selection of fruits and banana for dehydration


onions ready for dehydration
onions ready for dehydration
 
So not a huge selection of pictures and only a fraction of what I did. Since the winter arrived I haven't really used the dehydrator but it will be going full force again once the allotment gets into full swing again.  The onions and tomatoes I ground to a powder for convenient cooking once they were dried and the fruits became wonderful fruit leathers to chew on. I also dried lots of apples and they were loved by all...even Trojan who won't eat fresh apple pieces!!
 
I did have what I would consider one failure...well it wasn't a failure exactly as the dehydration
process worked fine....it was just the flavour that was left at the end of it...I don't even really know
how to describe apart from the fact that it tasted absolutely foul!! Needless to say I won't ever try
dehydrating COURGETTES again...lol!!
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Friday 27 March 2015

Solar Eclipse, 20/03/2015

So last week we were very fortunate to have a nice day and be in a good position in Lincolnshire of which to view it.

I didn't spend any money on special glasses or anything but I did go out armed with my camera and took rather a LOT of photos...some I am really pleased with....a lot aren't so great but I thought I would share them with you all anyway!!



So that's all you're getting for today...things are pretty hectic at the moment and I haven't done any work down the allotment yet and I also haven't had chance to keep caught up with all your blogs but hopefully with Easter vacation next week I will find a little more time to get caught up with all of you and the allotment too!!
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Sunday 8 March 2015

What is Bonsai?????

Well I think everyone know it's a little tree!! But is that all there is to it?? If that's the case then why are some of them Thousands to buy?? How do you know if you have a good Bonsai?? How do you pick one from the hundreds available??

Well personally I think Bonsai are great but I have managed to kill three of them over the years so gave them up as a bad job but then Kate's birthday came round and I knew that she quite liked the idea of a Bonsai but had never owned one so I thought about getting her one and then I found this great little place not far from home where you could do a day course of an introduction of Bonsai so I booked us both on and this was Kate's birthday present and we went yesterday.

So the course gives you some basics and whilst there you get to pick a tree to re pot so you learn about the root system and how to pick pots to complement you Bonsai and then we got to choose one of the ferns off the bench to create a Bonsai and then pot that up and learn how to wire it to sculpt it to what you wanted.

It was a really nice day out and if you think you would like to look into it then this is the link, Greenwoods Bonsai, enjoy the photos of Kate getting her creative side going with her 'bush'!!





raw plant ready for bonsai creation.
'raw' plant ready for bonsai creation.
Getting dirty with Bonsai
Getting dirty with Bonsai

Corin Tomlinson giving a few pointers.
Corin Tomlinson giving a few pointers.

Trimming roots is a very important part of bonsai
Trimming roots is a very important part of bonsai
 
Wiring the tree in order to shape it the way you want.
Wiring the tree in order to shape it the way you want.

Completed Bonsai tree in less than two hours!!
Completed Bonsai tree in less than two hours!!
 The tree above is the one I did and then if you look in the background you can kind of see the Chinese elm which we also did that day. By the end of the session we knew different ways of starting off bonsai trees and had lots of ideas for creation which we could try without spending a fortune. Greenwoods is the largest Bonsai centre in the U.K. so we are really lucky that it is so close to home for us.

They have a wonderful shop full of great books, pots, tools and accessories but these can be VERY pricey and although Kate and I had a look yesterday we didn't buy anything as we want to see if we can keep our trees alive first!!

I am more optimistic about keeping the outdoor one alive than the indoor one!!

I Have placed my indoor Chinese elm on the bathroom window sill and I think it looks rather nice there...I will show you a picture later in the week.

Hope you're all having a great weekend.
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Sunday 1 March 2015

As March rolls in.......

So March arrived very quickly and it won't be long now before I am really getting stuck in to the garden and the allotment....not quite yet though as it is still quite cold and there really isn't much I can be doing.

So here is what I am starting with this year...



how's the allotment looking as winter turns to spring??
From the path near the greenhouse looking up.


how's the allotment looking as winter turns to spring??
From the top near the shed looking down.


winter digging...hard work but well worth it come spring!!
Nicely dug at the end of last season!!


winter digging...hard work but well worth it come spring!!
Potato bed was dug over at the end of last year.


Garlic stands proud after the winter.
Garlic has come through in a lovely straight line!!
Not looking too bad is it?? I think I am in a pretty good place this year. I got three quarters of my land winter dug...the only bit that wasn't was some with brassicas in that are still in the ground and you can see a little of this just to the right of the above photo. The potatoes will be going in there this year so that isn't such a great deal as it will be cleared and trenches dug and manured at the time of planting!

I have already bought my main crop potato but have yet to get me earlies and here is something some you may be able to help me with. I over bought on my earlies last year and had a bag left over which are still netted in the greenhouse. Will these do any good if I plant them this year?? I really do hate waste but don't want to plant them if I'm not going to get a crop from them!!

As for the garden...well it's a bit of a different story.....


Winter gardens, shabby grass, desolate beds.
Front garden.


Winter gardens, shabby grass, desolate beds.
Back garden.
From the photos above it doesn't look too bad does it?? But on closer inspection this is what you get...


Winter gardens, shabby grass, desolate beds.
Messy front beds.


Winter gardens, shabby grass, desolate beds.
Messy rockery.
As you can see it isn't that great...it shouldn't take me too long to sort out though and the nice thing about it being the garden at home is I can pop out whenever I get a little time. Add to that the fact that the days are getting longer and it's only 4 weeks until we move the clocks it shouldn't be too long before I can get out after work too!!

Of course this isn't my biggest dilemma...but I'll save that for another post!!
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