Thursday 29 June 2017

A fruitful year.

So I went to the allotment last night to water the greenhouse and got happy with the camera but by the time I had sorted paperwork and all that stuff it was 11:00pm so i didn't get a post done last night.

Off shopping this morning which is one of my pet hates but hey ho...we have to eat and unfortunately I can't grow everything!!

Anyway that's besides the point....just thought I'd share some of the fruit with you....I have been slowly picking at the soft fruits but think by the weekend I will be able to harvest in earnest...take a look.

My autumn raspberries are always ready
in summer!!

The strawberries are managing to hold their
own in the little wilderness.

Mental currant bushes!!

Gooseberries ripening nicely.

I always love the way redcurrants
look like perfect glass beads.

Can't wait to make some blackcurrant
syrup.

I never really know what to individually do
with the whitecurrants, what do you do
with yours??

So that just leaves the blackberries to ripen, I have
plenty dotted around the plot and do love
my bramble jelly!!


So that's the soft fruits covered. I have some gojiberries in the greenhouse but they won't be ready to plant out until next year. I would like a few more soft fruits....anybody got any that I don't have which I could grow. Obviously I need them to flourish outside in the lovely U.K. summer!
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Saturday 17 June 2017

Alnwick Poison Gardens.

Well I did a little impromptu weeding last weekend but in true Tanya style I forgot my camera so I have just been going through the archives and found a few picks from Alnwick last year....

My Nephew and I visited the poison gardens. They were beautifully set out but you did have to book in for a tour as they are behind locked gates!!

At the gates you are gently warned about
the dangerous plants....

This is then reinforced by the
guide before you enter.


The gates really are beautiful to look at and into the
wrought iron there are different poisonous snakes
and spiders,just in case  you didn't quite grasp
the concept the first two times!!













Some of the more dangerous plants...or those that are listed are in cages to prevent the public getting anywhere near them...but not all of them can kill, there were obvious things such as cannabis and opium poppies, irritants such as nettles and thistles, but then also a few surprising ones. Aquilegias were in there, not poisonous as such but when ingested by someone with child do cause miscarriage, this was a new one on me...never harmful at any other time though.


The Prince of Wales opened 'Phase 2' of the garden in 2007.
The bench is a nice touch but you don't really get time
to sit down in the guided tour.



One of the last parts is a walkway through
the poison ivy tunnel!!

It was a nice tour and I enjoyed it and would recommend it...you don't pay extra for it but you do need to go and book your place when you first get to the gardens. Then you are free to explore until your allotted time!!

Wednesday 7 June 2017

A misty morning





Monday 5 June 2017

The Beehives

So I haven't mentioned much about the bees lately...to be honest there isn't much to say.

The bees have however been very busy foraging and making lovely honey...I will soon be taking some supers off to spin it out...for now though here are a few pics of the hives!!

Some honey supers being drawn and filled.

A full honey super weighs about 20lb!!

A frame out the brood box, all the filled cells
you can see will soon have bees hatching
out of them!

The hives closed up!

Approaching the bee hives.

Guard bees!!


Saturday 3 June 2017

June??? Seriously???

Okay....I have decided to pretend that there wasn't a May in 2017 and that it really isn't that long since I posted...I have no excuses so just go with it!!

So anyway I did all that work on the allotment...then it got hot...then it got cool... then it got really rainy...and sometimes windy....these factors all helped things grow...mostly the weeds to be honest os I have been busy again weeding and planting and just generally trying yet again to get on top of things...wow, I really sound like a broken record don't I? Sorry about that, now I'll move on.

So here are a few pics as it stands at the moment....

So this is the first half. As you can see there is still
1/4 that needs sorting but I am pleased there are
some crops in and they seem to be happy!!

This is the second half, it actually looks worse
in this photo than it is and won't take long to whip
back into shape so that I can get the beetroot in
and sow some carrot seeds. There are crops
in there too!!
 You may or may not thave noticed that there is no second greenhouse in residence?? A while ago now we had some farily strong winds and the greenhouse went again, it was at that point stood up and I noticed more fractures to the frame. At that point I was still considering trying to sort it out but then a week later there were some more windy days and it went again causing yet more damage to the structure so I decided that it was more bother than it was really worth to try and sort it out so it didn't take much to dismantle it and get rid of it. On the plus side I have plenty of spare glass for the current greenhouse both on the allotment and in my Dad's garden!

The strawberry patch is looking a little worse for wear
but none the less despite it all they are doing well.

Not only are there plenty of strawberries growing...

But a few are already ripe...and delicious they were too!!
So that's all I'm giving you for now....don't want to bore you too quickly though I have lots more to tell and will be getting back to you in a day or too.
In the meantime enjoy the rest of your weekend and the sunny weather!
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