New Year - New start...

Martin Blyth — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 13:25:00 UT

It is with much sadness that I have not blogged since the middle of November. Christmas has passed us by leaving some wonderful presents on the way. Amy and I noticed an increase in 'joint' presents this year, of which the majority of them were very thoughtful and gardening related. Thankyou everybody. Santa also brought me a new iPad so there is no excuse not to blog more frequently now.

You will probably remember the unfortunate news I posted about last time where our shed had been tipped over and our contents ruined, moved or stolen. Well due to the awful recent weather and localised flooding which affects the bottom part of the allotment site near to the river we still do not have a shed standing. Instead, each time we visit we are greeted with this rather depressing sight.

By the looks of things it will probably be February now before it is upstanding once again. There is no sign of the weather letting off and January is going to be a very busy month anyway.

At least the new year will give us chance to have another go on this plot. Some things didn't work so well this year from things like onions to even getting around the plot. We've reevaluated our plans and we are all set to go. It may even be worth thinking about sowing some seeds next month, chillies, peppers, tomatoes and the like. How exciting!! It is also a great relief that I dug over 2/3 of the plot at the end of November. This should give us a really useful head start next year and will save a lot of back ache in early March. I hope this early start will also give the couch grass a bit of a battering. As you can see in the next picture the paths surrounding the plot are all grass and that makes it easy for it to quickly spread through the plot.

I'm hoping to sort the rest of the plot out before I go back to work on the 8th of January. But of course that is going to be weather dependant. Any more rain and the plot could quickly turn into a lake.

Well, I sincerely hope the new year brings you bucket loads of joy and happiness even if it comes in the form of a trailer full of manure. Happy New Year, and a toast to happy gardening!!

Martin and Amy

Sweet Summer Headdress

Dorset Finca — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:10:25 UT

A half-head headdress, perfect for romantic summer weddings… I used: Small variegated ivy leaves Small deep green ivy leaves Deep …

Saturday - in the house, in the garden, in the wet, in the dry, in the polytunnel, out shopping and getting lucky.

Compostwoman — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 21:50:00 UT

First of all, welcome to my new followers, Joshua Heaton, Jille and Rose :-) Hope you are enjoying yourselves.
Today we had very very changeable weather but I managed to dry some washing and do some planting out in the veg patch while it was sunny.
I am planting up one of the raised beds with my Rocket Gardens Constant Gardens selection of veg plants - they have grown well in their pots and it is now time to put them outside in their final places. But because of the naughty hens and cats, as well as the ever present wild life, I need to protect the bed.
I am rather proud of what we (mainly Compostman) came up with.

Some blue water pipe ( free, from the Scrapstore) and some bits of metal pipe ( free - have been hanging around in the Barn waiting for a use by Compostman) But I then found that my horticultural fleece and mesh fabric lengths were all too long but not wide enough - so to cover the bed I had to use two sheets and have a lot of spare fabric at one end AND work out a way to fix the sheets together. Hmm will have to think about this!

After working outside on the raised bed, the heavens opened, the rain fell and I got soaked, so retreated to the shelter of the polytunnel. Still at least the raised bed plants got a good watering!

Compostman very kindly tied the tomato plant canes to the roof for me, so they stay upright :-)

Growing well :-)

I did a lot of potting on of my veg plants, and re arranged the peppers into their final position.

I do wonder why, when I plant out plants, I still seem to have more on the bench?

This is my version of a Salad bar :-) I can go out with my basket and cut some salad and it grows some more :-)
Later on this afternoon we are going into Hereford. I am a member of the B and Q club and this weekend I have a 15% off voucher and as we need to think about paints for the bedroom decoration ( yes it is now at the "what colour paint shall we have" stage!) we are going to have a look at what they have to offer.

Update later this evening. We went into Hereford to B and Q and bought all sorts of stuff we needed, including solid wooden flooring for the bedroom (gulp). The 15% off voucher saved us a lot of money on the floor and paint for the bedroom. Hopefully we will be moving back in soon and I can't wait!
We also popped into Sainsbury and got items on the shopping list and then I spotted some garden netting which was the perfect size to cover the supports we had put up this morning for the raised bed. On offer and reduced to £3.50! I bought four packs, one for each raised bed, for a total cost at full price of one pack :-) And so when we got home, before it got dark and in the pouring rain, I did this

Exactly what I needed to cover the raised bed we had been working on and I used tri pegs ( bought many years ago and used for all sorts of jobs since) to fix it all down. This had been worrying me and now it is sorted

and has made the bed secure from cats, hens, etc . getting in there and digging up or eating the plants. Should stop the Cabbage White butterflies laying eggs on the brassicas as well.

Later, later still, well actually at silly o'clock when we should have gone up to bed, Compostman and I watched the first two episodes of The Black Adder from the Blackadder Complete DVD set, which I found in a charity shop ridiculously reduced in price :-)

It is 30 years since we first watched it, and time has not dimmed the laughs for us and we can still sing the theme tune! And we raised a glass in honour of Sir Baldrick and Blackadder, CBE

So all in all, a good day, if a long one but my bed is calling me, now.

Flower Crush ~ Astrantia

Dorset Finca — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 09:48:50 UT

Aaah… …delicate, quivery movement in the wind… …soft, romantic colours. Smells like wet dog en-masse. I’d avoid giving it a …

Weed killer found in human urine across Europe

Compostwoman — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 10:03:00 UT

Well done FoE for exposing this outrageous situation.70% of the UK samples contained glyphosate weed killer!

My view? It is absolutely appalling.
Weed killer found in human urine across EuropePeople in 18 countries across Europe have been found to have traces of the weed killer glyphosate in their urine, show the results of tests commissioned by Friends of the Earth Europe and released today [1].
The findings raise concerns about increasing levels of exposure to glyphosate-based weed killers, commonly used by farmers, public authorities and gardeners across Europe. The use of glyphosate is predicted to rise further if more genetically modified (GM) crops are grown in Europe [2].
Despite its widespread use, there is currently little monitoring of glyphosate in food, water or the wider environment. This is the first time monitoring has been carried out across Europe for the presence of the weed killer in human bodies.

http://www.foeeurope.org/weed-killer-glyphosate-found-human-urine-across-Europe-130613

Seed bombs, seedlings, scything and a nest box, hijacked

Compostwoman — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 19:30:00 UT

As you know I recently was sent some Seedballs to review. I thought they were so lovely, I got some more. Lots more! I was very kindly sent another BIG packet of Seedballs, by Project Maya to scatter around Compost Mansions, so I went out seed bombing tonight

This mixture contains yet more bee attracting flowers, which is good as bees ( and other insects) need all the help they can get.

So I wandered around the garden, seed bombing wherever there was a patch of bare soil which I wanted to become a patch of wild flowers. We already have LOTS of patches of wildflowers, but in my opinion you can never have too many :-)

As always, Cassi Cat ( my amber eyed familiar) came with me and watched in some bemusement as I scattered little round balls of clay. I think she hoped they would be something to eat! She did try to nibble on one but I think the chilli put her off :-)

While seed bombing by the garage I noticed a lot of Bumblebees coming and going from a nest box,

which normally contains Blue Tits
.
not this year - it is full of Bumblebees nesting, instead!

Can you see her bottom? just going in through the hole?

I am in the process of filling up the compost bins again - its a bit like painting the Forth Bridge - never finished!

I have a load of "greens" waiting - the pile is getting very hot and was steaming.

An experiment - I have never tried transplanting carrot seedlings before, but as I was asked about it on a Composting stand I decided to try it - we shall see what happens to the carrots. I used a big pot and filled it up with my favourite peat free fertile Fibre growing medium and then carefully transplanted the seedlings without damaging the roots. I suspect they will grow forked, but who knows, it may work?

Compostman was outside scything while I was doing all this. He presented me with yet more green stuff to add to the compost pile ;-) He knows what makes me happy :-)

Wordless Wednesday - busy in the garden.

Compostwoman — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:56:00 UT

Organising Gardening Routines…

Dorset Finca — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 11:15:59 UT

I am a real sucker for iPad and iPhone apps that claim, in some way, to change your life… Information …

Master Composters at Hellens - The Garden Festival

Compostwoman — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 10:00:00 UT

The Garden Festival at Hellens was totally terrific and absolutely excellent!
Luckily for me I had several fellow Master Composter volunteers with me on our stall over the weekend, which was a good thing as the place was absolutely heaving with people having fun in the glorious sunshine. On Saturday I had the company of Paul all day and Christine E in the afternoon. It was lovely to see them both, as it is some time since we last met up and in the lulls I was able to catch up with all their news :-)

Here is the stall, set up and ready to go on Saturday morning. We were in a corner, between the Hereford Waldorf School children's activity tent (the white tent, above) and another big marquee full of interesting stalls selling lovely stuff and various "green" themed charities. I must thank the organising team of Gail, Michael and Maggie for putting us there and sorting out the splendid tent for us :-)

Our main stall table has lots of leaflets on how to make compost; the discount compost bins available; information about Garden Organic; samples of coir based growing medium (peat free alternative); free seeds and pencils to hand out; and examples of what can be composted.

This tray contains grass, herbs, flowers and the (compostable) bags contain straw, crumpled newspaper, egg boxes, wool, cotton waste, paper sheets, toilet roll tubes, hay and shredded paper. This is to show people what can be composted...

and what it turns into!

Here are some samples dug from my compost bins at 5 am on Sat morning (!) to show people what finished compost should look like. It will have bits in - if you want it to look fine you need to sieve or riddle it.

More display boards, compost bins, a "can o worms" wormery and our seed planting activity table completed our set up.
We spoke to more than 150 people on Sat which was a terrific result :-) At the end of the day we were invited to a Pimms reception on the beautiful terraces, but the reception had to move to another location due to a swarm of honey bees! Still, it was good to chat to the organisers and the family who own Hellens, as well as other stallholders.

Sadly I didn't get to listen to Brigit Strawbridge talk about bees :-( (check out her amazing blog here) but I did manage to catch up with her later and have a chat :-) If you are reading this it was lovely to see you again Brigit :-) and good luck with your new venture at Bumblebee Farm.

I got home at 7 pm very hot and tired but a shower and some dinner and a sit in the garden with my cats and hens soon perked me up again. I sorted out new leaflet supplies and my laptop and projector and put them in the car, then went to bed early, ready for another early start on Sunday.

Sunday was another glorious day, a few less people at the Festival but still very busy! I was helped on Sunday by fellow Master Composters Christine J, Janice and Nina which meant there were enough of us so we all got to leave the stall and have a look around the Festival. I bought some lovely organically grown plants from The Cottage Herbery. They are based locally and grow their plants in Fertile Fibre coir based compost, indeed they originally founded Fertile Fibre before handing it on to Matthew at Withington Court. I always enjoy talking to Kim & Rob about plants and they are very knowledgeable :-)

Then after lunch (pork roll from The Squeaky Pig Company and Noggin Farm - yum) it was time to get ready for my talk. I got everything set up in the Cider Barn - cool and dark with a stone flagged floor which was a lovely contrast after the now scorching heat outside. I was a little surprised, but very pleased, to see that all the seats were filled plus there were a couple of people standing so that was 25 people in total waiting to listen to "Lets talk Compost!"

My talk is illustrated with lots of slides with photos from my garden - you would probably recognise many of them from this blog - as well as samples of compost to look at and a "can it be composted" card on each of the seats - I ask people to decide what they think about the item on their card at the start of the talk and then ask them at the end if they have changed their mind - people often do after hearing the talk!

The audience seemed to enjoy what I had to say about composting and growing, which is always a relief! I had a 45 minute slot to complete my talk and answer questions, but then I was asked to carry on and answer more questions. As there was no one else due to use the room, I did so and we carried on for another 15 minutes :-)
Then it was 4 pm and time to pack up the stall and somehow fit it all back into my car ( which I still have not yet unloaded!)

In total over the weekend we spoke to 250 people (maybe more, I wasn't there all the time). Lots of people who were all wanting to know more about composting - how to get started, how to do it better, what to do with the compost they make. Hopefully they feel more informed, now.

I have had a really excellent weekend of volunteering, with a group of friends, at a fabulous venue with excellent organisation, to promote a subject we are all passionate about.

Can't really get much better than that, I think :-)

Too Many Queens Can Spoil The Show…

Hen Corner — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 22:21:47 UT

Welcome back to Hen Corner! As featured in Country Living Magazine This post is all about the bees. Andy (Mr Hen Corner) asked me to name this post ‘Does anyone want a spare colony?’ but I am assuring him that all is well with our extra couple of hives… This week we’ve been running courses, […]

Everything's coming up roses!

Claire — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 17:26:03 UT

Friday 7th June We are having such lovely weather at the moment, it is great to get out into the garden, and pootle around a bit, with the chickens at my feet, making happy noises. It is only in the past few days I have noticed everything trying to catch...

Some photos from the Herefordshire Eco Schools event

Compostwoman — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 11:08:00 UT

Fellow Master Composter Martin, just before the event started. We were joined by Gerry later on and it was good to catch up with them both and have a chat over the lunc break.

My display board, with lots of information on composting and the composting creatures which make it all happen

Me! Waiting to show the children some of the creatures which live in the compost. I have bug viewing pots and samples on the table in front of me. We also did seed planting with the children and played a " what can we compost" game.

Sorry, no photos of school children in action, for obvious reasons!

We had an excellent day and spoke to 130 children and their teachers over the course of the event. All the people who had put on events were thanked and applauded at the end which was a nice touch, and we were supplied throughout the day with unlimited offers of cups of tea, coffee and cake :-)

I do love doing these events :-)

Today's charity shop bargain...

Claire — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 20:00:19 UT

...is a very lovely Edinburgh Woollen Mill, semi fitted, lined jacket! At £2 I could not resist. The label says dry clean only but I took a chance and washed it on the wool wash, it came out just fine, and dried super quick on the line this afternoon.

Batch cooking - chilli inside!

Claire — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 08:34:35 UT

I tend to do a lot of batch cooking, it sort of goes with finding bargains in the supermarket. Whilst defrosting the freezer the other week, I unearthed some quality mince which I had squirrelled away previously. Bearing in mind I bought mushrooms last weekend to make risotto, I decided...

A New Variety of Potted Present…

Dorset Finca — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 06:21:43 UT

A very good friend of mine has just had a birthday and a house move all rolled into one. She …

Coughton Court, without yer coat on!

Claire — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 19:22:23 UT

31st May 2013 We love Coughton Court! (pronounced coat-on, geddit!!) So we packed a picnic and headed on over for a moochy around. It was a lovely day, and when we got there the car park was spilling over into the adjoining field, there were already lots of visitors. Entrance...

Busy being Compostwoman

Compostwoman — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 18:24:00 UT

Its been a busy week for my alter ego, Compostwoman.

On Wednesday I spent all day at with 13 Herefordshire Primary Schools at an event to celebrate World Environment Day and Eco Schools, along with representatives from Water, Cycling, Waste minimisation, Healthy Living, Global Perspectives and other good stuff. I, and several other Master Composters , were there as "Others" which covered Green Woodworkers, Recycled crafts, h Energy, Nigel Hand ( again) with assorted wonderful reptiles and us with planting, bug hunts in the compost and the compost food chain.

It was a terrific day and the children seemed to really, really enjoy themselves :-)

I have also been preparing for a very busy weekend - I am at The Garden Festival, Hellens this weekend, along with a team of Master Composters - yet again I am the organiser for the MC's, so have a lot of preparation and planning to do to make sure our stall is really good and everyone is happy with what they are doing :-)

I am also setting up the stall and taking it down again on Sunday.

And giving a talk on Sunday afternoon.

So my mind is FULL of compost at the moment :-)

But I hope to have time to look around the wonderful stalls there, and especially to go and listen to Brigit Strawbridge talk about Bees :-)

Off to take some of the stall to Hellens - it is a beautiful June summer evening here

Hope you have a lovely week end, whatever you do.

LIVE: Collecting a Honey Bee Swarm

Martin Blyth — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 20:06:00 UT

I know I haven't blogged for a while, but what better way to get back in to it than a live post from my Grandparent's house whilst collecting a swarm.

I was down the allotment just about to put my sweetcorn in and my mobile started ringing. It was my Grandad
'Martin, your grandma wants you'
'Ok. Hi Grandma.'
'Martin there's a swarm of bees outside the back door do you want them.'
'Yes please. l'll be there in 5 minutes!!'

So, I put the sweetcorn in the she ready for planting tomorrow morning. Dashed home, got my veil and off I went. This is the 3rd year in a row that a swarm has congregated by/at my Grandma's house!! However this is the only year that I've had an empty hive to house them in!!

They were congregated on a wall so I scooped as many as I could in to the bucket before turning it over and waiting for the rest to follow on in. I'm just waiting for the last few stragglers whilst having a coffee indoors. Here's a few pictures, I'll let you know how it goes and maybe I'll even make an allotment blog tomorrow!!

Thanks for reading,

Martin

Whitesnake, Thunder, Journey LG Arena

Claire — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 22:51:15 UT

Tuesday 28th May Him indoors and I are massive Whitesnake fans and have been waiting a while for the latest tour. Off we went, to this long awaited gig at the LG Arena, (formerly NEC Arena). Not my favourite venue, but you get a good large crowd, and since it's...

Chive Flower Buttonhole With Washi Tape Label

Dorset Finca — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 11:00:09 UT

Chive flowers look so rustic, yet elegant… …and don’t really smell at all (in case you were wondering)! Perfect for a …

Brassicas, Sun & Raspberries.

Stacy Drury — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 04:06:10 UT

It’s been great having a bit of time off work especially that the weather has been so kind to me, I was able to get down the plot a fair bit.

Most of the planting in now done with the exceptions of a few bits here and there. This year I am having a go at growing some cauliflower some say this is a tricky crop to grow so I will have to keep an eye on it I know I need to keep the head covered over to stop it going yellow and I have read that most people use the leaves and tie them over.

I am also growing Purple sprouting Broccoli again (a favourite of mine see previous posts)and also having another go at some Brussels sprouts, I found them quite hard to grow first time round but I know where I went wrong last time and won’t make the same mistakes again.

I planted them far to close and I didn’t support them with canes, the lover leaves I left on rather than removing them to let air and light in.

With my brassicas I also add a little crushed egg shells to the potting mix I do this with all brassicas as it gives them a little calcium boost as they grow it helps in develop strong roots. I have also put an egg shell mulch round them to stop the slugs and snails (I don’t get to many on the plot but don’t want to tempt fate!)

It’s looking “ship shape” now on the plot and can’t wait for things to start cropping.

The next job it to get the cover sorted for the raspberry’s as they are starting to flower and won’t be long before fruit is developing. The raspberry’s look especially healthy this year, with the autumn variety’s putting up lots of canes and even cropping up in the pathways the mulch and feed I gave them last year is starting to pay off I suspect.

Clent

Claire — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 20:59:25 UT

Sunday 19th May Flask filled and biscuits packed, we drove over to Clent for a walk around in the sunshine, and our 'fix' of countryside. Parking is free on the Nimmings Wood car park, if you are displaying a National Trust sticker on your car, and we are members so...

Low Carbon Ledbury event at Ledbury Community Fair.

Compostwoman — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 16:00:00 UT

This weekend Ledbury celebrates The Coronation by recreating the Ox Roast which was held here, in 1953.

The Ox Roast event is happening tomorrow, but today was a town wide celebration of all the good things which happen in our little market town - the Ledbury Community Day.

I was upstairs in the beautiful medieval Market House doing a h Energy/ Master Gardener stall, fellow Master Composters also had a stall there, as did many other local "green" groups. Lots of other community groups showcased their activities all over Ledbury.

Nigel Hand from the reptile group was there, with wonderful slow worms, newts and grass snakes.

The Worcester Scrapstore had a stand and did some wonderful activities throughout the event - Compostgirl made an insect out of a plastic bottle top :-)

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Master Composters stand with seed planting activities, composting advice and Love Food Hate Waste information.

Compostgirl went off to do Guides activities in The Walled Garden with Ledbury Guides - very proud to be dressed in her uniform and necker and to be part of the day's events, which were happening all over Ledbury town. (link to map) :-)

It was great fun; Speaking purely from my own experience - I spoke to over 40 people on my stall alone; five households signed up to take part in h.Energy Savers and two households signed up to have me mentor them for a year with advice on getting started in vegetable growing - so all in all a very successful event :-)

Judging by the crowds of people and the conversations I had with visitors, the other stalls were equally successful and the whole event went very well.

We finished at 2 pm and packed up; being upstairs in the Market House created some "challenges" getting boxes and display boards up and down the stairs but finally everything was loaded into the car and Compostman drove me home.

And I am now officially exhausted. Compostgirl has gone off for a sleepover with a friend, so I think a sit down and a cup of tea is in order, before I start on the planting and watering routine in the garden.:-)

Flower Crush ~ Aquilegia

Dorset Finca — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 06:17:18 UT

Aquilegia Isn’t it the most beautiful, cleverly constructed flower? Appearing in pinks, whites and purples and lining the hedges at …

Rocket gardens delivery # 3

Compostwoman — Fri, 31 May 2013 16:30:00 UT

In other news apart from struggling with Google, I have been unpacking and planting up my third Constant Garden delivery from Rocket Gardens. Again, the box was delivered the next morning after I was emailed to tell me it was on the way, again the plants were mostly in beautiful condition and carefully packaged, as I described in my last post about delivery # 2

A couple of tomato plants were a bit sad looking though, as were a couple of the bean plants. I am a great believer in letting people know if there is an issue with stuff - after all how will they know there is a problem if they are not told about it? And how can they fix a problem they are never told about it? So I emailed Rocket Gardens to tell them about the problem and they immediately said they would send me some replacements and thanked me for letting them know.
Considering the sheer number of plants in the delivery I am amazed and delighted at the good quality and range of the plants I have been sent so far. We are already eating from delivery #2 (salads, spinach and chard) and the other plants are growing well.

I have the staging in the polytunnel absolutely full of lovely plants from Rocket Gardens, both from the last delivery and this latest one :-) I really must get them planted out :-)
But first I need to make up a display board for the Low Carbon Ledbury stall I am doing at the Ledbury Community Fair on Sat :-) I need to get laminating and sort out the display :-)

Pumpkin Hundred Weight

Stacy Drury — Fri, 31 May 2013 12:04:43 UT

Hello readers it’s been a while, it’s been a busy few weeks first off I competed my charity walk on the 12th May a 13 mile walk from Malden to Chelmsford in Essex I was part of a team and in total we raised over £700 so well chuffed with that and we still have money coming in, so thank you if you donated it’s going to a great cause.

On the plot not much went on in early May as it was Rain rain and more rain and I was getting quite worried that I was getting quite far behind.

But the last week I have been off work and the weather has been kind so a few days spent on the plot and things are back to normal.

The first job was to weed as since I rotivated, the beds were covered in weeds again luckily they were all little ones so a hoe did the trick.

This week I got quite a lot planted out, my sweetcorn, celeriac, chard and dwarf Bollotti beans all went in one bed I also planted out my French beans but haven’t quite got round to doing the Runner beans yet but plan to do this next week.

This year as some of you may know I am attempting to grow a large pumpkin for my 2 children they have asked me to grow a big pumpkin that Cinderella can use to go to the ball! (Oh to be 4 again!).

I don’t normally go in for the growing food that you can’t eat but on this occasion I will make an exception, I am growing a variety called hundred weight. I have done a bit of research on this variety and got a bit worried at the size they can get! But hopefully it won’t be too big. I started by digging a large hole about 2ft wide and 2ft deep my soil in this part of the allotment where I plan to grow it isn’t that great so needs a lot of help to get it going, I filled the whole with 4 spadesful’s of ½ rotted horse manure them topped it off with some compost and some chicken manure pellets and planted it in the centre of this. I also put some stones round the base to help keep the moisture in I them made a raised circle round the plant so that when I water, the water wont escape and go to the roots where it’s needed. I plant to feed the pumpkin once a week with the beer ullage I will save from work, as I have read that they like a bit of ale and Beer!!!

Also this week I needed to change my 2 front tyres on my car I planned to keep the tyres and recycle them as planters on my plot so when I asked the mechanic that I wanted to keep my tyres he went white in the face and went straight to his boss I think he thought I was some sort of inspector or something his boss came out and gave me the third degree as to why I wanted them! I don’t think he believed me. It was all rather funny.

Google + woes and an unwelcome name change!

Compostwoman — Thu, 30 May 2013 15:19:00 UT

I recently somehow managed to join up with Google + - I couldn't see why I shouldn't; I had had a number of requests from people who wanted to add me to their circles and I I managed to identify myself in a way on the Google + screen in a way which I was happy with, as Sarah B (Compostwoman)

BUT I found that, when I post anywhere on the Google empire I had lost being identified as "Compostwoman". Including on this blog and in any comments I leave anywhere else.

Now I like being known as Compostwoman; it is what I do a lot of and I have spent a lot of time writing under that name.

I know it isn't difficult to find out my real name, if you really want to - indeed I have posted links on here which refer to my real name and where I live, so my issue is not one of anonymity. Its is more that I want to carry on being known by a name I have used happily for many years.

Google would not let me use the name Compostwoman, they said it breached their terms, or some such. So I removed myself from Google +, but that didn't work either - I was still not identified as Compostwoman, and I had a " sort of Google +, but not exactly" page .

So I have spent a lot of time today trying to find out how to get back to being Compostwoman and have finally succeeded.

If you want to do the same, and get back to your old Blogger identity - and you don't mind leaving Google - then follow this link

And good luck!

Beautifying the Recycling Storage

Dorset Finca — Thu, 30 May 2013 06:24:48 UT

A recycling collection has just arrived in our part of deepest Dorset. Hurrah! However, it has meant a little bit …

DIY quick pillowcases

Claire — Wed, 29 May 2013 22:11:34 UT

There I was, browsing on eBay for new pillowcases, which by the way, appear to cost around £4 each, that's without postage, gulp! Anyway, it suddenly occurred to me that I could make my own. I have made the odd pillowcase before, so the idea isn't alien to me, and...

Summer colour bulb givaway results.

Compostwoman — Mon, 27 May 2013 23:02:00 UT

And the winner is ...naomileaver!

Naomi, please leave your address as a comment (I will not publish it) or email it to me at compostwoman@the-compostbin.com

Congratulations :-)

Last chance

Compostwoman — Mon, 27 May 2013 20:14:00 UT

to enter my givaway!

leave a comment if you want to be added in.

Good luck!

Day 7 Westbury Court Garden and a boaring walk!

Claire — Mon, 27 May 2013 19:59:05 UT

Friday 3rd May For some reason I awoke at 4am this morning. Looking out of the holiday cottage bedroom window, a beautiful sunrise was developing; Unfortunately, by 8am it looked like we were in for our first day of bad weather. It was colder, cloudy and windy. Thankfully, we weren't...

Roses Vs. Aphids

Dorset Finca — Mon, 27 May 2013 06:09:48 UT

Argh… they’re back. The battle is on. You may remember, this post, from last year. The aphids were completely swarming …

Remember to enter the Givaway - and remember those courgette seeds?

Compostwoman — Sun, 26 May 2013 12:23:00 UT

from Seed Pantry?

They have germinated :-)

It took them 4 days :-)

And you only have one more day to leave a comment to enter the Montbrecia Givaway!

Go on, you know you want to :-)

Duck Eggs!

Plain Old Chickens — Sat, 25 May 2013 19:14:46 UT

Our small propane-powered Swedish refrigerator (chosen because it’s silent!) is over-flowing in duck eggs. Our Easter Egger hens (Turtle and Kooshie) are five years old, and lay at a serene pace. Our Serama hens are forever broody. Our three female … Continue reading →

How to plant out Parsnips grown in tubes.

Compostwoman — Sat, 25 May 2013 16:36:00 UT

Remember I planted parsnip seed in toilet roll tubes? Well they are ready to be planted out in the garden now.

Do not wait until "true leaves" have grown -if you do the roots may have also grown out of the bottom of the tube.

And you want to get the tubes in the ground before the tap root comes out of the bottom .

The reason being that if the root has grown long enough to poke out of the bottom there is a risk that the parsnip will develop a forked root, and we don't want that as it makes it harder to peel !

For the same reason I have always found that carrots do not like being transplanted.

So, make a hole in the soil - I use a bulb planter

hold the tube firmly so the contents do not fall out and carefully put the tube into the hole, so that the top of the tube sticks up a cm or so above the surface of the soil, This protects the seedling and shows you where it is in the ground

Plant out the rest, spacing them at least 8 inches apart to get large Parsnips. If you want to pull them as small ones you can space them closer together.

Water well, think about covering with fleece or net to stop birds ( hens, in my case) or cats from digging them up.

Weed as needed. Job done :-) And on to the next job on my ( never ending ) list.

Life on the Farm

Hen Corner — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:15:06 UT

Welcome back to Hen Corner! As featured in Country Living Magazine Our last post told you about the great time that we had on our Feather Down Farm Holiday, this week we are telling you more about Billingsmoor, the Farm in Devon where we stayed. By subscribing (box right) you’ll never miss a thing! Billingsmoor […]

Creating A Cloud

Dorset Finca — Fri, 24 May 2013 06:16:23 UT

Ooh look at this… Don’t you just love it? Do you want one too? All you need to do is …

Day 6 Nature in Art, Ashleworth Tithe barn and Oddas chapel

Claire — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:09:29 UT

On tv the previous night, we had seen a programme called Flog it! and a place called Nature in Art was mentioned. We discovered it was nearby so decided to visit. Nature in Art is based in a beautiful 18th century Georgian mansion (Wallsworth Hall) just north of Gloucester, in...

Planting and growing and tidying up. (and don't forget the Givaway!)

Compostwoman — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:11:00 UT

I planted these courgette seeds, from out of the Seed Pantry Summer Veg box, on 22nd May. The Seed Pantry kit, (which I was sent back in Febuary) comes with coir dics which just need water added, also rice husk and coir pots to grow in. I added water, seeds and put the cover over the little tray.

We will see what happens, but I am (again) impressed with the contents of the Seed Pantry Kit. The carrots are growing well and the mange tout are all sprouting strongly :-)

I have had my hands in a lot of coir related products this week, as on Tuesday I went over to Withington to get some more growing medium from Fertile Fibre, who sell Soil Association approved organic composts. More about that in another post, though! I need to do the visit justice :-)

Armed with more growing medium, I have been busy potting on lots of plants, selling a lot more and getting the polytunnel into its summer layout. Tomato plants are doing well and I have some small fruits already setting :-)

Not sure I am going to beat my record of eating the first ripe tomato on June 16th this yeat, but still, I can almost taste that first, ripe, red, juicy tomato now...mmm.

I just need more hours in the day!

Don't forget to enter the Givaway, will you :-) I will draw the names on Bank Holiday Monday.

When the big hens are shut away....and don't forget to enter the Givaway!

Compostwoman — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:30:00 UT

Out come the New girls!

Pearl, Amber, Treacle, Marigold and Pepper, waiting to be let out.

Having a good poke around in the ground.

The potatoes coming through in the outside raised bed - fenced off from the chickens!

I managed to do some mowing today - still loads more to cut but it came on to rain so I had to stop.

We had a bit of excitement inside the garage today - one of the cats caught a mole and let it go inside the garage, so we had a lot of fun trying to catch it to rescue it! Moles are very noisy!

Amber hen has decided she likes being my pet chicken and she follows me everywhere. She sits on my shoulder sometimes :-)

Off to do more gardening and growing - it is a very busy time of year!

Hope everybody is doing well - don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Summer Colour Givaway!

Compostwoman — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:24:00 UT

The nice people at Spalding Bulbs contacted me recently to ask me if I would like to run a competition/ givaway on my blog. Being a kind sort and liking to give you little presents from time to time, I said yes please.

All I had to do, was to select an item I wanted from the website and then they would send me two of it. One for me and one for you :-)

Bearing in mind I have to post this item onwards to the winner, I selected some summer flowering montbrecia bulbs athough the Spalding Bulbs website had seeds and all sorts of other tempting gardening items on display. As they only post out the very best, the bulbs are available at certain times of the year only.

I picked Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora ‘Lucifer’ the more well known variety with beautiful red flowers. Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora ‘Emily Mckenzie’ has orange flowers which look more like a lily flower.

I have a place earmarked for them and hopefully they will be a beautiful display in a few months.
So...leave me a comment and in a couple of days I will pick a name out of a hat and send the lucky winner some bulbs. Due to postage and customs I am afraid UK readers only, please.

My henny helpers

Compostwoman — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:52:00 UT

Whenever I step outside during the day I am greeted by this...

When I go out to hang out some washing I am followed...

In fact wherever I go, I am followed! I have constant companions now, either Cassie Cat, or my friendly, feathery hens.

At the moment I am keeping the Ginger Gang seperated from the New Girls - I am still treating the Ginger Girls for lice and I do not want the lice to hop over onto the New Girls!

So I let the Ginger Gang out mid morning and then after lunch I shout...and they all come running.

A treat of some corn gets them inside their walk in run. This is the run I am cleaning out every day and dusting with Diatonaceous earth powder so as to kill off any lice on any dropped feathers. I have also dug out a dust bowl for the hens in the ground. They love it :-)

When they have eaten their fill it is sleepy time. One by one, they go over into a patch of sunshine,

And settle down on the ground for a well deserved snooze.

All together, in a huddle of ginger feathers. And slowly, their eyelids droop and they doze off.

And snore!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Dorset Finca — Mon, 20 May 2013 06:24:14 UT

The Dorset Finca is 2 years old! Time for lemon sponge, cups of tea and masses of bunting. I can’t …

Useful gardening/planting advice.

Compostwoman — Sun, 19 May 2013 20:22:00 UT

Just a reminder that you can find all sorts of useful ( I hope) to you articles under the "how to..." tab at the top of the page!

Starting Parsnip seeds

Growing Beans

Growing Potatoes in bags

Growing Potatoes and Jerusalem Artichokes

are all useful NOW - the way the weather has been we are at least 3 weeks behind the "normal" planting schedules, if not more...!

Happy gardening :-)

Day 5 Newark Park

Claire — Sat, 18 May 2013 20:47:24 UT

We set off towards Gloucester, over the river Severn, and downwards, to our destination. We headed towards Newark Park, a National Trust property near Wotton-under-Edge. As usual on this holiday, the weather was glorious and the sun shone all day! We arrived at Newark Park at lunchtime, after a stop...

Malvern Quilt Show and delousing hens.

Compostwoman — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:50:00 UT

I went to the The Three Counties showground on Friday, to attend the Malvern Quilt Show. The TCS is the home of the RHS Spring Gardening show and of course the Three Counties Show, as well as many other events.

I had a lovely time at the Quilt show - I went with a friend and we spent about three hours looking around at the stalls and the display gallery of quilts. I enjoyed chatting to the stallholders and especially to Maggi from Sunflower Fabrics. I really liked the quilt she is standing next to (she made it) and was so tempted to buy her pattern, or even the kit - but I had a budget which I wanted to spend on fabric, so I didn't.

I loved this Green Man, on a quilt made by Sew Enchanting

The display of competition quilts was stunning. I got so many ideas!

We bought some lunch ( which was ok but we really should have taken our own!) but after about four hours there, we had seen everything we wanted to see and were a bit "quilted out" so came away. But we both felt we had been inspired to do different things with our crafting.

I took more photos but my friend has the show catalogue so I shall wait until I get it back so I can tell you a bit more about the quilts.

As we walked in from the car park it was interesting to see that workers were still doing "take down" of the many show gardens from the RHS show the weekend before - presumably plants and trees not needed at RHS Chelsea?

I had a nap when I got home - the sinus problems I still have are making it difficult to sleep and I seem to be operating on "tired" all day so a four hour walk about left me a bit shattered. It was nice to go out for the day, though and especially nice to spend it with my friend Maria :-)

After my nap I felt strong enough to treat the Ginger Gang of hens, and their house and run, for lice. This is a fairly major job and needed doing today, as we are on a schedule of treatment. The Ginger Gang are prone to infestations as some cannot preen properly due to being de beaked in the battery cages :-( My usual routine seemed not to be working last month and the girls were very lice ridden (yuck) so I went to see Mike the Vet and now I am having to apply a drop-on wormer/de louser on the back of their necks every 10 days; today was the second of three doses. I have also cleared the run and house of all straw, paper bedding etc and dusted everywhere with Diatom and their run is also covered in the stuff - so have to "poo pick" every day. I also have to throw all their eggs, not that they lay very many anyway!

If I can get them clear of lice I can keep them relatively louse free, although total lice free-ness is unlikely due to the wild birds around us, who also carry them. To be honest it is all a bit of a palaver, but the Lice have been banished (so far) so the Ginger Gang will feel more comfortable and that makes it worth the extra work.

Still makes me feel itchy whenever I see the lice, though!

Ravishing Ranunculus

Dorset Finca — Sat, 18 May 2013 05:42:49 UT

Speechless. Flower-love. Filed under: Home Tagged: floristry, flowers, home decor, macrophotography, nature, photography

Day 4, Goodrich Castle and Symonds Yat

Claire — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:41:28 UT

Another lovely morning, another day trip! We packed the flask and the sandwiches and headed out towards south Herefordshire, for Goodich Castle, an English Heritage managed property. Off we went, passing through the Forest of Dean and Cinderford, again, until we hit the pretty B4234 road, which follows alongside the...

RIP Yarrow Hen

Compostwoman — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:30:00 UT

RIP Yarrow Hen, who died yesterday evening. She had a good life, well lived. With us she had had 18 months of freedom, after her 18 months in the cruel battery cages.

As those of you who have followed my blog since 2012 will know, Yarrow was a very special girl; even amongst hens who are ALL special to us, she was a little star. I am very sad to lose her and miss her hugely, already.

She had been "winding down" for a few months and I am so glad she had a really good last day in the sun; sitting on my lap and being cuddled and told how much I loved her; sitting on the ground in the sunshine soaking up the rays; being cuddled by her flock who all came and collapsed all around her as only hens can do.

Despite all this, and despite having a normal morning yesterday, by the afternoon Yarrow was obviously suffering (not able to walk around, deep purple coloured comb, gasping, not able to eat even the treat of unlimited mealworms).

I can normally dispatch chickens who are in distress or injured but this time I found myself unable to kill my pet hen Yarrow, for which I feel ashamed (as I should have been able to help her when she was suffering, but could not). So, I quickly took Yarrow down to Mike our Vet, who agreed her time had come, due to a combination of failing heart/old age, and who ended her suffering kindly and quickly.

Mike, who as a newly qualified Vet helped Yarrow to recover from a broken leg during his first few weeks at our local practice, has been such a help over the last 18 months. With all the issues the ex battery hens in my little flock have had, especially Yarrow, he has been such a help, for which I thank him so much. And I especially thank him for his kindness and understanding as to why I was crying over the death of what many people might dismiss as "just a hen". He was lovely, as are all the staff at our local Veterinary Surgery. We are very lucky with them.

We buried Yarrow hen in the wood today, in the place where many other feathery friends are also buried. She liked to furtle around in the wood and it seems a good place for her remains to be buried. I heard my first Skylark of 2013 as we were filling in the hole. Appropriate, I felt.

Fly high, little Yarrow hen and know you are missed and were very loved indeed.