On Thursday morning as I was walking down the road a jay flew off the road onto a birch tree about 10/12 ft from me, perching on a bump on the trunk about 8ft from the ground - the nearest I've ever been to a jay. As I was doing my weekly yoga/pilates session in the sitting room yesterday morning, it was flying about the birch trees outside.
This morning there were 2 foxes at the end of the garden, one lying in the sun being groomed by the other.
On my cylce ride this morning I passed poppies where the ground had been disturbed north of the football ptiches on Hackney Marshes. There was also a clump of them in the middle of one of the filter beds in the old Essex Filter Beds nature reserve - that had been flooded over the winter. Along the new path by the Navigation just north of Leabridge Road there were poppies again - but in all sorts of colours. Part of me was disapproving that garden poppies had been sown there, but another part of me thought they looked very pretty.
The slope at the bottom of Springfield Park is meadow, and full of white clover and some bright yellow flower, but I didn't stop to check what it was. Coming back on the other side of the marshes. on some ground cleared last year, are some plants, some with blue flowers, some with white and it looked very colourful. I really must find a good wild flower guide so I can look up what they are!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Harlequin ladybirds
I have recently found an article about the harlequin ladybirds (by Ken Thompson) with a picture, so I now know I have them in the garden (along with 6-spot ladybirds).
The article recommends we resist the temptation to interfere. We may squash native ladybirds by mistake, and the harlequin ladybirds are so well-established that we aren't going to have an effect on numbers.
The article recommends we resist the temptation to interfere. We may squash native ladybirds by mistake, and the harlequin ladybirds are so well-established that we aren't going to have an effect on numbers.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Herb walk at Royal College of Physicians
This evening herbalist Paul Grainger led a herb walk of the herb beds outside the Royal College of Physicians (St Andrews Place just north of Great Portland Street).
The beds were at their best, the information given was extremely interesting, and the weather was dry. Would thoroughly recommend walks led by this herbalist.
Paula also does a blog on her website. Not being very technically savvy I haven't seen how to become a follower, but will certainly visit it again. Today's entry on lemon balm. My neighbour has shingles and it is supposed to be good for that, so I'll ask her to try it.
http://paulagrainger.com/
PS mouse still alive so presenting a problem about what to do about it
The beds were at their best, the information given was extremely interesting, and the weather was dry. Would thoroughly recommend walks led by this herbalist.
Paula also does a blog on her website. Not being very technically savvy I haven't seen how to become a follower, but will certainly visit it again. Today's entry on lemon balm. My neighbour has shingles and it is supposed to be good for that, so I'll ask her to try it.
http://paulagrainger.com/
PS mouse still alive so presenting a problem about what to do about it
Monday, June 20, 2011
Wildlife in the house!
This evening cats were playing with something under the shopping trolley in the hall. I went to pick it up - it was small, furry and moved! I did what most women do in these circumstances and gave a shriek! I then caught the mouse.
It is very, very small, with grayish fur and a wound on its back. I held in one hand cupped against my tummy while I went down into the basement and got the plastic, rats' travelling case I used to take the rats down to Cornwall all those years ago. I then screwed up newspaper, put that inside, then put in the mouse and took the case up to the spare bedroom. I put water in one plastic bottle lid and oats and houmous in another. When I put that in the case the mouse was not hidden in the newspaper but just in front of it.
It is probably in deep shock. Though it might be suffering from poisoning. It'll probably die tonight. If it does live, I hope it doesn't get out of the air holes in the case! If it survives till Thursday, when I have a day off, I'll have to take the bus up to the pet shop at Chingford Mount to get a proper mouse cage for it. The problem is giving it enough attention when I can't have it and the cats in the same room!
I've just looked up house mouse on google, and I think it is one. So letting it go in Epping Forest when it has healed seems cruel (I still feel guilty about the mouse I did catch in a human mouse trap years ago which I let go under the hedge of a school playground).
I don't think they'll allow me to have it in the office!
It is very, very small, with grayish fur and a wound on its back. I held in one hand cupped against my tummy while I went down into the basement and got the plastic, rats' travelling case I used to take the rats down to Cornwall all those years ago. I then screwed up newspaper, put that inside, then put in the mouse and took the case up to the spare bedroom. I put water in one plastic bottle lid and oats and houmous in another. When I put that in the case the mouse was not hidden in the newspaper but just in front of it.
It is probably in deep shock. Though it might be suffering from poisoning. It'll probably die tonight. If it does live, I hope it doesn't get out of the air holes in the case! If it survives till Thursday, when I have a day off, I'll have to take the bus up to the pet shop at Chingford Mount to get a proper mouse cage for it. The problem is giving it enough attention when I can't have it and the cats in the same room!
I've just looked up house mouse on google, and I think it is one. So letting it go in Epping Forest when it has healed seems cruel (I still feel guilty about the mouse I did catch in a human mouse trap years ago which I let go under the hedge of a school playground).
I don't think they'll allow me to have it in the office!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Busy in the veg patch
Today I got from Homebase:
6 January King cabbage seedlings - cleared space between the leeks and the garlic and put them there.
6 african marigold plants - cleared space between beans (getting their first flowers) and the asparagus peas and put them there
beetroot seeds - scattered them amongst the garlic and lightly forked them in with a hand fork. I want them for salad greens. The african marigolds and the cabbages are in slug collars, the beetroot will be exposed!
Nasturtium seeds - some in front garden - but to flower they don't want good soil, so put in cracks in concrete by the back of the house.
I also transplanted one of the elderflowers from the flowerbed (having learnt they probably give up something that is toxic to other shrubs so not good for the countryman's hedge I was planning) into a large pot.
Transplanted 3 x one year old foxgloves into small pots for my friend Tina who I'll be seeing at the end of January, so hope they'll be nicely settled into their pots then.
6 January King cabbage seedlings - cleared space between the leeks and the garlic and put them there.
6 african marigold plants - cleared space between beans (getting their first flowers) and the asparagus peas and put them there
beetroot seeds - scattered them amongst the garlic and lightly forked them in with a hand fork. I want them for salad greens. The african marigolds and the cabbages are in slug collars, the beetroot will be exposed!
Nasturtium seeds - some in front garden - but to flower they don't want good soil, so put in cracks in concrete by the back of the house.
I also transplanted one of the elderflowers from the flowerbed (having learnt they probably give up something that is toxic to other shrubs so not good for the countryman's hedge I was planning) into a large pot.
Transplanted 3 x one year old foxgloves into small pots for my friend Tina who I'll be seeing at the end of January, so hope they'll be nicely settled into their pots then.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Love Your Garden - average sized my foot!
Just watched "Love Your Garden" and grrh! grrrh! and grrrrh! again.
Still no mention of what they think an average-sized garden is, but this one was large - even the width of the house would be longer than a lot of urban gardens.
They did show a nice way of making stone mosaics which I'd like to try if only I could get small bags of quick-set cement rather than the huge bags I can't even lift!
They also recommended lovage. Good for flavouring. Good for shade! So I'd definitely look out for that.
Still no mention of what they think an average-sized garden is, but this one was large - even the width of the house would be longer than a lot of urban gardens.
They did show a nice way of making stone mosaics which I'd like to try if only I could get small bags of quick-set cement rather than the huge bags I can't even lift!
They also recommended lovage. Good for flavouring. Good for shade! So I'd definitely look out for that.
My first WI meeting
Yesterday I went to my first WI meeting - Wanstead, just one tube stop away.
It was collage with us making a Matisse like portrait of a live model. My second exercise - torn orange napkin on newsprint went straight into the black binbag. The first, torn newspaper on A4 white paper, was carefully carried home protected from the rain, and will be kept, for a while at least!
Only one person I knew, Joy from Transition Leytonstone.
It was collage with us making a Matisse like portrait of a live model. My second exercise - torn orange napkin on newsprint went straight into the black binbag. The first, torn newspaper on A4 white paper, was carefully carried home protected from the rain, and will be kept, for a while at least!
Only one person I knew, Joy from Transition Leytonstone.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
RSPB bird count
Saw 8 swifts out of my bathroom window, too late for RSPB's bird count.
You had a chance to do your hour's count in one week instead of one weekend. Even with cheating, by making my hour by adding together all the times I saw a bird, I only saw 2 swifts, 1 house sparrow and 1 magpie!
You had a chance to do your hour's count in one week instead of one weekend. Even with cheating, by making my hour by adding together all the times I saw a bird, I only saw 2 swifts, 1 house sparrow and 1 magpie!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
womery liquid
Just got about over a litre of liquid plant feed from the watering can under the wormery tap.
Would not recommend a wormery for someone, like me, who doesn't waste much food (mainly burnt toast and stuff I've dropped on the floor), but there are some benefits!
Looking out for small bottle with narrow top to take some of the plant feed in for the plants at work.
Would not recommend a wormery for someone, like me, who doesn't waste much food (mainly burnt toast and stuff I've dropped on the floor), but there are some benefits!
Looking out for small bottle with narrow top to take some of the plant feed in for the plants at work.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Saffron crocus
Just seen an advert for a saffron crocus from Suttons: "Grown the most expensive spice in the world".
Tempted to get a pretty flower that provides something edible, especially as it seems you don't destroy the flower harvesting the saffron.
However, I thought you needed lots and lots of crocus to get very little saffron - how much 30 saffron would 30 crocus bulbs produce? I where do I have room for them?!
Tempted to get a pretty flower that provides something edible, especially as it seems you don't destroy the flower harvesting the saffron.
However, I thought you needed lots and lots of crocus to get very little saffron - how much 30 saffron would 30 crocus bulbs produce? I where do I have room for them?!
Love your Garden
On Friday I watched the first of Alan Titchmarsh's series on ITV1 "Love your garden".
This first programme was on the traditional British garden. The garden we were shown was "a little larger than average size" but no mention what average size was! It looked bigger than mine (and I am twice average size for my area).
I am presuming he will do a programme on cottage gardens, and perhaps one on edible gardens. But large gardens don't have the problem with shade that I, and so many others, have.
If we want to grow ferns and hostas, fine, but if we want vegetables and cottage garden plants then we have problems. At least my garden is big enough for a vegetable plot in the middle and enough space round that for some flowers.
This first programme was on the traditional British garden. The garden we were shown was "a little larger than average size" but no mention what average size was! It looked bigger than mine (and I am twice average size for my area).
I am presuming he will do a programme on cottage gardens, and perhaps one on edible gardens. But large gardens don't have the problem with shade that I, and so many others, have.
If we want to grow ferns and hostas, fine, but if we want vegetables and cottage garden plants then we have problems. At least my garden is big enough for a vegetable plot in the middle and enough space round that for some flowers.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Bird of paradise plant in flower
My bird of paradise plant which I have had for several years now has a flower!
Only connection to green and country in the city I can think of is it that it has lived in an unheated, north-facing conservatory, which is green. But I am very pleased with it and telling everyone I know!
Only connection to green and country in the city I can think of is it that it has lived in an unheated, north-facing conservatory, which is green. But I am very pleased with it and telling everyone I know!
Food4wealth
Yesterday I went to an open evening at Sarah Innes' allotment in Wanstead where she has started experimenting with the "Food4Wealth" (dreadful name!) system of food growing.
This method is for use in small spaces - allotments and gardens - rather than small holdings which Permaculture seems geared towards. It involves setting up some beds with layers of newspaper, hay, compost, straw and earth (unless you have some good deep beds already.). Crops are mixed, more closely spaced than normal, and the beds are not rotated. Perennial vegetables and ones that seed themselves are encouraged. After setting up it is claimed it takes only hours per year to maintain the system.
I have signed up to join Sarah's google group"fun and ease in sustainable gardening", as she hopes others will join her experiment and share ideas, successes and failures.
I don't intend to follow the system myself, but develop the way I am working my garden already.
As a result of my visit I intend next year to get some perennial kale, and experiment with carrots scattered randomly in the beds. Sarah also reminded us that carrots were originally grown for their tops, their roots were a later development, so that's an addition to my salads. I might also try spring onions, but have had problems with germination the last few years.
This method is for use in small spaces - allotments and gardens - rather than small holdings which Permaculture seems geared towards. It involves setting up some beds with layers of newspaper, hay, compost, straw and earth (unless you have some good deep beds already.). Crops are mixed, more closely spaced than normal, and the beds are not rotated. Perennial vegetables and ones that seed themselves are encouraged. After setting up it is claimed it takes only hours per year to maintain the system.
I have signed up to join Sarah's google group"fun and ease in sustainable gardening", as she hopes others will join her experiment and share ideas, successes and failures.
I don't intend to follow the system myself, but develop the way I am working my garden already.
As a result of my visit I intend next year to get some perennial kale, and experiment with carrots scattered randomly in the beds. Sarah also reminded us that carrots were originally grown for their tops, their roots were a later development, so that's an addition to my salads. I might also try spring onions, but have had problems with germination the last few years.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Valerian
While the plumber was here fitting my new boiler I went round the garden cutting off the valerian which is now beginning to loose its flowers. I have enough of the stuff, so want to prevent it seeding. I left one head of the white valerian. If the cuttting I took doesn't root, I hope to get seeds for my friend, Tina.
Cutting of the heads also gives a second flush of flowers later in the season when my garden needs it - both for the colour and the insects!
Cutting of the heads also gives a second flush of flowers later in the season when my garden needs it - both for the colour and the insects!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
New boiler fitted, wood burning stove maintenance
My new boiler is being fitted today.
A colleague has problems with his new condensing boiler's pipes freezing up in winter. Pat, the plumber, says the Valiant boiler, which I'm getting, is made in Germany, which have harder winters than I will, and the water condenses into a container which then vents a quantity of water at a time. He can't promise it won't freeze, but he doesn't expect it to.
I am here in the dining room while Pat and his nephew, Tony, work on the boiler upstairs. It sounds as if they could come through the ceiling at any moment!
Also today, my wood burning stove had a maintenance check and the chimney was swept. This done by Abbotts Stoves, which fitted the stove two years ago. £96! With the cost of wood and the cost of this, and still needing gas to heat upstairs, I'm certainly not saving any money - and that is ignoring the cost of getting and fitting the stove in the first place!
But, with the price of gas rising, that could change in the future. It's fuel security. And any lowering of the demand for conventional fuel takes away from the argument for nuclear power!
A colleague has problems with his new condensing boiler's pipes freezing up in winter. Pat, the plumber, says the Valiant boiler, which I'm getting, is made in Germany, which have harder winters than I will, and the water condenses into a container which then vents a quantity of water at a time. He can't promise it won't freeze, but he doesn't expect it to.
I am here in the dining room while Pat and his nephew, Tony, work on the boiler upstairs. It sounds as if they could come through the ceiling at any moment!
Also today, my wood burning stove had a maintenance check and the chimney was swept. This done by Abbotts Stoves, which fitted the stove two years ago. £96! With the cost of wood and the cost of this, and still needing gas to heat upstairs, I'm certainly not saving any money - and that is ignoring the cost of getting and fitting the stove in the first place!
But, with the price of gas rising, that could change in the future. It's fuel security. And any lowering of the demand for conventional fuel takes away from the argument for nuclear power!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Transition Leytonstone Recycled Craft Group
The second meeting of the Transition Leytonstone Recycled Craft Group at my house this afternoon, with 5 of us.
Roger is going to organise the Make Do and Mend event in September. Hurrah!
Four of us will meet at my place for a rag rug session.
I have volunteered to circulate information around my email contact list, but we will not be setting up a committee to run the group unless someone else volunteers for this task!
We will concentrate on the Make Do and Mend event and see what develops!
Roger is going to organise the Make Do and Mend event in September. Hurrah!
Four of us will meet at my place for a rag rug session.
I have volunteered to circulate information around my email contact list, but we will not be setting up a committee to run the group unless someone else volunteers for this task!
We will concentrate on the Make Do and Mend event and see what develops!
rhubbarb and rain (lack of it!)
Just discovered a friend of mine loves rhubarb. Most years this would mean I could give a bundle most weeks. This year I have had one meal from my 2 established plants. The rhubarb shaded by the loganberries has hardly anything, and the other one not much.
I met someone on my cycle ride this morning and we got talking about the lack of rain. He has a 20 foot by 20 foot courtyard garden but it only gets 2 hours sunshine in the early afternoon. He does have a vegetable garden on top of a large metal storage place at the front, but he has to climb up to water it!
I met someone on my cycle ride this morning and we got talking about the lack of rain. He has a 20 foot by 20 foot courtyard garden but it only gets 2 hours sunshine in the early afternoon. He does have a vegetable garden on top of a large metal storage place at the front, but he has to climb up to water it!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
raspberries for breakfast
I had a handful of autumn raspberries with my breakfast cereal this morning!
This is from the late canes from last year which I kept specially for an early harvest.
My thorough watering session followed by a good dose of rain has made them a decent size.
The loganberries and strawberries are nowhere near ready, though traditionally as a child we always had strawberries from the garden for my grandmother's birthday - 13 June.
This is from the late canes from last year which I kept specially for an early harvest.
My thorough watering session followed by a good dose of rain has made them a decent size.
The loganberries and strawberries are nowhere near ready, though traditionally as a child we always had strawberries from the garden for my grandmother's birthday - 13 June.
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