As I am needing more than usual potting compost this spring I have stocked up.
Two bags on my day off last week and two bags today. This is all I can manage in my shopping trolley.
I have to go to B&Q as my local Homebase only has the huge bags. Even at B&Q I get what is available in 20 litre bags. There was a grow bag with peat-free compost, which I would prefer, but 30 litres - I couldn't even lift it!
Saw a frog in my pond this morning!
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Sunday, February 22, 2015
nasturtium pickle not worth the time and effort
I tried the nasturtium pickle I made last summer today. It was very disappointing. I'll leave it a few more months in case it improves but I suspect nasturtium pickle is for people who don't like anything to go to waste and will pickle anything even if the results aren't up to much. However I feel I've wasted the vinegar, tarragon, etc.
Friday, February 20, 2015
Yellow wagtail (?) near Euston
I have difficulty telling the yellow wagtail and the grey wagtail apart. I thought I had it clear with one book , but now not so sure.
The yellow wagtail is found near slow-moving water - lakes and marshy pastures so I wonder if that was what I saw looking out the window this afternoon while photocopying. There was a bird with a very long bobbing tail with its back to me as it preened. I wondered if it was a parakeet with wagtail-like movements, but when it finally finished preening I saw it was either the grey or yellow wagtail.
I think it is the yellow wagtail as the nearest water (besides the fountain in the courtyard) would be the regents canal which is slow moving water. But my Collins Bird Guide says: "compared with other wagtails, Grey Wagtails has longest tail....Constantly pumps its long tail, and so strongly that whole rear end rocks with it". That describes the bird I was seeing. So perhaps "at times also on lakeshores and slower rivers" is the clue here.
If I can't tell the difference from locaton, I am going to have problems - they don't get near enough and stay still for me to check them out properly, even if I did have my bird book handy.
The yellow wagtail is found near slow-moving water - lakes and marshy pastures so I wonder if that was what I saw looking out the window this afternoon while photocopying. There was a bird with a very long bobbing tail with its back to me as it preened. I wondered if it was a parakeet with wagtail-like movements, but when it finally finished preening I saw it was either the grey or yellow wagtail.
I think it is the yellow wagtail as the nearest water (besides the fountain in the courtyard) would be the regents canal which is slow moving water. But my Collins Bird Guide says: "compared with other wagtails, Grey Wagtails has longest tail....Constantly pumps its long tail, and so strongly that whole rear end rocks with it". That describes the bird I was seeing. So perhaps "at times also on lakeshores and slower rivers" is the clue here.
If I can't tell the difference from locaton, I am going to have problems - they don't get near enough and stay still for me to check them out properly, even if I did have my bird book handy.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Oliver Rackham - one of my heroes - has died
Sad to read today that Oliver Rackham, the ethno-botanist, has died.
Many years I go I went on a course he led for the Field Studies Centre at Flatford Mill on "History & Ecology of Trees and Woodland" which I thoroughly enjoyed and found really interesting. I have several of his books and have been planning to get his recent on on the ash tree.
We were out visiting woods during the day, then talks in the evening. Oliver was full of energy and enthusiasm, it was we the students who got tired despite our interest. "Please, Oliver, can we go to bed now?"
He was a great believer in going back to original sources and working out how things really operated back then, not just copying what historians had written since. In medieval times dogs in Forests (an area reserved for hunting, not necessarily wooded) were not maimed as stated in the Forest law. You paid a fee at the manor court not to have to maim your dog - an early form of dog licence.
This might not seem very relevant to a blog on green and country living in the city, but trees are important in the city, and give me great pleasure. Also I have the ancient Epping Forest a bus/tube ride away, and Wick Wood, a new wood, a cycle ride down the Lea Navigation tow path.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11417959/Professor-Oliver-Rackham-historical-ecologist-obituary.html
Many years I go I went on a course he led for the Field Studies Centre at Flatford Mill on "History & Ecology of Trees and Woodland" which I thoroughly enjoyed and found really interesting. I have several of his books and have been planning to get his recent on on the ash tree.
We were out visiting woods during the day, then talks in the evening. Oliver was full of energy and enthusiasm, it was we the students who got tired despite our interest. "Please, Oliver, can we go to bed now?"
He was a great believer in going back to original sources and working out how things really operated back then, not just copying what historians had written since. In medieval times dogs in Forests (an area reserved for hunting, not necessarily wooded) were not maimed as stated in the Forest law. You paid a fee at the manor court not to have to maim your dog - an early form of dog licence.
This might not seem very relevant to a blog on green and country living in the city, but trees are important in the city, and give me great pleasure. Also I have the ancient Epping Forest a bus/tube ride away, and Wick Wood, a new wood, a cycle ride down the Lea Navigation tow path.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11417959/Professor-Oliver-Rackham-historical-ecologist-obituary.html
Saturday, February 14, 2015
marmelade gin - could have done a double bottle
Marmalade gin was a success last year so have started a batch off today.
It is one bottle gin, one jar marmalade, 4oz (100g+) sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla essence (and also some juniper seeds which I didn't use). The recipe (from Pretty Nostalgic) says decant after 4-6 weeks and then it is ready.
No! Like most flavoured spirits you then need to leave it another 9 months or so. Last year the gin after 3 months wasn't particularly interesting. Another six months it was lovely!
I might get another bottle of gin and another jar of marmalade next week and add them to the jar - there's room!
Sorry, can't get picture to upload!
I have trouble spelling marmalade - I want to spell it marmelade, as my father called it "chicken jam" - "Ma me laid". My father and all my friend's fathers had jokes of similar standard. Do men with that type of humour become fathers, or is it something that happens after men have children!?
It is one bottle gin, one jar marmalade, 4oz (100g+) sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla essence (and also some juniper seeds which I didn't use). The recipe (from Pretty Nostalgic) says decant after 4-6 weeks and then it is ready.
No! Like most flavoured spirits you then need to leave it another 9 months or so. Last year the gin after 3 months wasn't particularly interesting. Another six months it was lovely!
I might get another bottle of gin and another jar of marmalade next week and add them to the jar - there's room!
Sorry, can't get picture to upload!
I have trouble spelling marmalade - I want to spell it marmelade, as my father called it "chicken jam" - "Ma me laid". My father and all my friend's fathers had jokes of similar standard. Do men with that type of humour become fathers, or is it something that happens after men have children!?
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
wetlands to wetlands greenway
I have just voted on www.london.gov.uk/biggreenpoll in the hope of getting money from the Mayor of London's Big Green Fund to create a safe, green, 3km corridor passing through parks and quiet roads between the new nature reserves planned for Walthamstow and Hackney - "wetland to wetland greenway". Voting closes 2 March.
I was really looking forward to visiting the new wetlands site (due to open next year) in Walthamsow. But the chance to then cycle to another wetland reserve in Hackney is a real bonus!
I was really looking forward to visiting the new wetlands site (due to open next year) in Walthamsow. But the chance to then cycle to another wetland reserve in Hackney is a real bonus!
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