Bindweed too dangerous to use as compost

It took me 5 years after I moved her, but I cleared my garden of bindweed, only having the problem the bindweed coming from my elderly neighbour's garden.

She is now in a home and her garden has been cleared and a six foot fence put up. I have been pulling up the bindweed coming through my side of the fence and putting it in a bucket with some water to make liquid fertiliser when I had a dreadful thought.....

Though I can see the foot of the fence on the side that was Dorothy's I haven't notice any weeds, including bindweed, coming through the brown turfs in her old garden. (The turfs are brown as instead of laying them within two days of them being delivered they didn't get round to it until at least a fortnight had passed).

The builder was there one morning before I left for work so I asked him if he had put poison on his side - he had. 

Most of the bindweed is growing so presumably OK but some of the bits of root I've pulled could have been dead so I daren't risk using my bucket of liquid as fertiliser. And for safety's sake will bin all of the bindweed for the rest of this year.

First bindweed and first rhubarb

Sunny day today, though cooler than yesterday.

I was able to have several hours in the garden.

Weeding some of the vegetable beds - mainly violets.
Emptying one of the perennial weed compost bins into the vegetable bed where the tomatoes and courgettes will be
Repotted the watercress as its plastic pot had started to break-up (and also repotted 2 amaryllis I'd missed when I'd done the others, and put the 3 apple blossom geraniums into bigger pots.

I found a bindweed just over the boundary in my neighbour's garden. Didn't expect it this early - bindweed likes to lull you into a false sense of security, making you think you have finally got rid of it, when up it pops!

Also picked enough rhubarb for a small crumble, which is cooking now as I type this.

Fending off encrouchment

Lovely day today with clear blue sky in the afternoon with the siwfts flying really high. Emptied one of the trays of my wormery. Also cut back a vine, bindweed and bramble coming over from my neighbour's. Dorothy has never been very good at weeding the edges of her garden and I have often to pull up her bindweed (though it goes in a bin so I get the benefit of some of her garden fertily), ann cut down seedling ash trees. She is also surprised if she cuts something down if it grows again! She is now in ther late 70s and slowing down. She is letting the bottom half of the garden go and concentrating on the bit near the house. A friend suggested I ask if I could use it. In theory, yes, but I am not sure I would have the time to tend extra space. I certainy haven't got the time to do the clearing that is needed. The loganberries are nearly over. I won't be going out to pick them to have with my breakfast. I will just treat myself to the few I can find when I am out in the garden. Hope to tidy the shed tomorrow evening. It feels a bit strange to be expecting another dry day!

First bindweed of spring!

I've got rid of bindweed twice. Once when I had an allotment, and once here. It takes about 4 years, pulling up every bit of bind weed, digging into the soil to get as much root out as possible, everytime it is spotted. Then once a week time spent actually searching it out.

It gets going again later in the season than most weeds, so you can think you've seen it off till one sunny spring morning there it is!

I still get it coming under my neighbour's fence, and this morning there some was, looking very strong and lively after its winter rest.

I have 3 black bins with drainage holes drilled near the bottom where I put bindweed and other nasty weeds. I empty the oldest bin in spring and use that bin for that year's weeds. If anything looks as if it hasn't rotted down enough it is popped into one of the other bins. So the bindweed pulled up today will be feeding my tomatoes in 3 years time!

emptying the womery

When you see a picture of a wormery you imagine worms working in the food waste at the top and lovely worm-free compost underneath. Not so! There are worms at all levels, including in the trays full of compost/worm shit (depending on how you view it!).

I read last year that the method you use is lifting the lid off, allowing the worms to hide from the light by disappearing into the tray below, and then lift the top tray off, and let the same thing happen to the tray below, emptying the ones that are ready. 

I tried this today, and it doesn't seem to work!  Picking worms out of the compost before putting it in the pots I am transferring the plum trees into takes ages, so the shed doesn't get tidied. Hopefully next Sunday.

The bindweed beginning to grow - I get it coming in from one of my neighbours, having successfully got rid of it in my garden by continually pulling it up for years and years.