Robins are truly gardener's bird.  There's one in our back garden at present who is remarkably tame.   He'll come within a foot of me if I don't move too abruptly.  He's been having a field day today - I've been digging out some old hellibores to makes space for another gooseberry bush this autumn and this, of course, results in lots of freshly dug ( Read more... )

Taken a brief break from gardening as the baby great tits were getting very noisy.  I don't think the parents like approaching the nest when we're working.  So, the babies get a food break and we get a tea break.  (The parents were there with a beak full within seconds of us going indoors ( Read more... )

Spent an hour or so this morning down the allotment clearing weeds from where we'll be planing the maincrop potatoes.  Had lunch, then worked on the raspberries in the back garden, tying them to their supports and removing suckers from the path ( Read more... )

I've been wondering about this for many years, ever since visiting the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales where they had collection bottles in the gent's loos.

I've just found a report of a study done in Finland that says it works every bit as well as conventional fertilizers and that urine is virtually sterile and thus there is no health ( Read more... )

If anyone ever tells you that grasping a nettle firmly will prevent the sting from hurting you, do not believe them.

I tried this.  My fingers are still sore and tingling half a day later.  I can see a small red blister on one of them.  Next time, I'll wear a glove.

Spent a happy hour or so down the allotment this morning spreading compost around the spinach and beetroot.  The spinach was planted by the previous allotment holder, but it's been cropping pretty steadily all year and is still going strong even now.  So, I figured it was time I started actually feeding it ( Read more... )

Been meaning to get a new compost bin for a while.  Followed up one on Freecycle a few weeks ago, but it had already gone.  Put in a request, but no others available ( Read more... )

According to my library book, (and I'm just trying this myself) it's useful to compost grass clippings and newspaper together is.  Grass clippings are very heavy in nitrogen content, where as newspapers are mostly carbon.  Good compost requires a mixture of nitrogen and carbon, as will as some water.  The trick is to shred the newspaper and then ( Read more... )

Got a phone call this morning to say that I'd got the allotment. I'm going to be officially introduced to it on Tuesday ( Read more... )

According to my library book, not only is composting newspaper easy to do, it also improves the overall mix of your compost and provides a good balance to things like grass clippings and weeds. (paper has more carbon, grass cuttings are higher in nitrogen) It should all rot down a little bit faster and better ( Read more... )