So much to show you!

We are having a mini heatwave just now, and it is wonderful! As a result, it is a pleasure to spend all my time in the garden, although at one point this morning, it was a little too hot to work!!! Plenty of cool water to drink did help mind you!
I started off this morning planting up those gooseberries, do you remember how sorry they looked for themselves a couple of days ago? Well, look at them now, they are starting to green up a little bit, and I think they look stronger.
There are a couple of others in there with them, which survived the winter, but I am not sure how well they will do...
Of course, after planting them, I had to check my pond and plant a rock and the lily from Paivi. I was hoping to catch sight of the frog, tadpoles and newt, but they must have been hiding! What do you think?

I took a quick photo of the rhubarb whilst I was up that end. After the addition of manure a month or so ago, the rhubarb has really taken off! I am sure I have counted 7 crowns!
With that done, I set to work clearing a bed for my strawberries. I bought 12 strawberry plants from homebase a week or so ago, and they were desperately needing to be planted, but look at the task ahead of me! It was difficult to make myself get started, what a task ahead of me, but, once I cleared the rubbish, and the dead grass from the top, I found the remains of the chicken wire I had covered the strawberries with last year, so I moved it, and the ground underneath wasnt so bad after all! I think it had acted as a protective mulch throughout the winter, so it was easy enough to fork it over, and dig out those weed roots! Mind you, what a fright, I was picking up the roots, when all of a sudden, out popped a frog!!!! Not a very big one, so I dont think it was the one from Paivi's, but I scooped him up, and took him to the pond. I put him down next to it, with just one foot in the water, but he hopped away! i think he may be afraid of water lol! I managed to take a photo of him, but you will have to concentrate to see him!
One final photo in today's blog, whilst I was digging the strawberry bed, I could hear the constant buzz of the bumblebees, I couldn't get a photo of one for you, they didn's stay still for long enough, but I photographed one of the blackcurrant flowers they were feeding on, they are ever so small, but it is lovely to see them opening up already!

We have a pond!

Just a quickie, to report on yesterday's progress.
Firstly, all my onion bulbs are now planted in their bed, they are all standing proud, with a row of setts (bulbs) and a row of partially grown onions.
Alex made a start on the greenhouse, but ended up clearing it out and weeding it rather than glazing it! Hopefully he will glaze it today......
The most exciting news though is that we now have a pond! I had an old baby bath, which I used to hold all my pots in the greenhouse, I also had two boys who had spent far too much time sat indoors on the xbox and needed some exercise..... The solution? Get them to dig in my pond near my rhubarb :):) They both seemed to actually enjoy it, and it did get them away from the dreaded xbox for an hour! Paivi has promised me some tadpoles, so I will go and get those this afternoon. I have to go and deliver my Avon orders today, but hoping to hurry round all of these, and get back to work on the garden, loving all the time I am spending in it just now!

Quite a few changes

Well, I have been quite busy over the last couple of weeks.
The final beds on the greenhouse side have been dug and manure applied, I have prepared a bean trench for my peas and beans, so all is well on that side.
I cleared the weeds from the black currants and rhubarb, and have applied manure to that area too.
On Saturday I started to plant my onions outside, I have done them in rows, one row of onions started off indoors, then one row of onions sets. I thought if I did them like that, then they should have more space and be ready at different times.
I only got 3 rows planted like that, then stopped, as I wasnt sure if I should leave a 'path'. I have now found out that I should, so I will get the rest planted just as soon as this awful rain stops!

Last weekend I went to a bugs workshop with Moffat Can. We were doing a composting demonstration, but it was still interesting to watch the other talks. I have become quite interested in bugs since, and have been keeping my eyes open to photograph some.
I haven't found many yet, but did snap this common beetle in the front garden.

I have been checking online and in my books, and the good news is, beetles eat slugs!!!! anything which eats slugs and snails is a friend of mine lol!
I spent ages yesterday (mothers day) planting a range of flowers in the front garden. I bought some bedding plants in Dumfries on Saturday and planted 'Bellis' in pots either side of the front door, they look lovely, nice to see a bit of colour after the long winter!
I also planted a pot of 'stocks'which are not in flower yet. I salvaged a bit of what I think is a fushcia bush, which I thought had died off in the frosts, and have surrounded it, but I am not sure if it will survive as unfortunately I broke it when I tried to get it out of the pot it was in.
I also planted begonia bulbs and two 'Dicentra, bleeding hearts' but as these are bulbs, I wont see them for a while yet.
Unfortunately, I didnt take any photos of my flowers, so haven't any evidence to show yet!
I've also started off my sweet peas, so hopefully I will be planting them out in a month or so.
i love shopping in poundland and get most of my seeds and bulbs from there, we have a rose in the front garden from there too and it has survived well for the last 4 years. Unfortunately, because they are a bargain shop, rather than a garden centre, they don't exactly spend much time caring for the plants they have, and I spotted two poorly looking gooseberry bushes struggling for survival on Saturday. They had started to grow, but were really white and sickly looking, as they had no water or sunlight. I just had to rescue them!!! I now have them in a bucket of water. I had planned to plant them today, but it has poured all day, so they will get done tomorrow. Hopefully they will survive!
Seed planting is beginning in earnest this week as I am off school. I still have no glass in my greenhouse, so will be tackling that this week too, even though I havent a clue what I am doing!
If you read this, please leave a wee comment!

I love the sun!!!

Wow! What a fabulous day today!
I got up this morning to a frosty, foggy day, but by 10.30am the sun was starting to break through and so I got to work!
On sunday I had collected a trailer load of well rotted manure, so today I finished putting it over the two beds which were already dug.
It seemed to take forever to complete the task, but once it was done, I got to work digging another patch. I havent finished it yet, but it is well underway!!!
The third patch runs behind this one, but is longer, as it is going to go right up to the water butt.
I am so enjoying this now! My onions are coming on really well, I have more than 30 happily growing on the windowsill, I'm going to harden them off this weekend, then hopefully get Alex to fix the greenhouse and they can go in there. I need my windowsill for other things!!
I'm really hoping for more sunny days, it makes the job so much more enjoyable, and has really lifted my mood!!

Just a quickie

The onion sets I potted up last Wednesday are now sprouting, more and more each day are poking their shoots through the compost.
Trying to find a heated propogator now so that I can start some chillis off

A whole day in the garden!!!!

I had a whole day in the garden yesterday! I did loads, although at times my fingers were so cold, I thought they would drop off!!!
First job of the morning was to start potting up my onion sets. A friend suggested that if I started them off in pots, it would give them a better chance against mice and birds, as they would be bigger, and have roots to hold them in the ground once I plant them out.
This job took ages! I used the old compost left in the driveway since the summer, it was very wet, and VERY cold!!!! It probably wasnt perfect conditions for the poor bulbs, but hopefully they will forgive me! I stopped once and went inside to wash my hands and get a cuppa to warm my hands back up, but eventually they were done!

I still have as many bulbs left though, so will be potting more on Saturday! I used two varieties, both bought from poundland I think!
After that, I started digging another bed. I was a little stuck, as because the previous bed had been slightly wider than planned, I was going to be left with either a very narrow bed, or a very wide bed, which I wouldnt be able to use the middle of without standing on the seedlings!
I decided on the wide option, but didnt take it back to the hedge, so I am going to make two beds in the wide space.
I also spent a bit of time in the greenhouse trying to tidy up, but I was so terrified of the the mice running up my trouser leg, that I was a bit distracted to say the least!!! I'm going to aim to finish clearing it this weekend, then I'm going to set some mousetraps, after all, I dont want mice eating all my plants this summer!!! I'm hoping once that is done, Alex will replace the glass in the greenhouse, then I want to get some wood preservative and treat the wood, before putting my plants in it next month!!!

Squirrels!

This morning I saw the first red squirrel for the season. We havent had any in the garden for ages, so I was really pleased to see this one. I tried to get a photo, but my phone wouldn't pick it up through the window. However, I have some from last summer, so if I can get them from photobucket to here, I will show them to you now!

A really lovely day

I am so chuffed! Today I decided to go out, even though it was overcast and raining, then, when I went out, the rain had stopped and the sun came out!
I started digging the bed, to the right of the gate today, both kids were out, as was Alex, so no distractions!
Fortunately, Alex got home, and he came back about 20 minutes after I started, and then he helped out!

With Alex to keep me going, not to mention double the labour, we forged through the bed, and had it dug in no time!
As we were working so well, and the sun was shining, we moved on up to the Rhubarb patch. Our hearts sank when we saw how overgrown and unkempt it looked, but we both got to work, and by 4.15pm, as the sun was going down, and I had to go and pick up Eilidh, it looked pretty good!

We cut back the nettles and raspberries to the fence, cleared the long grass, and Alex even started clearing the nettle roots, it really has started to look looked after! We can definately see where we have been, and it was so enjoyable doing it with Alex, we chatted away as we worked, and he started to see my ideas for the garden coming to life.
Hopefully we will do more tomorrow, if we have as good a bash at it as today, we should have another bed dug and the whole section behind the blackcurrants sorted!
There were even signs of new life, the Rhubarb is sprouting, we met a beetle, and I found some bulbs starting to grow too!!!
It may be only February, but spring is starting to show!

Close to giving up today

Had set aside the day today to empty the trailer of poo onto the cardboard. Predictably, all my helpers disappeared, (someone's xbox may go on a little holiday!!) so it was down to me!
had a wobble halfway through, it all seemed a bit too much for just me, and the lack of support was overwhelming, but picked myself back up, told myself it would be worth it, and started planning the pep talk I would give the family when they had tea!!!
2 Hours, 45 minutes later, it was done. About 2/3 of the garden is covered now, so still need more cardboard and poo, but I managed it! Feel quite proud of myself now, and glad I persevered.
I did take the photo, but it was rather dark by the time I had finished, and it is impossible to see what I have done! So, I googled a wish this was my garden photo instead!!!!

Poo!!!!!

Oh my!! A day spent shovelling poo, what has my life become???


Gillian took me to where her daughter goes horse riding today to get some fairly fresh horse manure, before we left, Lochlan helped me to cover the whole garden (one bed) with cardboard, so now it is ready for the poo to go on top. I'm not expecting to use this side of the garden this year, so it was ok to use fairly fresh stuff.
Gillian couldnt help with the shovelling, as she has hurt her back, so she helped me guide the trailer in, we parked next to the piles of poo, and I started forking it into the trailer. It took ages!

By the time I had got this far, I was shattered, and my arms were really aching. Fortunately the man (owner??) came over for a chat and to find out what I planned to use the poo for. When I told him, he said "Oh, I could have done it quickly for you with the loader" needless to say, I encouraged him to do just that, and fortunately he did!
I was a little worried as the tyres on Gillians trailer nearly popped under the weight, so we had to remove some of the manure from the trailer, but eventually it was all done, and by the time Rachel had finished her lesson, we were ready to leave.
Once I had had a cuppa, and warmed up a little at home, I went out and started barrowing it onto the garden, now it really was down to me, no loader available this time! It took quite a while, and a lot of effort, but I got the first four barrow loads onto the carboard. It is only a very thin layer, and 4 barrow loads certainly didnt go very far, I think I will need at least another trailer of fresh to cover this garden, not to mention the well rotted stuff for the other garden! I am going to be burning all those new year calories at this rate!

Next week I am going back for some well rotted stuff, so better get a move on laying this load!

Pruning again!

More time pruning today, spent a good couple of hours out in the garden today and can really start to see the potential.
Eilidh came out too, but wasn't too keen on most of the jobs, she finally settled to raking up the leaves and loose stuff from the garden and also emptying the wheelbarrow for me. Once she had completed a bit of raking, you could really see the garden starting to take shape, so I am getting quite excited now.


I bought some weed preventing fabric from the factory shop today, 1.5, x 8m for £4, i thought that seemed quite good, so bought 2. I think that I will use that over the garden once Alex (or me) have dug the weeds out. I didnt want to dig, as was hoping to put up boxes, but Alex has vetoed the boxes as he isnt willing to let me spend money on the wood, so said that he would dig it all for me. I hope he does dig it though, as I cant see him finding time.
I pruned the hedge along the back, up to the greenhouse. It really tidied it up. I also had a couple of boxes available, so laid them over the garden on the other side, and it is starting to take shape.
I bought some summer flowering bulbs and some red and white onion sets in poundland this week, and had wanted to have time to plant some of the bulbs in pots outdoors, but this week has been none stop, so hope to manage it next week some time. The onions have to wait until February, so hopefully we will have the first bed dug by the time they are ready to go in.

Happy Sunday!

My first major amount of time spent in the garden!!!!!
I am so pleased! It was dry, it was not freezing cold, it was not snowing, I was not needed elsewhere, so I got to spend a full 2 hours in the garden before it got dark! I cleared the area around the gate, so it now opens fully!!! Then I cut the hedge back to the fence so that I can walk around the first box, which I am going to get the materials for, and hopefully start building on Wednesday!!!!
I also laid a couple more boxes, picked up more broken glass and filled the peanut feeder for the birds :)
This morning whilst Eildh was at Ice skating, I walked back from the factory shop. Didnt have time to walk there and back as needed Dads birthday present and he was already on his way to the ice rink!
I've decided my phrase for this year is going to be 'Just do it'. No more not doing things incase I get it wrong, it's my garden, no-one is going to give me a row for getting it wrong, so I'm just going to 'do it' :)

Snowy Sunday

Woke up this morning to yet more snow, but havent let it stop me!!!
Whilst Eilidh was at Ice Skating, I walked up through Lockerbie to Tesco, was surprised to make it all the way to Tesco in 10 minutes, expected it to take twice that, think it would be as quick to walk as to take the car! By the time I had dashed round Tesco and come back again, that was 27 minutes, Sorted!!!
Took the first part of Peter's advice today and started covering the left side of the garden in cardboard. I had 14 boxes up in the loft, so I flattened them and laid them over the garden. I expected to cover one whole bed, but havent even managed 1/8th of a bed!!! Also, the ground was frozen and covered in snow, so it was a bit harder!!!

A fruitful Saturday!

Up and at it early today, left the house before 10 to pick up Peter, and delivered Avon books en route (10 minutes walking)Spent a while admiring Peter's garden, wow, not a spot left unused! One day I will have the time to acheive that! Then Peter came to see mine, and was speechless at the overgrown wilderness of it. :(
Peter did say though, that managing it on my own was a near impossibility, especially with a full time job too, so that made me feel less of a failure. Peter has suggested that I cover the left side of the garden with a thin layer of fresh Horse manure, and then black plastic for a year, to let it all die down, which will give me time to concentrate of the right side. He has suggested that I create beds with wooden sides, then fill them, as high as possible, but at least as high as my knees, with Horse manure! He suggests using fresh stuff for the lower layer, then a thick layer of well rotted stuff, at least a year old, which I can then plant straight into.
He has also suggested that I use one of my plastic barrels for chicken poo, which I mix with water, and then in the summer, I can water the plants with it for extra minerals, so going to set that up too.
Needless to say, Alex was less than enthusiastic, and will make it as difficult as possible for me to do the woodwork, even though he could do it with his eyes closed, and we have loads of scraps of wood which could at least get me started, but I will go out and ask the advice of other joiners if I have to and do it myself, if that is the way he is going to be.
Obtaining horse manure which is not frozen may be a challenge!!
I also completed another half hour of walking by walking to Samantha's to ask for the manure!

Not so easy

I have discovered that it really is not so easy to stick to these resolutions when I am working. The last two days I have got home and been tired, and the weather has been cold (did not creep above freezing at any point today) and it has been dark, and I just haven't wanted to get out and do anything.
Tomorrow I am hopefully having Peter Dreghorn over and will both be doing some things in the garden and he will give me some hints and tips about what I can do, that may encourage me a bit more. Also thinking of redistributing my solar lights so that I have a number of them in the veg garden, which also may help, if it is not pitch black all the time. As for exercise, I don't know how to manage that either, as I really am tired by the time I get in from work, I will have to think about how I can fit a bit of walking into my daily routine, maybe walking the dogs before breakfast...
This is going to be harder than it seemed at first!

Not such a success today :(

Well, the day started really well, with the first 16 minutes of exercise taken at 8am this morning!!! I took Lochlan to the bus stop this morning for school, then walked along the Service Road and into Kirkhill with the Avon books. Managed a cracking speed, even with the ice on the ground!
I made up the rest of the minutes delivering Avon books all morning, I walked the majority of it, making myself park the car and walk to as many as feasible, so I am sure I saved a wee bit of diesel too!
Unfortunately I then should have gone straight out to the garden, and didn't, I went in for a cuppa instead, by the time I had done that, and the dishes etc, it had started raining really heavily, which kept turning to snow, I am afraid even with my desire to fulfill my resolutions, I was not determined enough to go out in that!!!
Still, not to rest on my failures, tomorrow is another day, onward and upward!!!

Still going!

Well, the weather tried to work against me today, but I was determined to get on and complete my targets early today, so with coat, scarf and gloves, I set out!
I decided to combine my Avon with my exercise today and delivered my books up to North Greyrigg. It's only 5 books, but there is a lot of stopping and starting involved when I do it by car, so I am sure that I saved a bit of diesel too. Mind you, I was out for 55 minutes, so probably was not economical with my time!
I so didnt want to do the gardening after that, it was wet and miserable, and it took real determination to do it, but I decided I should do the garden before I went back inside, as it would be harder to go back out. I had thought I would do some digging, but the ground was frozen, so I decided to pick up some more of the bits of glass from the broken greenhouse. I cleared quite a bit, and stayed out 11 minutes, so not groundbreaking, but more than I had done before I started!

Just a quickie!!!

Well, today it is really cold!!! Spent ages doing the ironing before I went out, so it was 4.10pm when I went out and was already getting dark.
Spent exactly 10 minutes pruning the raspberries, can see where I have been now, which is good, but realised that I will have to make sure when I do the garden during the day, I will have to leave the jobs which can be done in the dark, as I am going to have a lot of them coming up as it will be the end of February before it is light when I get back from work!
I then went out for exactly 20 minutes for a walk with the dogs! All the way down to Yett Farm and back, will need to think of some good walks to do as I speed up, as could have done with going a bit further.
Tomorrow I am going to get the Avon books ready and walk out to some of the customers down the road, that should take more than 20 minutes, and also reduce the amount of time it will take to deliver the books on Wednesday too!
Didn't take any photos, so hope you like the one I got from google!

Big long walk today!

The kids have been so full of energy the last couple of days, so I decided to take them and the dogs for a really long walk around the woods. We were out for a good hour, and it felt good to blow the cobwebs away, although it was quite cold.
Will need to think about going into the garden soon, as it is still going dark around 3.30, so only a small window of opportunity!
Peter Dreghorn has agreed to come out and give me some advice on my garden, starting on Saturday, so I am looking forward to that. I am a little concerned about how I will manage my 10 minutes once I go back to work, as it will be pitch black when I get home, but I hope I will work something out.
The photo is the kids on the walk, with Cleo too, Treacle was probably standing behind me!
Spent 10-15 minutes pruning the raspberries, doesn't look much yet, but I think as time goes on, I will see the difference I made.

Made a good start!

Well, I have done my 20 minute exercise today, took the dogs for a brisk 20 minute walk, not much, but it is a start. Caused me to cough a lot though, will be glad when I have shaken off this flu! Have done about 2 minutes of my 10 minutes in the garden though, so will have to go out and do some more shortly. I filled the bird feeder with peanuts! I must work out how to upload photos off my phone onto here, then I can use my own photos!
Will update after gardening time!
Spent probably about 30 mins in the garden in the end, picked up loads of the glass from the greenhouse, then worked away near the compost heap, clearing old nettles and rubbish. Would like to put sides on the compost heap, so might talk to Alex about some spare wood...