Category: garden stuff

autumn · garden stuff · general stuff

Harvest

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)28 Comments

Well, last weekend was kind to us weather-wise although autumn really feels like it’s arrived and we’ve definitely lost the summer warmth in the sun. The garden has produced lots to eat this year…

with some more still to come. We’ve had an enormous crop of plums but it has taken it’s toll on the tree – the weight of all that fruit along with the heavy rain and winds a few weeks back has snapped a main bough and after some heavy tree surgery the poor tree looks rather lopsided and sparse. I just hope that it survives as I love having it in our garden and the plums make fab jam…Toby has continued to settle nicely into the term time routine and things are beginning to feel relaxed again although I’m not sure that feeling will last long as during the next month we have to choose a senior school for Amy. There will be lots of umming and ahhing and visiting potential schools – I just hope we can get it right for her.

Still, for now autumn feels peaceful and productive and we’re enjoying making the most of being outside before the colder, wetter winter weather arrives.

garden stuff · summer

sacrifice

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)25 Comments

Thanks to lots of rain over the last few days things are continuing to grow and ripen quickly here in our garden. Although I think it’s also partly due to an acquired bit of veg growing wisdom that I picked up from various books and blogs – the practice of companion planting sacrificial plants.

I’ve been growing nasturtiums and borage both of which are incredibly easy and cheap to grow from seed and are self replenishing as they set seed very well and so you have a free crop for next year. These are both now crawling with blackfly, aphids and caterpillars while my tomatoes, beans and raspberries are completely bug free and growing delicious crops.

There’s another benefit too as there’s a little ecosystem developing with ladybirds, lacewings and hoverflies all swooping in to feed on the blackfly banquet. It feels good not to be spraying chemicals all over the garden and instead trusting in nature to keep my crops safe from mini-munchers and I love showing Amy the interaction between all the insects. We especially like ladybirds and can trace the entire lifecycle of the 7 spot under our very noses, from larvae…

…to pupae…

…to adult…

If you’re growing any fruit or veg yourself then I’d definitely recommend planting some sacrificial companion plants alongside them – there’s a good list here.

crafts & knitting · garden stuff

wet weekend

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)39 Comments

It’s pouring with rain here, so there’s no chance of knitting in a sunny garden today. Still, I have managed a little crochet inside and I’ve now finished 3 of the 4 crochet cushions that I’m working on. I really like the first one (on the left), I’m quite pleased with the second one (on the right) but I’m not sure about the 3rd one (in the middle). It doesn’t bode well for the 4th one and I’ve run out of steam a bit – hopefully it will look OK when I eventually finish it!

(1, 2 & 4 are based on Attic 24’s summer garden granny and the 3rd is Jan Eaton’s square target granny from her book ‘200 Crochet Blocks’)