Painted Piracy

The last two robins, they’ve been getting fatter and fatter because he mould was stretching.

Pirate gets its watery undercoat.

I saw this rose in another garden and forgot I had one and was very envious.

So, I’m no painter that should be obvious, Dear Reader, but I do dabble in everything and I store every bit of information I read that may come in useful over the years like a obsessed sponge. I had the paint necessary for a colour wash effect and why no just go for it? I had a enough to redo, but things turned out really well. Take this as a really rough guide, don’t destroy your statuary! First coat was a super watered down house paint, this is all house paint. The concrete is a few months old, you need to wait at least a month before painting. This goes on like water and sucks in to create an even surface. Next was a normal coat of paint, nice and thick and I left that to dry for a few hours. Then back to watery, I used a dark chocolate colour, applied it all over and panicked! because it looked to be a solid colour, then I used a rag to wipe it all over and off and the result is as you can see below. It fills the cracks and crevices and helps the details stand out. Next I do the flowers, but in reverse, dark base, even lighter wash.

Busy day, harvesting while it was dry out.

This year I separate the shallots, should’ve done it each year really.

One of the fifty something year old roses, first time blooming here.

As it opens it lightens.

I’m on a painting spree, mostly as a distraction, Dear Reader, the smarter of us know that we have a long fight left, despite what those making things worse seem to feel, and I hope if it doesn’t inspire you it may help distract too. I went out to cover up, looks like yet again more rain and he was is already drying in and as it dries it looks even better. I have a few ornaments that could do with a touch up like this, one large one was painted a solid dark blue and would benefit from a light blue wash. Once you start painting them you have to repeat it every few years, do it right and it’ll last years at least, I’ve made my fair share of mistake, but this time I should be good for a long time. The harvest time is upon me, the cabbages are coming soon, more onions too, some just grew green, the ones in the vegetable bed often do, too rich I suppose, Dear Reader, unlike me, but they’re great for salads, which I’ve been eating a lot of and will likely plant more of, I still have lettuce as I bought more, and the garlic bed will need a slight rest before I amend it with compost. Currently leaving field fresh mushroom in the resting hotbin to see if they’ll spore, it’s warm, damp and moist and I’m curious at the least, Dear Reader. Most of the garden is me just having to try something that may be silly, but edifying in some respect or something a runaway success. The failures are relegated to compost bins or thrown away quietly. A bit of a rambling nowhere post today, Dear Reader, but I hope you’ll enjoy the photos if nothing else. As always, stay safe and take care.

More bulbils, from the Germidour this time.

It had a botched first coat, but has been restored.


Pretty sure that isn’t what I planted…not looking it up either.

The first coat for the Skull and Cross, undercoat, over an old paint job, on the flowers. Pots were scraped clean of paint.

Every new lily has turned out red so far strangely.

Still wet, but look nice. The details really pop.

Everything needs harvesting at once.

It’s so top heavy it needed support.

Flowers From Naru

This really stands out, you don’t see blue hydrangeas all hat often in gardens here.

The back is coming out more lilac.

This just goes crazy with colour.

Begonias make great borders.

Bought when there was a shortage and well fed since.

Bleeding Heart is really starting to grow and why did I buy so many red lilies?

A bird statue for each niece and my nephew. Their names are etched into the base.

Yo, Dear Reader, it’s still wet here and that means I’m mostly stuck in, which is grating because I want t get out there and weed and clean. Most of my planting is done for now, but I have things to harvest and I’ll throw down some salad greens somewhere, I’ll likely need to empty a compost bin, I have two resting due to a mix up, but I’ll have the garlic bed empty and a lot of the trugs. This hasn’t been a great year, it’s never terrible, but there are also goals I’d like to see met and that isn’t happening, the rest of the garden ebbs and flows and I can’t always see everything as it is, when you’re constantly here you tend to tune things out. All I’m doing right now is cursing the rain and planning for next year. I still have a lot of work to do, but it’s familiar work so there’s hardly any thought, I just need  few dry days to really clear things up.

This changes colour with each bloom.

For a cheap purchase this arch top works perfectly for the dahlias.

I left this in the greenhouse and you can just see the mondo grass in there…I need to get that out.

Those are all flowers. Some weeds, but mostly flowers. Naru’s are the big rhubarb looking things.

Abbaye de Cluny Rose. Nothing looks like the picture, really pretty though.

After being randomly divided, grown for years in separate places the only white carnations are in Naru’s garden.

The front garden is getting ready to bloom, it feels as if it’s been growing forever, a lot of it was seeds so you can imagine how long that feels, add the year this has been to that and you know how I feel, Dear Reader. I’m really glad that Naru’s Royal Mallow have sprung up so fast, they were hit by the heat, but they’ve been saved so many years they’re tough. The sun flowers are red ones, soon I’ll see if all the work was worthwhile, if not the Sweetpeas, Royal Mallow, Magic Carpet, Cornflowers and Lilies will make up for them. I’ll toss the seeding heads somewhere for the birds, at this point I’ll mostly leave things for them to forage, they’re everywhere in the garden currently, because feeding is an option these days. I’m surrounded by filthy, overrun gardens, Dear Reader, I can only do so much. I’ll be back later with something cheerier, I hope so at least, until then stay safe and take care.

It Was Just A Nub When I got It corner.

I need to step over a clump of geum to get into the rose garden.

Banana trees. I’m glad it grew a friend. Can’t weed as the rain is constant.

Wow, these easy fill baskets are great.

Also in the greenhouse.

Either side looks good.

Take Your Time And Mine

Hen and Chicks remain visually striking.

Sugarsnaps are popping up now.

Most of the garlic is up, next will come a wealth of onions…that I have nearly no space for.

It took over two years for he Crimson pirate to come into its own.

A bad year for Rhubarb, it’s been droopy and unhealthy and only now is picking up.

Yo, Dear Reader, just a quick photo update today, things are plodding as the wet weather has hung around too much so I can’t do very much outside. I’m making a few statues, they take three days each, I only have one mould, but they’re just me screwing around, nothing stressful, never again with that, Dear Reader, I make fr me and for the friends I want to. I’m trying out blending the mortar tone, I was looking up something unrelated and saw a post about matching old concrete and grouting, dirt plays a part surprisingly, and wondered if I could blend what I have, red, buff (yellow) and far too much black. The robin is mostly buff with red, I have far more buff than red, but after another two, for a friend, I’ll make a red, black and a little buff robin to sit atop the bicycle ornament. It looks nice, somewhat like a burgundy, but when it’s powder, when it’s wet and when it’s setting and setting varies greatly, but you get a rough idea. It dries lighter and looks different when wet, this resembles chocolate when wet as you can see and can’t unsee, but it’s more of a sand colour when dry. As it ages it’ll lighten more. I’m using a three to one mix which is a little stronger than I may need, but these are dense so I add a little grit too, just a scattering. I have a flower pot split that accommodates the mould, it’s awkward tail, I’ve learned to really stretch and pull the mould over the fragile beak and then over the tail very slowly. I’m eyeballing the concrete measurement, I’ve not been wrong yet, but it doesn’t take a lot. I like this statue as it cheery enough without being gaudy. I’m keeping busy as I can, Dear Reader, I hope you’re well too. Until later, stay safe and take care.

A special blended coloured bird statue for a friend’s grave. I’ll never use this colour blend again. The Butterfly, leftover concrete, goes on her rose pot.

Orchids remain a joy.

I promised a friend this a year or so ago. I get there in time. Recipe here.

Seven months in and we have three new leaves…

A Harvest Is As Good As A Rest

A sprawl of roses seems fitting.

That’s just a giant pinball.

Soon, not yet, but soon.

Marco Garlic, surprisingly large.

Leftover spraypaint and a battered planter work well.

I had to soak and scrape the plum paint off. I can’t bend so excuse the angles.

Yo, Dear Reader, I’m going to run out of shed before I run out of onions. I was prepared, I had old metal poles ready for onions and garlic to hang from, I had metal hooks and zipties so it was all vastly less work this year. Everything above is currently hanging in the shed because there’s thunder rain threatened and I needed to harvest some of them before they got too damp again. I still have a lot to go yet, there’s a great comfort in alliums, you’ll lose quite a few to bolting, but they’re cheap and easy to grow so you’ll always have way more than you’ll need. They’ll hang for a few weeks, to cure and intensify the flavour and hen I use them and they spoil every onion I’ll eat after. The Red Winter are a very pink colour, I have other red onions too, I lost some of the markers, I blame birds, but I’m pretty sure with these being so pink. Over Wintering is useful, it helps you plant and if any fail you have ample time to replant.

At times sensible, other times: Atomic Awful Green! It’s all they had, but it’s fun so I’m fine with that.

A lot of shorter lilies, I think these are a patio variety.

I lost two, they somehow got too wet, were probably dry for so long, it happens, but I have my first ever Elephant Garlic Harvest. And an onion.

Bonus Bubils. Now to read up.

I have two speeds when painting: Sensible and Chaotic, did I really need a luminous green cushion? Yes? The same way I needed the gazing ball, a third of the cost, but still overpriced, it looks like a pinball so I’m content, but really the weird green, just called a vague yellow green on the tin, was all they had and I just felt like doing something a bit silly. The cross, that’s the reverse, is actually the first I made, I had to fix it, I my have stepped on it, and gave it a watery undercoat and a proper coating both sizes, it’s for a friend’s grave, along with a bird statue in a specially blended colour. Whether orange, brown or something else is hard to say yet, but it’s unique to them as I’ll never make that exact colour again. As for me, Dear Reader, I need a breather, but I’m glad to have such a large harvest already, the shed now smells strongly of onions and I suspect I do too. Until later, stay safe and take care.

I just wanted to go sit down. Over Wintered Onions and Spring Shallots.

A Breath Of Rain

It either came back or it’s new. Some birds are short lived so it hard to say.

Two of three concrete bird statues, three days a piece at least to set.

A touch up, I’m not at painting, but this being smudged in part doesn’t matter.

So very blue.

I filled a jar from a spray can and used a fine paintbrush. I will not buy more paint.

Two years old. Gonna let it go back to pink next year.

This one is nearly entirely blue unlike the other.

Yo, Dear Reader, a bit of a catch up post, for both of us, Dear Reader, I, very stupidly managed to twist my knee, thigh, hip and back and have been shuffling around he last few days, thankfully the rain came in thunderous downpours so no need to  water, I’ve been dealing with back pain for so much of my life that I forget it’s not normal. I’ve been doing what I can. moving helps more than sitting, but i didn’t realise my arthritis and varicose were flaring up, I was slightly sleep deprived and in pain, not that you can ever tell, Jack is an old school hide the pain idiot, never do that, Dear Reader, those of us who were taught to have had to unlearn it, but always admit your pain, if only to your own belief. I’ve put my compression stocking on, calf length and comfortable as can be expected and I’ve been in the sun all day, nothing better than natural heat. I’m on the mend, nothing like this stops Jack, Dear Reader, even if it should, but next time I’m matting the garden I’ll remember that I’m too old for break dancing manoeuvres. Still, the rain has brought so much growth, let’s see if I have any stories.

These are much bigger than expected, pleasantly so.

The really red rose remains really red.

This has been here for years and year and vanishes after a while.

I forget year to year what pink roses I have.

Hah, two months late and almost dead, but soon I’ll have a globe artichoke to be confused by. Can I even eat artichoke?

Harvesting sooner rather than later.

Going to buy so many cheap mini roses when they pop up again.

The problem with painting the concrete ornaments is that once you start you have to keep repainting, I have learned how to undercoat with watered down, really runny, house paint, but even so it takes a lot of messing around. On the flip side they tend to dull in time without any kind of paint or varnish. I’m making a few robins for the rockery, my nieces and nephew’s name are on the bottom, they’re at the age still where that’s not embarrassing, not long now mind, then one for a friend’s grave, with a blended mortar tone added, I’m hoping for a terracotta-ish colour, something unique at least. Out of all the moulds the bird, as it’s simply known, is my favourite, they look best unpainted, even after weathering, as the details stay strongly visible. The biggest issue is you need to hold it suspended upside down for three days and boy, are my arms tired, heh, so I used a cut up flowerpot as the base is bigger than the hole it rests over and the whole mould needs to be stretched extremely to remove it, the tail is very fiddly and breaks on occasion. Still, they are unique and pretty.

I’m with the squash until the end, whatever the result we won’t give up.

The hostas grew fast this year.

Yeah, I can’t find a name or this isn’t what I planted.

Tiny rose back from the dead.

How are the Salify? Beetroot? Carrots? Shallots? Onions? Elephant garlic? STREWN WITH ROSE PETALS! Fine, probably.

These are pretty, but so small and delicate.

It took two or three years, but the Crimson Pirate is really flowering a lot this year.

I love the colour of this.

Lilies remain a surprisingly tough flower.

I forget what they are, but eh.

No more emptying itself. No one asked for a solution, but still.

Apparently we’rein for a hot dry month, I have a lot of my rain barrels filled, sadly something knocked a pipe from the third behind the shed so I lost out a little. I fixed that and finally tested it, it’s just a bit of an old rubber tube running from a hole in one barrel to the other, at the top as it isn’t tightly sealed, and once I raised the level above it it ran into the third from the second, as it did from the first to the second, which is old hosepipe. I don’t joke when I say so much of the garden is reused junk. When I started I had no idea what I was doing, but I’ve learned quite a bit, it takes time. That’s true of everything really. Not much outside of the photos today, Dear Reader, I’ll be back again sooner rather than later. Until then, stay safe and take care.

Despite my clips snapping and sailing through the air the strawberries are safe under netting.

Little angel, drunken looking angel.

The white currants are see-through. First ever harvest.

A friend has given me so many lilies over the years.

Borage maybe? Pretty.

I bought far too many this year.

These survived the rose garden revamp, somehow they were just where I placed a bucket around a rose.

Come Into The Salad Tent!

The birds think they live here now.

The hechucuc…the coral bells came back from the dead.

I missed the small ones last time, no idea how dirt got in there.

It was teaching another bird to find food.

I finally repotted the jade tree into a not huge pot.

Yo, Dear Reader, I’ve gotten a little further with my clean up of that area, currently thought of as the Salad area, it’s been matted, the bindweed grows freely there and has for far too long to be easily managed any other way, and the long planters have been drilled and are awaiting filling. They can slide right out of the bottom and the tent as I will hereafter think of it, Dear Reader, is just sitting there, but it’s so sheltered that the wind doesn’t touch that corner s no tents will be flung bodily through the air. Thankfully, I have enough to worry about, I don’t need to have to climb a tree to get my tent. It’s a tent now, not a coldframe, not a mini greenhouse, no, a tent, a salad tent at that.

Coleus are gorgeous. I had to buy two. They sold out right away.

I went pot hunting again.

We finally had a deluge of rain, after, I think three months, I’m so very glad to have reprieve from watering, Dear Reader, I would like consistent weather, but that seems a long gone dream from bygone days, where there were once seasons. You could see the growth, these plants haven’t been let dry out, but they really haven’t been getting the deep watering that facilities strong, healthy growth. I can only do so much with a hose and my special brew of various organic fertilisers. Though the mix does seem to help bring back plants from death’s door, I’ve seen various plants starting to die come back strong after an undiluted dose. It’s the hot composter, now resting, should’ve known I’d need to do that regardless of what the manual says, run off, with added comfrey, comfrey tea and wormery leachate, all just tossed everywhere neat and diluted as needed. It works, what else can I say, Dear Reader, I used the mix on a neighbour’s rose that has seen better days and I haven’t seen a recovery like that in a long time. It was almost dead and now is bushing out atop a single stalk, you’d never know it wasn’t always that healthy. The work I put in is rewarded, though it does smell. Not much else going on, the cold nights aren’t helping the basil, it hasn’t died, but I won’t see much again this year, same with the squash, they’re growing, but they’re behind. I’ll keep chugging along and hope for the best. Until later, Dear Reader, stay safe and take care.

Turns out I have thirteen airplants, I’ve never counted them.

I matted the whole area, the weeds, Dear Reader, oh god the weeds.

I sat on an out of stock order and got these half price, they’re perfect for this.

The mango tree is going strong.

I may need a set of these next year.

This is the strongest the orchid has been.

I have a lot of generic pink roses, no idea where they all came from at this stage.

I just accept it.

Baby Canna Indica is all grown up.

I can’t even remember buying these, I did, but it was a long time ago. A few months is a long time this year.

Givest Me That Mirror Thou Vain Duck!

First Sugarsnap harvest, I lost the marker, I need something better next year, but I found he others and identified it by elimination.

The lilies are really popping up now.

This rose refuses to stick to a colour.

Yo, Dear Reader, I went out weeding today, my knees cooperated, but are currently purely for decoration as they hardly want to bend, I shouldn’t plant all these weeds, but I just love them so much…but I also had another task in mind, there’s a cracked bathroom mirror, yes, my garden is made of junk, we’ve been here before, some of it is transitory junk, or static junk, or I haven’t a use for it yet junk, anyway, I had to retrieve the mirror which was nestles in amongst the rambler base, with a duck statue stuck in a narcissistic guarding post, I knocked it away and grabbed my mirror which bent over a compost bin, without which I may have went into that good rambler…headfirst. Well, that’s part one of this drawn out tale. What? I need something to flesh out the post, Dear Reader, the days are dull, what can Jack do?

No idea of the variety…beautiful though.

Yellow rose is coming around again.

The vegetable side is coming along.

This one’s roots must be too spread out to complete change, but it’s better for it.

So, mirror in hand, then in shed, I went off to gather stones, not just any stones, no, wait, yes, any stones at all. Then I took out my new tube of weatherproof adhesive, who gives someone like me these kinds of things? This is how the garden was made, I got my hands on new tools and well you know the rest. So I slathered it around the edges, these tubes are great at first with the accurate nozzle unclogged and after a single use they clog and are awful, at least with me. I spread it in stages as it dries fast, stuck stones in and then found an issue: The white stood out far to much in the gaps. What did Jack do? Tune in next paragraph, if you’re not already asleep.

The rest of the wind-knocked garlic.

The rockery is planted, I have more stones coming, I’ll use them somewhere.

I meant to take a photo of the pink one, tomorrow….if I remember.

These were later starting, they’re a mix because I threw down more sugarsnaps.

A bucket of weeds removed, very little slug damage this year.

Cabbages are reliable.

Okay, my brain runs on strange tracks, I’m sometimes tiring to talk with because my mind bounces from association to association far to fast for my mouth to catch up so I tend towards seemingly random topics,but, well, I don’t really like socialising and it makes me good at problem solving. Swings and roundabouts, Dear Reader, what I lose in people skills I make up for in solution finding. So, I had about ten minutes before it dried and I lost my chances, I thought about mosaics, I warned you, I was looking into them earlier, and that they use grout to fill the gaps, which is of no use to me, but grout is also white and I really didn’t like the white, then I remembered I had fine aquarium and I tossed it over the exposed adhesive and let it rest before tipping off the excess and it worked out so well I ringed the whole mirror with stone and sand, it should be fine as it’s made for wet weather, but of course when I found a place I ended up hiding most of it anyway. It reflects the sky if you go far enough away, so that’s something. It’s not likely anyone else has one, nor wants one probably, I suffer no illusions that way, Dear Reader, but it’s mine and I’m glad of it. Though inspired by gazing balls and an inability to fall asleep I’ll call it a stone mirror. That’s it from me, Dear Reader, until later, take care and stay safe.

This really took the colourant. Pots are useful for changing the colour.

The red rose is out.

A stronger yellow, almost orange.

Old junk, upcycled to new junk…wait.

First clematis of the year.

We have a lot of lilies.

I’d like the lilac colour to spread all over, it’s very pretty.

Chaos Carnations, Homeward Rootbound and Sudden Rockeries

Ah, I’ll eat well for a few months again…well, even better than I usually do.

Clean them? Eh, they’re natural.

These cuttings are now the same size as the original when I got it.

The carnations are spread throughout the back garden now.

I had no idea what I was doing, but it was fun.

Yo, Dear Reader, I finally decided to repot the Tradescantia, also known as Wandering Jew, but I remember the first name I learn always, from a couple of cuttings they’ve really done well, it makes sense that anything being sold is something that can be easily propagated, but it’s satisfying nonetheless. Things are growing steady, but slowly, it feels like late Spring rather than Summer, I’d say things are a month late despite the really hot Spring, which did more damage than good from the looks of things around, a lot of leaf burn. I’m just doing what I can with what I have, story of the garden really.

Like a very basic puzzle.

All from my Great Aunt’s garden.

All free bar the fancier stones.

These are bottomless, just makes it easier to plant in.

I need to make a few concrete robins next.

I was thinking of redoing the Triangle as I always think of it, there’s work being done on the house so I was going to leave it until after, but the carnations were getting battered and they had overgrown the space by a lot, they somehow leapfrogged around and rooted all over, they’re in two pots and an empty tyre now, hopefully they’ll be okay, but they’d have been likely lost so it’s better to move them and at least have a chance, Dear Reader, they were planted after Naru’s passing and they’re special to me because of that. The rockery was something i just came up with on the spot, I had stones of various kinds lying around, I did by the ringing ones, but the rest, including the pots, were free. I may get some dianthus as it’s really vigorous, but compact and abundant in the stores this year. Everything is neat and tidy, but removable, you never know when you’ll need to change it up. I have a few concrete decorations to make for it yet, a few extras will be added to in time, but it’s pretty nice for a sudden idea. I need to clean up the sunken planters in front next, it’ll keep my mind occupied, Dear Reader, which is always welcome when it’s due to pleasant tasks. Not much today, Dear Reader, I’ll be back again sooner rather than later, until then stay safe and take care.

A very strange root.

I only get to see them when I turn them to close my curtain.

They’re really a wonderful indoor plant.

I feed a little a day now instead of all at once.

Same Old, Same New: Spring Garlic Pesto

This is a recipe blog? I mean…This is a recipe blog.

You knew there’d be plants too.

The garden and kitchen are intertwined closely.

A lighter colour because of all the bulbs.

Yo, Dear Reader, I’m back with a rough and ready seasonal ingredient recipe which may mean it mostly useless to most of you, but if you ever find yourself with a lot of young garlic you’ll at least have a single recipe that uses as much as you want. I warned that this is rough, I was ad-libbing, I used a third of the weight of the prepared garlic in almonds, roasted and cooled, let them cool first, trust me on that. Salt and Pepper, no garlic, other garlic, or cheese as I never use it and I just added Extra Virgin Olive Oil until it was easy to blend to a chunky consistency, then topped it off with the same for freezing.

The names are recorded somewhere.

In they go, this will last me a long time, I may not see much if any basil this year either.

A newer rose that resembles older varieties.

I had to cut the top off them.

For those new to Spring/Young garlic, which was me until today, it has a taste somewhere between onion and garlic, strong, but not overpowering or intense, you could eat it raw without too much of a burn. I planted garlic late, but you can also harvest it early when thicker, you can harvest it whenever you want really, it’s edible all year round, but Spring and Summer are best, Dear Reader. I took the stems and bulb, but stripped off the leaves to reveal the smooth white bulb and fresh green stem, the leaves were tough and withered in places. You can easily tel the stem from leaves even if it isn’t apparent at first, the stem is a thick round cylinder ending in the leaves, which form around the stem over and over which in time creates the “wrapping” skin for the garlic, but peeling the off you’re just revealing a protected, tender centre. Toss them in the compost and there’s no waste. I forget if I mentioned how it tastes…not my best today, Dear Reader, my apologies, it’s delicious, laugh if you must, but despite it being years since I ate any it reminded me of cheese and onion crisps. Strange, but true. Really a worthwhile way to use extra garlic cloves since you don’t need much rooting room to develop the bulbs properly nor much space between either. This will be something I do every year. Oh, I found out that the garlic not producing scapes is a actually softneck, could’ve sworn they were all hardneck, and that doesn’t produce them…whoops? Until later, Dear Reader, stay safe and take care.

I’ll find the name in time.

Every year it gets better.

Young Harvests

I’m feeding them little because the weather is chaotic.

I’m not sure why that bird is apologising.

Young Garlic, or green garlic or Spring garlic, whatever, after four months it’s ready.

Just lie right atop the food…

A fledgling tit maybe?

Took me a moment to notice the head.

Yo, Dear Reader, we finally had a single downpour of rain, after I watered the garden, eh, it’ll soak in and it really needed that and more if I’m honest, but it’s something. I had just harvested the Spring Garlic and the Young Onions, I’ll make pesto of a sort from the garlic, the basil has been slow due to the cold nights, it has a slightly onion like smell as well as the usual garlic, you can just peel off any yellow leaves revealing a smooth bulb beneath, and the onions will be chopped and frozen. Those will just be added whenever I feel like a little hint of fresh green, always welcome in the Winter months. They both took about four months, I bought the onion sets cheap later in Spring and the garlic too, it was difficult to get any that wasn’t already started, but you can plant at the usual time and pull early, but that’ll make them a little different in texture and taste, some of he garlic was a little tougher because it had started to really grow vigorously. I have scapes appearing on the main garlic, thankfully they finally came out I was worried about them, but I’ll need to double check which varieties are hardneck, softneck doesn’t produce scapes, so I’ll know if they’re okay. The bulbs are forming normally so I’ll get garlic at least. It’s a rough year, the hard heat early on did a lot of damage we’re only seeing the effect of now.

Planted leftover onions sets are now ready to be chopped and frozen.

Little round tennis ball looking bird.

Some garlic the wind broke the stems of, a little early, but just fine.

Currants, I’ll get a few at a time, but they’ll add up.

The tester garlic and a scape from the rest of he garlic, should be more coming soon.

Another recuse plant, I really like this and can’t wait to attempt to reshape it.

The mini roses are different shades of pink. This is the second plant.

There is a school of cooking that aims to use all that we can in the garden, even using stems for soup or stalks for pesto, for me I fall a little away from that, I have the four composters and the wormery to use anything I don’t eat, though bolted onions are edible I don’t relish the idea of breaking a tooth on them, Dear Reader, but we can waste a lot of produce and that is unforgivable. I’m still learning to eat everything that’s okay for me and my body, it’s difficult as we’re often taught that ingredients have specific uses, but in reality if you can eat them or make them more palatable then any method you use is perfectly acceptable. Food is food, just because we’ve been fed, heh, the idea certain food are more upmarket than others, often you’re just being fed invasive plants, sunchokes, invasive, horseradish, same, even most edible flowers are pretty common, but really the simple truth is food is food and what you can eat is perfectly normal. I’m not eating the bolted onion I left in the soil by mistake, it was dense and huge, now it resides in the composter. Which I was resting one of and have since forgotten, now they’re all mostly similar looking. I remain true to my own strange, meandering method of gardening, Dear Reader.

I need to just buy a dozen and over-Winter them.

I don’t know if it’s age or stress, but there are a lot of colour changes.

All the dianthus turned white and are going to pink now.

We finally had a little soaking rain.

Artichoke back from near death.

A Yellow rose…I know, but it was yellow, it’s over twenty years old.

Marrowfat peas were made to cling.

These pop up all over, I bought a cheap packet a few years and they’ve thickened up considerably.

They may be supposed to start on the stem, which hits he ground and the “walk”, so I just cut them off and we’ll see.

I’ve walked away from this post so often that I’ve completely lost what I was going to say, Dear Reader, ah, well, it’ll come back to me eventually…or in another post. I’m just going to hope for more rain, we need to get the soil saturated. I’ll be brewing another large bin of comfrey tea, I’ll keep feeding and tending and whatever fails will be composted and return to the garden cycle to start anew. I’ll carry on making plans for next year, trying my best to wring out all I can of this one and I’ll be back again later, Dear Reader, hopefully remembering whatever it is I’ve forgotten. Until later, stay safe and take care.

A little upgrade because birds were eating my strawberries.

Water for bees.

They all come out together like this.

These are really rare because the person who gifted them gave no one else any and they’ve been here for years.

Lily season is here.