Peanuts

I used a Westlands compost for my peanuts to grow in, it's obvious there were other seeds in the compost, these plants are very invasive, so I thought I would harvest one bag.

I was not expecting to find anything, I had done nothing other than water the bags, which sat in the greenhouse through the hot summer.

Not quite a sucess,

 the nuts are small and just a few.

I hulled one, it did not have the dark skin.

Friday was a sunny dry blustery day, no rain, we woke up on Saturday to steady rain, it had rained overnight, I don't think it stopped all day, just what the ground and garden needed. We had more rain on Saturday than from mid June to this week, with plenty of wet days to come.

I knew it was too early to harvest as the peanut plant was still green, the nut inside did not have its brown skin, I have left them to dry out in the garage, as per the instructions I found on the net. The second bag I will leave for a couple more weeks, I have cutback all the unwanted growth of the invasive plant, not wanting the heads to go to seed. The spent compost is going in our waste bin, not on my garden, I don't want to spend next summer pulling out invasive plants.

I also put my cranberry plant in the greenhouse at the begging of summer, and for the first year I have loads of new growth, in the past couple of years it was just surviving, I am going to add to the compost and try harder next year.

I have always loved growing from seeds and pips, loving the challenge, I still have a pomegranate plant in a pot, I've never had flowers or fruit, I love the plant. I will sow peanuts again next year, I can't eat them, but I would like hubby to try them.

Are you experimenting with new seeds and plants?

Weekend

 Everyone loves a BBQ, hubby cooked a simple one, just burgers, sausages and chicken, I made a grown up selection of salads for daughter and us, alongside a cider shandy, bliss. Hubby is going to sell his BBQ, these days it is far to big for us, so he made the decision to sell it and get a smaller one, he has already seen one he likes.

The children used all of the garden again, this space is just so perfect for them, Molly approved of our new sunroom, she was happy to be able to get scooters out, I put the smaller garden rug in a shady spot with cushions for them to play.

My daughter told me there was a prequel to Ask For Andrea, so I found it on Kindle, again I'm not going to tell you the plot, again I could not put it down, a wonderful plot, I'm  off to look for more of her books. Book 41 read this year.

Gardening is on hold, except watering, I  do enjoy the time spent with the hose, checking the plants and surrounding garden. There is very little in the greenhouse, half has a net curtain up to help with shade. These cuttings are all doing well, mainly gaura, 7 tiny ones and 1 bigger plant, 2 begonias, and a tray of mixed salad leaves. 

My peanuts are still doing well, I do hope I manage to get a harvest for hubby, I can't eat these due to an allergy, I check my greenhouse at least twice a day, just to ensure the few plants inside are doing OK.

Saturday evening we watched the live feed of TakeThat circus concert in Manchester, hubby enjoyed it, we shared a bottle of red wine, a very different and enjoyable few hours. I have no desire to go to any of these huge venues, but I do still love music, so watching on our bigger screens at home is just perfect.

We are under another amber weather warning for heat in the next few days, its going to be at least 34° again, I'm not great in the heat, so we are sitting in the shade trying to find any breeze, we have a few nice spots. I'm back watering the garden again. We had planned a trip to Oxford with an overnight stay on Monday/Tuesday, we have delayed our trip for almost a week, just to hot to go sightseeing. 

Shades of green

The garden is looking good, I do like to see the structures in place in the veg beds, it all feels productive, In the flower beds I still have a few gaps after planting most of my young new plants, I am waiting to see what does come back, I have lupins growing which aren't ready yet, they are taking their time to grow. I do love all the different shades of green everywhere.

This raised bed is for lettuce and small salad bits, its easy to get at, I only cut leaves never the whole plant as they will keep growing. I have started a tub of mixed leaves as well. I have edged the sides with copper mesh to keep the snails away, the cover is rustic, it keeps out pigeons and Lilly. I cut the lower leaves which my neighbours chickens had as a treat.

My peanuts are doing well inside my greenhouse, I have very few plants left inside, even with the net curtain up for shade, the temperature inside has been baking. I did offer my spare 5 seedlings on marketplace, sadly no takers. I reset my thermometer inside the greenhouse on Sunday, the highest reading was 40.8° and the lowest 14.3°, I never shut the door in the warmer months.

A tale of love, obsession and beliefs, you meet the love of your life, she teaches you so much, she is a bit strange and then after 4 months together she disappears, what do you do, search for her even if her past is so secretive. A fanciful topic, a good story, I enjoyed the ending as it left you with questions. Book 35 read this year.

I have picked a couple of cucumbers, I'm not waiting until they are fully grown, I'm hopeful it will help the plant stay strong, we have tiny green tomatoes, all planted outside in a raised bed. We have been eating lettuce for a while and enjoyed our first new potatoes. I am going to pick broad beans soon. I did purchase 20 nice strong french marigolds from Tesco to add to veg beds, after a good soak they were planted later in the evening. 

I have watered the fruit and veg beds every night, as well as pots with flowers in, this heat is harsh on our plants, so many not used to dry weather, my water butt levels are dropping, not much I can do about it, I never refill with tap water, once they are empty, that's it. My latest small water butt is working well the water inside has liquid seaweed added, so much easier for me, just to pour some when needed, its tucked behind the garage so in the shade.

I have not been out much this week, I prefer to stay at home, I did pop to Lidl on Monday for a top-up shop, I've not walked to the village or the park, I get no joy being out in this heat. It got very muggy on Thursday afternoon, we had a few spots of rain, daughter was at a local beach and got soaked, we stayed dry.

Today we are back inside the garage the final bit of our refurb, we had the new doors fitted yesterday, it's all coming together.

Outside

 Garden looks great, loads of new growth everywhere, there was enough rain to keep garden going, now I am asking for sunshine and warmer days, I want to start planting my veg gardens.

 Roses, both bloomed when we were away, the pink one exploded with blooms, the white for now only one bloom, with loads of new growth I am expecting loads more.

This pot outside the patio door is simple, and beautiful, the third bloom will be white.

I've started netting my strawberries, looking as if we are going to have another great year, the raspberries and blackberries has grown in height.

Inside the greenhouse I have cucumbers growing and flowers on my tomato plants, everything is still doing well except my french marigolds seeds which again failed to germinate. 

I watered the garden on Friday and Saturday of last week, we did not get much rain when we were away, it did pour down late afternoon on Friday as we arrived home. In the greenhouse everything is good, I left most of the plants standing in water, which should have lasted a few days, I left the door partially open, we did not have any frost. Saturday we were expecting showers all day, it stayed dry and sunny (no heat), until late afternoon when it became much wetter.

George and Will spent time with us on Saturday, Mummy and Molly went to a birthday BBQ, George only wanted me, so I played with him most of the time, he had missed me, I had loads of cuddles. Sunday was another day at home, we both did a final sort of the garage, places were found for the last few bits, we sat in the front section for a while, it was cool and breezy outside, so a perfect spot to rest.

I still need to dead head around the plot and pick up after Lilly, neither job is hard, just needs doing often. Hubby has finished painting inside the garage, we have popped the outside rug on the floor for now and set out both our recliners, it's looking and feeling how we imagined, we still have to decide how to clad the two divining panels, I would have liked a fake living wall, hubby not liking that, so we are looking at other ideas, we did get some bamboo but neither of us liked it once it arrived, so it has been sent back. 

1st bank holiday weekend

I have finished the top line of this design, it is a a straight line, the frame has pulled it wonky (I love that word), I am stitching a trio of stars in the centre, it stops any issues with different patterns meeting in the middle, and the corners will match up. I'm busy outside so this is the only crafting/reading I am doing.

The garage is coming along well, the wooden unit on the left is going, it's not suitable to pass on, so hubby will cut down some of the better longer bits for shelves, he has started to re-do the electrics, he has lights to move, so he is doing it all. I love my shelves in my garden storage section, hubby prefers to use the metal cabinets along the back wall.

Whilst hubby was sorting the garage, I foolishly decided to tidy the greenhouse, I got very hot and bothered, it was 30° inside and sunny, a shower afterwards sorted me out. I'm really pleased, plenty of space for seedlings, cuttings and more seeds sown. I do love my two shopping trollies a store manager gave me one on his last day of trading, I very cheekily asked if I could have one, they second one found its way here, they are perfect for a bag of compost.

 These are camassias, white blooms, the bulbs was planted back in 2023 along with the blue blooms, the blue flowers have gone over, and looked good, they have bloomed each year. These white blooms have not flowered before, I had given up on them, so a lovely surprise to see them final after almost 3 years in the ground.

We have ordered the supplies for our part of the garage work, we sat together working out how we wanted it to look, rustic comes to mind, so later this week, we (I do mean hubby) can start the final bit. It seams as if hubby is enjoying this project more than me, he has said he was fed up with reading so much. I am back in the greenhouse, my seedlings are all doing well, I have also taken cuttings from around the plot, I have 12 small fleabane daisies for daughters new raised bed, she loves our display and is recreating it in her back garden. 

The weather is changing, Saturday was cloudy from the start and cooler, it rained mid-afternoon and in the evening, lots of wonderful rain (sorry to those on days off). Sunday was another dull start, a bit cooler, it did brighten up later. Today, Monday we have nothing to do, best day to have, roads will be busy so a lazy day at home.

I popped to daughters to sit with the boys, Molly has swimming on Friday after school and a party on Sunday, George read to me both times, he is slowly picking up words, rest of the time home with hubby.

Glasshouse

 I've cleared the plastic greenhouse cover away and moved the frame back to use as shelves, this space is busy at this time of year. I need to try and clear all the fallen leaves from the back of the greenhouse, it's along our neighbours fence and a struggle to get to.

My peanuts are growing, I have ten plants so far, which should be enough, they will be grown in two bags and kept here inside the greenhouse, they need a hot sunny space. Molly wanted to start some more, they are shooting, when she next comes here we can start them in compost.

I have loads growing, I snipped the growing tops off my sweet-peas, they are now filling out.

More guara cutting in hope to have loads of the wonderful plants, on lower shelf is fleabane daisies for daughters garden. I have sown some saved french marigold seeds as well.

My daffodils are going over, I have cut the heads off them and have tied some of the smaller bunches, it's important to allow the leaves to die back on the bulb, this process gives the bulb their energy for next year. I have bluebell and camassia buds showing, the colour keeps coming. I shall move some of the pots with bulbs in as they go over, they live behind the garage the rest of the year. 

We have picked the first of our rhubarb, made a crumble with apples, we both enjoyed it, it's always the first harvest of the year, it is an early variety, I have a wire ring around the crown, which I fill with fallen leaves, they protect it through the winter and once broken down nourishes the soil.  

I got some stone (pebble) edging to cover my pond sides, the stones are small and I was worried about the 'glue' used, so I have used them elsewhere, I really do not want to damage the ecology of the pond. 

Days are now dull, the wind is much colder, so the garden seating stays covered, I still check the garden every morning, watching the separated plants growing in their new spots. Hopefully the better weather will return soon. 

Undercover

My ranunculi's are filling out I have 18 plants here in the segments, and aquilegia plants I have 4, I split these plants, this is the sunniest side of the greenhouse. 

These are from a split geum plant I removed from my sink, one pot got a bit waterlogged, they are all growing well, and a few extra sweet peas which will not grow so high as the main batch. 

On the lower shelf I have 5 foxgloves, all seeded in wrong places in the garden, I dug them out to grow on, my echinops is growing well, another reduced plant coming back to full strength. My sweet pea seedlings are a bit leggy, they do look good.

10 days ago I was pleased to see shoots on my peanuts, today they are even better, later I will pot them up and put them in the greenhouse under cover to keep them warm, I have the perfect sunny spot for them. All I did was pop them on wet paper towel in this clear box, placed them on a sunny window sill near the radiator.

Some of the above plants will go into bigger pots before planting, I have also potted up, Chocolate Cosmos, gypsophila  and I have two Geum's which were reduced plants, my freesia bulbs are planted in a bag outside, so much promise for this summer. My greenhouse is a bit full, it is also very messy, my tiny plastic greenhouse is still in the middle, soon I will move it back to the side, remove the plastic cover and use it as shelves. I have sown a few flower seeds, I have more to start, I do not require so many bedding plants, in previous years I used loads. I hope to be able to move some of the plants above outside. 

I felt sorry for daughter driving 7 very loud excited boys to their first paintball morning, the day was dry and bright, the sun shone a few times. The woods was not as muddy as we feared, daughter sat and read whilst the company looked after the boys for two hours, they were beyond happy on their return. I had a simpler morning watching Disney for a while with Molly, then painting, we stayed inside, George wanted to stay in his PJ's, which is OK.

Saturday evening and Sunday was at home with hubby, we never do much at weekends, too many people around. Sadly Sunday was wet so we stayed inside, I would have preferred being in the garden, in reality I don't have much to do, just a quick check in the greenhouse. 

Monday was a sunny start, which cheered us both up, I spent the morning cleaning our bedroom and shower room, giving all the glass a good clean, when the sun shines all the smears show, which left the afternoon outside, nothing big to do, its has left me feeling really good. I added a solar air pump to my pond, just a gentle ripple, I also moved a plant, I was overjoyed to see a small newt swimming, finally its a wildlife pond.

Cold spell.

 We have so far missed most of the snow, we had a sprinkling over night, loads of frost every morning, with the low sun loads of spots stay white, the front of the house is the sunny side. Every day we have bright blue skies and sunshine, looking out it's brilliant, not so good once outside. This is much colder than we normally have at this time of year, which is reflected all around the country. 

 This yellow weather warning map covers most of UK, not covering the south coast, which is where we live, I have everything crossed we avoid the worst of the weather. In previous years we have missed the snow, we have no appointments in the coming week, so we will stay in.

I am keeping a check on my Olive tree, it now lives in a very sheltered corner, they are hardy to about -5° we have had this plant since 2019, I rarely cover this plant, I am keeping a close eye on it, so far it's OK. The rest of the garden is just left, whilst the frost are about it is best not to touch anything.

Meanwhile in my greenhouse the temperature is doing OK, I do not heat inside, it's in the sunniest spot in the garden on a raised base, which always helps with winter inside temperatures. I cleared the setting on Saturday, so these figures are for the 24 hours, it got down to -2.7° and was highest at 31.3°, both acceptable for the contents. 

I have not knitted any socks for a few years, which is a shame as I do love knitting them, I am wearing my homemade ones, much warmer for my feet, I am also wearing a few extra layers, our heating is working well and we try to keep the house between 18 and 20 in the daytime. We are not doing so much, so we do sit down more, which then makes me feel colder. 

We do try and have a short walk most days, wrapped up warm, my duffle coat is the warmest, with a scarf, gloves and knitted bobble hat. Our park is still busy, its a lovely place, the children's play area is always in use. Working on my computer is good, its the sunniest room in the house, my 2024 book is coming along nicely. I try and sort some of my crafting stash most days, there are loads of card bits to get rid of, I am keeping some bits for Molly to use, she does love crafting.

Meals are simple, I have a few bits of cheese left, I have enjoyed having so many different ones to try, there are hardly any chocolates left, I did not get too many this year. Our Christmas cake is being enjoyed, its not so dry now, must of just been one small section. 

Traitors is back on TV, along with Pottery throwing down and we love 1% club. There are a few new series we are starting to watch. I mainly read, not doing any crafting, I am searching for a cross stitch, nothing yet has fired my imagination. 

A December garden

I know I am blessed to have such a lovely garden space, through the winter we don't sit outside, but I am often outside doing bits, I need an outside space, it really does everything they say.

Along this fence is my grey tub which now has loads of pots on becoming a display area until next summer, the olive tree is loving this spot in the sheltered corner. I love the blooms in hubby's old motorbike boots, just a bit of fun.

The fake grass is best at this time of year when real grass starts to get messy in our clay soil, this area now drains well and looks good. I love the bare branches of the magnolia and acer trees. The fleabane daises should stay green all winter, softening the end of this section.  

Through the winter months this is the productive end of the garden, I have broad beans, leeks and some carrots in one bed, the second bed has brassicas, Japanese onions and more carrots, I am very pleased with the hurdles around each bed, it's a shame they are plastic, I keep nets on the bed to stop cats and pigeons.

The greenhouse is working as well, on the top shelf I have 5 foxgloves, 4 aquilegias, 4 geums and some small violets. In the propagator I have daisy seeds hopefully for daughters garden. I have spare brassica plants and some gaura cuttings which need potting on. On the other side is all my tender plants.

It's been a quiet weekend, we did go out for a meal with hubby's petanque friends just a nice carvery, daughter slept over whilst ex had children for the night, she had a lazy evening in, we spent Sunday morning together, I do like these breaks she has, sadly in the new year her ex won't be staying at the house anymore as she starts to build her own life forward, it was cold and wet outside. As much as we loved our grandchildren having daughter to ourselves is brilliant. 

There were hardly any leaves to pick up, I am always glad once they have all dropped, my two packs of tulips are in pots, one at the back and the other in the hosta tub. The patio we have stopped cleaning and will wait until the spring before we give the whole space a scrub. The winter months are where you view the bones of your garden, this is the time I make plans, normally just little tweaks, this year I want to change nothing, I am very happy with this space, for me it is perfect. 

Saturday was bright after a night of heavy wind and rain, our village Christmas light festival had to be scaled back, we did not go, no point in getting wet before going out, it was nice to see the sun in the morning. Inside the smaller Christmas cakes are finished, and ours has its marzipan on, I will let it go hard before icing which makes it much easier for me to cut it away so I can eat some of the cake. 

Today I am meeting daughter and we are going pottery painting, this was her request, will be fun without the children we can concentrate on painting, later I will treat her to lunch. This week is school plays and my brother is visiting us for a week, he is home this Christmas, his daughter and grandson will be staying with him. 

Digging the dirt

 A while ago I popped 3 soft supermarket potatoes in a empty tub, this week I dug out enough for 3 meals for us, I found five tiny potatoes which I have popped back into the pot added homemade compost, I will let you know if they grow. In this second bag is just one potato which wanted to grow elsewhere it has survived me moving it.

Both raised veg beds are full, one with mixed brassicas at the back and onions down the sides and carrots in the middle. The second bed has broad beans at the front, not showing through yet, I have mulched this end of the bed with my homemade leaf mulch, in the back section are leeks.

I am happy with this shelf in my greenhouse, most of these plants are from splitting or cuttings, the Geranium Sanne with tiny white flowers I removed from my butlers sink, I split it earlier this year, so I was surprised to get 5 more root sections, I would love them along the front of my side flower bed. I also have tiny violet cuttings in hope they can be placed under our red Acer.

 I popped my fushia with the bigger pink flowers in my butlers sink, I have cut the bottom off a pot and raised it, should give the plant enough root space, I have a lovely ground cover plant to pop infront of the pot. The second fushia with tiny white blooms I will cut back in the spring, I was able to move the pink fushia without disturbing the roots, so it should not wilt, this is a shady spot, which I can see from the house.

As well as the potato harvest, most of my greenhouse tomatoes went red, we had enough for hubby to make more tomato and red pepper soup in his soup maker, enough for 4 meals. I am thinning sweet baby carrots from a big tub, enough each time for a meal for both of us. 

I am really pleased with my homemade leaf mulch, so far I have used half, one dustbin is now empty, I've already starting putting leaves in for next year. To have both veg beds full again for winter growth is great, I have cauliflower, winter cabbage and sprouting broccoli which will produce first, the rest will be ready for harvest in the spring. My neighbour has given me some straw from her chicken run including poo for my composter, for now it's in a dustbin bag and stored in an black bin, I will leave for a few weeks before adding into my compost bins.

This week has been perfect weather for gardening, sunny days, warm enough not to require a coat, I did water the veg beds, after adding onions and brassicas, I'm not expecting to have to water anywhere again, even without any rain in the forecaste for the coming week, the ground is no longer dry. I have spent up to two hours most days outside, just sorting picking up leaves and any small task which should be done, it does feel more like September than October. 

Wet weekend

 Saturday was heavy showers mixed with small burst of bright sunshine, a day to be inside, hubby was out most of the day, so I spent time with daughter and children, we had mummy's favourite lunch and cake, another 'free from' so Molly and George can eat it. The house looked like a toy shop for a while, they both help to tidy everything away. 

Later I was able to pop outside, I picked the last of the runner beans and beetroot, more soft fruits, tomatoes and a small butternut squash,  which I cut in hope some of the others will grow in size, the plant is still very healthy. 

In the greenhouse my brassicas have grown, I hope they get a bit bigger and stronger before I put them outside, where they should thrive. 

There are still harvest to be had, I will remove these runner beans, the wind has thrashed them, raspberries are still ripening as are the tomatoes.  

Saturday evening was really quiet, daughter went out with friends, she can now use a local babysitter as Molly and George stay in bed. Lilly slept most of the evening after playing with the little ones all afternoon. The rain was heavy all evening, we watch the Proms, I had not told hubby about Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody being played and Bill Bailey's spot, we enjoyed the music.  

Sunday started dull and dry then it became even wetter than Saturday, I walked to the shops for an orange to go into a Christmas recipe I was making, hubby did a nice meal with duck breast. The house smelt of spices all afternoon, we both commented how nice it was, my project was 3 hours cooking in the slow cooker, brilliant. 

I am feeling bored, I have loads of crafting supplies which I can use, but I don't know what to make, I am not a fan of just making something and packing it away never to be used, once I have something to make which is going to be useful, then I'm full of inspiration. I have knitted socks for loads of family, those who wanted one has a cross stitch design and home made bags, I will make new decorations for the children using needle felting, I really enjoyed using my sewing machine, I will have to look maybe at some fun patchwork, I have loads of fabrics. I just need some inspiration. 

Veg prep

 I'm in full vegetable garden planning, I want my two small beds full this winter, I have everything except onions, I have been looking for the same sets as last year. The small brassica plants have been put into bigger pots, I did the same last year and planted out much stronger plants. It will be a few weeks before I clear the beds, I am still getting harvest. 

I cleared the three tomato plants from the greenhouse, they really did fail, its now much better with a clear floor, I won't grow them inside next year. Some plants are coming back inside, these tender plants spend every winter in my unheated greenhouse. Soon it will be time to move my mini greenhouse into the centre and pop the plastic cover back on.

My one outside grown tomato plant has thrived and produced big tasty tomatoes, it will stay here in the raised veg bed for a bit longer. I will have 2 outside plants next year, I have a coupke of obelisk to use as supports, these are gardeners delight.

I saw this and loved it.

I do have a couple of note books, one is my scribble pad, where I work on plans to ensure things will work before the hard work starts, my second book is my record of what I grow in my beds, this helps me remember and ensure I rotate my produce. Yes I am working on a small change in my raspberry bed.

I am so pleased we left the fake grass around my raised veg beds, after all this rain the ground is very wet, but my paths drain, so its easy to get around. Every bed in both veg and flower section has been edged, most with the old decking planks, lots of neat lines which helps me keep plants in their beds. I am expecting loads of seedlings from my fleabane daisies in the top of the lawn next year, I will remove any whilst they are tiny.

It was our 39th wedding anniversary on Saturday, we got a nice M&S Chinese ready meal and red wine, we don't go out, get each other gifts, I didn't want flowers, it was dry so laundry was done, I spent some time outside, I try and get out if it's dry enough, getting the greenhouse sorted was a priority. Sadly I emptied my two bags of shallots, they were doing well, Lilly had sneaked in them and used them as her toilet, so the contents were unusable, I will have to purchase some grown ones, I promised hubby home made pickled onions. Sunday we went to daughters house for a lovely chicken roast dinner, we cut back her small tree in front garden whilst the children played. We came back to a quiet house, I sat and watched the wild birds at our feeders, a perfect couple of days. We heard the government phone alerts on our drive home, we both had a 'what the heck' moment.