Dorset lifestyle
The tomato plants are out of control, it seems to happen every year when the tangle of growth outpaces the regular taming of stems and the cutting out of side shoots. The cucumbers are still doing ok and producing lots of tasty fruit. A warm sunny day with the promise of rain tomorrow.
A glorious sunny day, very warm in a sheltered spot, even contemplated putting on shorts for a moment or two. Finished clearing the greenhouse floor and washed the glass. All the tools have a place in the shed, emptied the bottom two trays of the wormery ready for use in the bottom of the tomato pots, will have to take out a few worms first, they’ll clump together in a corner in a week or two and can be taken out as a wriggling ball and put back in the wormery. Late lunch at The Crown in Marnhull before laying a few more mudstones and watching a lovely sunset.
William and Toby have a new distraction, a ball with a hole in it, inside are pieces of carrot and donkey balancer so as they nudge it around the treats fall out. Toby got the hang of it quite quickly and William lost interest and waited for Toby to get the goodies out. Still too wet for them to go in the paddock, the ground is taking a long time to drain. Laid a few of the mudstones and finished clearing the greenhouse and started cleaning the glass. A sunny cloudy day with light winds.
William and Toby had to stay out of the paddock because of strong winds and driving rain, they had their usual breakfast of three wedges of straw and then mooched around the stable. The feeder was topped up later in the day with the addition of a tasty willow branch and a handful of goosegrass. The sheep stayed undercover only coming out whenever the rain stopped. Collected my bike after a service, needs to go back in a couple of weeks as it requires a new chain and cassette. Checked the greenhouse after the gale, all ok. A stormy day with gale force winds and cold driving rain.
Pixie is a big fluffy ball of wool just waiting for the shearer, tidier than Bianca who is shedding stylish strands just like dreadlocks. All the sheep were sitting in the morning sunshine chewing the cud before the rain arrived, Walter tidied up Pixie by eating any available hay from her fleece. Finished preparing the greenhouse for the tomatoes, all the pots have a spadeful of worm casts from the wormery in the bottom, the wind increased at lunchtime and the temperature dropped so didn’t move the plants in to acclimatise. A rainy end to the day with waterbutts filling ok.
The plants are all finished in the greenhouse so need moving to the compost heap, William is interested to watch what’s going on, especially as the red wheel barrow is being used. The last of the tomatoes went in a salad today. Two deer locked antlers in the field this morning and pushed and shoved until one of them pulled away and made a run for it, they were bored in the end and took to grazing instead. A colder day with a strong wind that made wearing a hat and gloves preferable, the sun broke through occasionally and raised the temperature.
This is the first time I’ve grown these in the greenhouse, they can never have enough water to drink and it does look like they’re doing well. Not sure how to tell they’re ready, a smaller fruit did fall off the plant and it was sweet and juicy so maybe all of them are good to eat regardless of size. One of the tomato plants grew out of the side window and now has blight which is spreading to the other plants inside which is a pity as the tomatoes will have to be picked before they’re all ruined. The donkeys are enjoying eating the hedge, it’s reasonably wide so they can’t reach the other side. A cool start to the day, warm and sunny later, picked a courgette that’s more like a marrow.
The runner beans have nearly fallen over, the supports have been strengthened with more canes and bailer twine – it will have to be a metal frame next year, it’s become difficult to pick the beans in-between the rows because of all the foliage dropping down. The greenhouse has been shut up all day but it’s still warm enough for the autovents to open. There are lots of windfall bramleys to pick up and prepare for the freezer. The donkeys don’t like strong winds so they’ve been unsettled for most of the the day. No rain, this shower passed us by with a colourful rainbow and differing shades of grey on either side.
A lot of it, the thunderstorms arrived in the afternoon and filled up the water butts, very noisy on the stable roof and the gutters overflowed so the hardstanding has been swept clean. The sheep all preferred to stay in the dry whenever possible and shook themselves like dogs when they did get wet. The donkeys stayed out until their usual time, not bothered about the rain, although Toby would have stuck his head under a shelter if there had been one available. No watering required except in the greenhouse, hope the deluge has helped the hedge. Picked cucumbers, tomatoes and runner beans.
The yellow Tumbler tomatoes are growing in the same pot as the sunflower and a few red Outdoor Girl have ripened in the border, all different shapes and sizes. The sun and wind has been so hot today that some tomato plants have shriveled in the greenhouse, I hope they recover, will let a sideshoot develop if not. Picked more runner beans, they’ve been thrashed by the high winds so tied a few back to their poles. There’s been a real variety of weather conditions that the plants have to withstand – both varieties of courgettes are doing OK, the drop in the level of compost in the raised bed means they’re protected. A few drops of rain evaporated as soon as they touched the ground so more watering.
First pods, Poppy standing guard, picked and eaten within the hour, crisp and delicious, hope there’s more to come, runners maybe next week, although the strong winds of the last few days have broken some of the higher stems. Tomatoes and cucumbers growing fast, and have two water melon plants with tiny fruit that I’ve never grown before. Bike ride to Sturminster Newton for coffee and sausage roll, was mainly ‘wind against’ which is a bit odd for a circular route. A sunny day with no rain so watered the vegetables, found a few thistles in the border so the donkeys had a late tasty treat.
Moved from a neighbours garden a year ago, an abundance of bright yellow male flowers, a baby at 3 meters high he could grow to 20 meters, already have one that’s around 10 meters high so there’s some way to go! A windy cooler day, mowed the paddock after poo picking, removing the buttercup stalks left by the sheep, the noise spooked the donkeys a bit, the sheep weren’t disturbed and are finding their way round the lower paddock ok now. Started to arrange the canes for the tomatoes in the greenhouse, my Gardeners Delight tomatoes are taking a while to perk up after suffering a setback a couple of weeks ago. The Outdoor Girl plants are fine, fortunately.
Love my new greenhouse, already filling up with young plants, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, beans and marigolds. Warms up really quickly, hope it stands up to the high winds. Have a couple of cold frames to assemble as well, not had those before. Hot yesterday so maximum ventilation.
