11 August 2015

Garden Share Collective - August 2015

Not a lot happened in the garden in July, everything is taking its own sweet time about growing and I just have to learn to be patient, I know that everything will get there in the end.


 It has been a colder than normal winter this year, and we have not had the amount of rain we would normally have, but having said that we did have enough rain in July  (42.4mm) that I didn't have to water, which is always a good thing.


After five very fretful weeks of wondering if they had rotted in the ground the potatoes finally decided to start sticking their heads up out of the soil. 
Kestrel

Royal Blue
I lost my first planting of broccoli to aphids, the one time of the year I didn't think I needed to worry about them, but they are everywhere at the moment. I am keeping a very close eye on my second lot and spraying with soapy water when needed.
The peas are making their way up the trellises, and the strawberries are flowering and fruiting.
Red Gauntlet
 The tomatoes that popped up all over the gardens in the front yard, have so far survived any frost we have had, I can't leave them there so in the next week or so I will be potting them up. After last summer's disaster with the tomatoes (Verticillium wilt) I'm not going to risk planting any tomatoes in the vegetable garden for the next couple of years.

Harvesting

Zero, zip, zilch, nada. It looks like the winter crop, will now be a spring crop, as long as I get something I'll be happy.

Planting/Sowing

It will be at least another four, maybe five weeks before I can start planting or sowing seeds.

I'm thinking of adding sheep manure to the vegetable beds as a soil conditioner. Has anybody tried this, or have any advice as to what the best soil conditioner is.
Don't forget that the next GSC will be on 31st August, I will see you all then.



01 August 2015

Colouring In - No Longer Just for the Kids

I'm not one to buy into every new fad or craze that comes along, but this is one craze that I'll quite happily take part in, colouring-in books just for us adults.  It's a craze that is sweeping the world, allowing adults an escape from the hectic pace of their everyday lives, a chance to disconnect from the technological world we live in and get back to basics. By focusing the mind on colouring, it brings calmness and stillness to the mind, almost like a form of meditation. 

There is a wide range of books available, below are just a few examples of what is available.

Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest by Johanna Basford, beautifully illustrated and just waiting to be brought to life with colour.






Animal Kingdom and Tropical Wonderland by Millie Marotta.




I love paisley so this one is right up my alley.

Art Therapy Colouring Book, this is one of a series of three books, the other two are Colour Therapy and Creative Therapy.

If you would like to indulge yourself, but don't want to buy any books, just type free colouring pages for adults into your search engine, there are plenty to choose from. Me, I'm off to do some more colouring.