Greenhouse - The Big Tidy Up ! 🌵🥒🌿🍅🕷️

I made a start on clearing out the tomatoes , cucumbers and sweet peppers . I am only keeping a couple of each of them to ripen up the remaining fruit .

I have dragged them out in their growing pot/bags and I will empty them onto the African Keyhole Bed where I am growing Butternuts and Pumpkins .  I am hoping the extra bit of compost will give all the Squash a boost !

I spied a Cucumber wandering through the Epies !

😱 Found this poor neglected Agave ....bone dry and shrivelled up . I've given it a good drink and we'll see if I can revive it . 

     It might be too late !  🤔

There is a lot of sweeping out to be done and I have ordered a special brush from Amazon that can get into all the corners .

I am getting all my greenhouse over-Wintering things ready . Insulation roll , polystyrene sheets , newspaper sheets , fleece , lantern and candles ........and a couple of buckets to catch the rain that comes through the leaking roof and door .

It makes me feel so happy to see all my cacti back on the bench .   

   🙂   Actually this is not all of them ....there are more to be brought back in from the porch .😃 So this lot are going to have to budge up to make room for them ! 🤣🌵🌿🍀

                                      See you later , time for lunch !

Meanwhile in the Greenhouse - Early May update

 

Trying to take my mind off a hospital appointment this afternoon . So I,m messing about in the greenhouse .

I,ve taken down this insulation foil stuff from the rafters , rolling it up and packing it away in the shed for next Winter.

Unhook the net from this side , where all the desert cactus and sun loving succulents are .

                                            Sweep away the cobwebs .

Then fix up the shade net that I,d just removed and fasten it up over the Forest Cacti and more shade loving side  .

                                           So now , everybody happy ! 

Poor Old Neglected Cactus !

So I was pottering about in the greenhouse  , looking for a cactus that I knew I had in there somewhere .

My brother had sent me a picture of an enormous cactus in his collection . An Opuntia consolea falcata . Huge , a veritable whopper , standing at about 5ft tall  and maybe even taller but he didn't get it all in the photo . Sadly I couldn't get the photo to upload on here . I will have another go later on . Anyway  , this is said to be quite an endangered cactus .

See this link for some more great info about Opuntia consolea falcata -

http://llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACTI/Family/Cactaceae/9724/Consolea_falcata

So after admiring my brothers cactus , I,m now thinking to myself , I used to have one of these up in my collection . . . . 

If I still have it , then it will probably be in the furthest back corner with all the other most dangerous Opuntias  . In the sunniest place ,but well out of harms way !

Sure enough , there it was ! You might want to look away now .

Oh dear.... not good ...half of it is all dried up and half of it has had rain dripping on it from the slipped window pane above and is now a dark green squishy segment of mush .

It looks as if I have somehow just been missing this poor thing out every time and for goodness knows how long . 

I can see a very small segment in there though , which I may be able to save !

I pulled off the mushy segment and tipped it all out to get a better look at it . 

The main plant is very dried up , but still green . 

I gently pulled the nice green healthy looking segment away and was pleased to find that it has a couple of nice looking roots .

So after a bit of a rummage about , I gathered everything I needed together to pot it up . I usually use this " Levingtons desert cactus and bonsai compost "for potting up my Epiphyllums , they romp away in this , but other proper Cacti really need to have much sharper drainage .  However , this is all I have at the moment .

I mix in a good handful of horticultural grit .

                                    He's looking much happier already ! 

                                        Hmmm ..... what do you think ? 

                                       So I potted up the other bit too !

                                          Well , you never know !

Meanwhile in the Greenhouse

 Looks like it's going to be another lovely sunny day here in Mullion and I will be taking advantage of it and get away from the computer and the news , getting out into the fresh air and see what's to do up in the greenhouse zone .
 After all the storms , the paving slabs around the greenhouse are in a bad way with grass , moss and weeds growing in-between . The greenhouse windows need cleaning and re-painting .
  That white shelf inside the greenhouse is full of water from the leaking roof  , I need to sort it out . There is an old washing up bowl beneath it to catch the rain water , I cant reach the roof window to fix it .     Just have to make do !

                   Through the grubby window , all is looking just fine .

            Tomato seeds are sown in an old polystyrene box on the top shelf .

Dioscorea elephantipes is going  into its dormancy  period . I,m always a bit sad when this happens , but it needs a little rest now . It's delicate vines dying back to the caudex .

 Over winter I have had newspaper sheets to throw over it  and candles to take the chill off the greenhouse . I haven't needed to do it much this winter .
 It has been so mild ....but oh! so wet and windy . I thought the greenhouse might collapse !

     Dioscorea elephantipes - her long graceful vines climb up and along this lovely piece of driftwood .

                                                    My peaceful place .

The grubby windows shield the delicate plants from being scorched by the sun .
                Especially my Epiphyllums , which prefer to be in the shade .

      However , I will give this window a bit of a wash-down with a mop today !

                                 So let's open the door and go inside .

 Medwyn's Red Dragon Tomato seeds should be germinating soon in that white  polystyrene box . I keep going to look at them , nothing happening yet . A watched pot never boils !

 But while I wasn't watching , these Adromischus cooperi leaf cuttings have been growing roots and pups !  Hooray !

   And I can see shoots or maybe buds coming all along this Epie leaf !

                       I can see little signs of awakening everywhere .

           Crassula "Blue Bird" is flowering  . Delicate little pink stars . This was a small cutting that my brother Martin gave me . It's really grown and after it  finishes blooming I,m going to give it a nice new pot and some fresh cactus compost. It deserves a bit of pampering !

 On the floor , I have pots of Coriander and Dill beginning to germinate . Lovely to mix with our salad . We tried this last year , advice from Charles  Dowding , and it worked  very well for us . I,m growing lettuces in the solar shed because it is cooler in there , the greenhouse  gets too warm , lettuce prefers to be cooler to germinate ..... but they should be ready to pick at around the same time .

Well the sun is up and I,m off to hang out a load of washing on the line before breakfast . Then I,ll get my wellies on and get started on those greenhouse windows !
                                          Have a lovely day  !  xxx

First Frost Mullion Cornwall 2 December 2019

Yesterday evening looking across the meadow . After a glorious sunny day with blue skies and no wind at all , not even the slightest breeze ....I just knew that we were in for a very chilly night

So I gathered together my candles , matches and newspaper at just about dusk ....

                                   .......and got all the plants covered over .

I stand some of the more tender ones on sheets of polystyrene for a little extra warmth .

                           I lit two candles in the lantern for the night.

 This was about an hour ago....me wandering around the garden in my pyjamas and dressing gown . I couldn't wait to see the frost !

                           As you can see the sun wasn't even quite up yet !

                                    I took a walk around the labyrinth .

                Ah .... but one should enjoy these simple childish delights !

Looking across to the veg garden , this is where I have planted garlic and leeks .
Some little creature has made a home for the winter here ..I put a broken pot over the top to give him a bit more shelter from the rain .   Maybe a toad !

                On wards round the labyrinth , Jack Frost has danced !

                                   You can zoom in to see those crystals !

             Sleeping Primroses encrusted with beautiful frosty crystals .

  Frosty compost where the worms are taking the goodness down to warmer lower levels where microscopic organisms are busy breaking it all down and mixing it all up .

                  The Leeks are tough and can take the chill temperatures .

  There was ice on the bird bath . I,m so pleased with myself for remembering to wrap the outside water tap !

                                          The ice was not too thick .

        I easily managed to break it up , so the birds can come and drink .

   Over all it was not too heavy a frost , but I wanted a record of when our first frost was this year .
 This will all be gone very quickly as the sun comes up .
I know that for some of you Jack Frost dances all day !
      Brrrrrr.....I,m going in for a nice cup of tea and some brekkers !