Ensete ventricosum maurelii / Red Abyssinian Banana

 Time to dig it up and drag it into the shed where it will be sheltered over Winter .

This banana will not survive the Winter outside here in the U.K , even this far South in Cornwall . At least it never has for me .

So off to the shed I go to find it's Winter storage box .

 It is in there somewhere . I think I can see it , under that white plastic bag .

Nope . That's the box of fir cones and kindling for the fire .

What is in that white plastic bag anyway  ?

Aha !  More fir cones of course ! What's in that box  ? oooh ! 

A box of stuff my daughter left here during their house move .

 I must take them over to their new place ....but look what I found !  

A whole pile of I-SPY Books ! Wow ! This takes me back a few years !

Whenever we went on holiday as children , mum would give  us a goody bag each to keep us amused in the car on the journey  . A little bag of treats . Note pad , pencils , rubber , jelly monsters that wobble about on the top of your pencil , jumping beans  and always a couple of I-Spy books . 

I loved those I-Spy books !   Only problem was that mum didn't really like the idea of sending it off to the Big Chief I-Spy . I think he would send out little prizes . Mum said "No " and that was that ...sigh ...

Then....look at this !  What is this ?  I found some highly sensitive Top secret documents ! Private and Confidential  .   Well I'll be blowed !   What is this  ? Raises one eyebrow !

So I think this is some very lucky and rather spoilt if you ask me child whose mummy  had actually enrolled him into the actual I-Spy Tribe !!   ( just a bit jealous that's all ! )

                                                Look at this ! Look at this ! 

                           It's actually signed by the  Big Chief  I-Spy himself !    Lol !

                                        Odhu/ntinggo , REDSKIN ,  Big Chief I-Spy  .

 I'm guessing this was some sort of Ray Mears / Bear Grylls / Robert Baden Powell type chappie ?

So this is all very interesting , I knew nothing about all this . Goodness me !

Oh my ! This had me chuckling all afternoon ! Seriously side tracked there !

                                     Back to work ! 

                                      There we go !

                                 Whoo hoo !

This is why I so love this variety of banana ! Gorgeous when the sun shines through it's leaves .

                                        And away we go !

 I topped it up with the compost it already had around it and plain garden earth . The wheelbarrow weighed a ton !   Groan !   Anyway  , that's another big Autumn job to cross of my list .

Then into it's polystyrene lined corner of the shed , which has clear plastic  overhead ,so it has good light . I gave it a drink to settle it in . I won't let it completely dry out , but that will probably be the last water I give it until next Spring .

My lovely brother-in -law gave me a lovely lot of Echiums ,which I have planted in various locations around the garden ,to see where they like best to be . I had four left over so while I still had muddy hands and some strength left , I decided to drop them into the hole left from digging out the banana .

It's left me wondering ..were any of you a member of this I-Spy Tribe ?

 and what does "Odhu/ntinggo" mean ?

      That's my lot for today , time for a flop and a nice cup of tea !  

Mango update

 

  

                                         Remember the Mango stone ?

Here it is again wrapped up in a damp tissue inside ziplock bag for a few weeks .

On the bathroom windowsill .

It began to push up a shoot , so I potted it up and now I can see three  new leaves beginning to unfurl . 

I have taken it up to the greenhouse , where it will get more all round light . 

Today's mission is to dig up the Banana plant , because next week rain is a coming and from then on a much bigger change in the weather . Becoming colder !

I'd rather do this job now than in the pouring rain .

  See you  later !  x

Autumn - beautiful early Autumn

                                            Up to see the Autumn sun rise .

                                           Shining through the morning mist  .

It is becoming much damper in the mornings . However it is still warm and I take advantage of these early Autumn days , to prepare the garden and home for the much colder days of Winter . 

I have been shuffling everything around in the greenhouse to make room for all the plants that I will have to be bringing in . 

I took down the shade net and replaced it with the roll of insulating foil "bubble-stuff " which I bought several years ago and just  keep re-using .

 I stapled it to one end of the greenhouse and tied it at the other end with some string .

This strip of insulation foil makes quite a difference  during the coldest nights  , when I will also light my large lantern . 

I have moved the old coffee table up onto the bench and I plan to move all the small cacti pots up here ,

which will make room for the Pelargoniums on this shelf . 

These bigger ones I will leave where they are . This is the danger zone . Where the biggest and most spikiest cacti are .  The most deadliest beasts , the Opuntias being in the furthest corner . The tall one on the left of the picture has doubled in size over  just one year , is very soon to be moved to the back . I might re-pot that first . 

I stand the more tender plants on thick polystyrene sheets that  have been saved from packaging . For a bit of extra warmth .

The occasional fish crate , will also come in useful over Winter in the greenhouse .

That Yucca elephantipes variegata was the first of my biggest tender plants to have been brought into the greenhouse for the Winter . Tomorrow's task is to dig up the Banana .

We had plenty of Sweet Mini Bell Peppers in the end , but I didn't like the yellow ones . I will try a different variety next year .

I cleared out the tomato plants  . Having been a slave to watering , feeding ,tying up leaves , pinching out and harvesting tons of them  and to be honest I am sick of the sight of them .

So I cleared them all out , left a few to ripen up on the rigging and now there is room for over wintering lots of Pelargoniums . I brought in the kitchen window box . I'm sure we still have lots of nice sunny weather to come , it is just that I have so many Autumn jobs and plants to over Winter , that I just have to start now .

I was going to give you an update on the Mango seed , but it seems that I have accidently deleted the photos .  Drat !   I,ll take another picture of it and show you later on tomorrow . 

That's all for now  .

Spaghetti Squash Harvest

 

        The Spaghetti Squash look ready to me . I think today's the day !

Into the wheelbarrow they go . I like to leave a nice long stalk ,which will dry out and prevent any rot entering the top of the squash . I will put them on the dresser in the kitchen for a couple of days to ripen and toughen up the skins , then usually I store them in a cool and dry place . 

I grew these at my daughter's request , so we'll be taking them over to her  sometime soon . I'm sure she'll not mind me keeping one of them .