Cabbages and Clouds

 

The weather is changing and we are seeing some really beautiful clouds now .

                             A slight rainbow in this one !

                And whispy ones ....

        ...... and fishscale type ones that promise rain , but it doesn't come .

                           Our walk along the cliffs .

We ran back to the car thinking these squalls were coming our way , but they just rolled in across LandsEnd and Penzance  . We stayed dry !

                                 🌦️🌧️⛈️🌧️🌧️      

So proper rain is forecast for tomorrow  and I have been busy pulling weeds  to make room for my cabbage seedlings .

  It is very windy today , a sure sign of coming rain . 

             So here we go ! 

I pulled back the netting . A nice line of Parsnips . Carrots dotted about here and there and lots of beautiful curlywurly kale  .    🦋

I climbed in and set about pulling out the weeds .  

Once again , the weeds have helped to keep the moisure in the good earth .

                            I filled that wheelbarrow !

  I made space for my cabbages . 

I didn't really dig as such , rather I just prized the good earth up a little bit to make it easier for the rain to soak down to the plant's roots .

    🐌   I found two snails and relocated them .🐌

This was really hard work for me , my knee and poorly back are aching and I forgot to bring out the kneeler and the ground was rock hard to kneel on and too far to go back to the cottage to get it and lunch was almost ready and if I stopped now I wouldn't be able to get going again ! 

     So I carried on in pain and planted out a few of each red and white cabbages . 

                                  .......and firmed them in !

                                             🌿🦋🦋🦋🌿

      

And threw the netting back over them all and made it good and secure all around the edges with bricks and rocks and an old fence post .

That took me a good hour to do . I still have some greyhound cabbages and some leeks to plant out . 

  Not sure if I can manage it before the rain comes . I have to pace myself .

I'm glad I got this bed weeded and planted up though . 

                                  That's it for today . I am done ! 

A quick shower ...... 😱...you know Autumn is a coming in when you step into the shower and see this !

.......oh my goodness !  Help !!!! 

 Ricardo calls out to me " Are we off for our walk now then ? " 🤪 O.k. I,m coming !   

And when we get back I 'm having a flop on my bed with some patchwork .

                       Cheerio for now !

             Peace and Love 🕊️💕

                                   Debbie 💐x

                                 

Meanwhile up in the shed 🥬🥬

  What a night worrying about friends and family out in Florida . Not sure what they will be coming back to , but they all got away and were safe . I guess the big clean up operations will now get under way .

I've been up in the shed this morning , pricking out and potting on more lettuce seedlings .

Picked a nice bowlful of Winter Density Lettuce for lunch .

These teeny tiny lettuce seedlings are more than ready to be pricked out and potted on .

    My second batch of Kale needs to go out now .Also a few P.S.B. and also a few cabbages .

Not happy with this strange compost but it 'll have to do . 

I try not to use too much of it as it is so expensive . I seem to be able to get away with only filling the pots .... hmm... just a little bit over half way . I think with lettuces it is more important to keep them cool and well watered .

Then out into the vegetable garden to pull off the wretched net cover again .

                              Here we go .

I couldn't fit them all in . I'll put some in another bed ...but not today ..I am tired and aching now .

Not just from gardening , but from having had my Flu jab last Saturday and then the Covid jab yesterday . I don't usually get any reaction to them , other than a sore arm . ...but I am really aching ,tired and sneezing today , as if I have a cold coming on . It will pass .

  I'm so glad to have got these vaccines done to give us protection over the coming winter months .

So the job I hate the most when I'm feeling tired , is pulling the net cover over again and rearranging all the bricks around it .... but it has to be done !

    Sunshine and showers today and I think improving over the next couple of days  .

                         Having a restful afternoon 🍁🍃🍂

Busy Busy Busy Bee me !

                                         Veg seedlings ready to plant out !
 So much has been happening this last week or two ... the good news from my hero surgeon at the hospital ....kidney cancer scan looked good and my next scan will be in a years time ... made for a  wonderful Birthday present and I had a lovely birthday and some lovely birthday pressies too . I will show you what I got next time ! :)
 It was Flora Day in Helston on Saturday and also  World Labyrinth Day ...but I didn't do either of these because I was having a wonderful time dancing at Nawarra's Workshop weekend . ...learning lots of different styles of Moroccan dance .
 Somehow my Achilles tendon survived..it has been swollen and I,ve had ultra sound on it and Physio on the following Monday ..I have exercises to do which are to make the tendon get stronger ....seem to be working , although Mike (my physiotherapist ) says the lump might not ever completely go down .
 We,ve had quite a drought this last month , and with rain on the forecast , I really wanted to get out some of my veg seedlings .

I,ve grown a selection of Purple Sprouting  Broccoli , a few varieties of both Cabbages and Kale .

 French Beans  completely failed last year ,never let me down before ..so this year I have started them off in the greenhouse (unheated) I will wait a little bit longer before planting them out though . Also started off Peas and Mangetouts inside this year .

                                              Here are the Runner Beans !

  They really were desperately trying to escape ! So I thought with some beautiful rain on the way, now would be a good time to get them out . Oh ! The Moon phase was right too apparently .

 I decided to grow my Runners in the same place on last years frame..I know it's breaking the rules ! I just didn't think I would have the energy to put up another one after all the dancing , before the rain that evening .
       Goodness me ..I have been praying for rain !
 Sorry everyone ..I thought that Flora Day was going to be on the Monday 8th May ..by tradition it usually is , unless the 8th of May falls on a Sunday and then it takes place on the Saturday ....... so my prayer was answered and it rained ...... not my fault o.k ?

                 Lovely Mangetout peas easy to grow these are a variety called  Norli .

                        Hurst Greenshaft Peas ...and I will get these in and sow more .

     Get them all in before the rain...( my back is aching )....go cut some more pea sticks  ...

These are a couple of last year'sFrench breakfast Radish plants that I left to flower for the bees .
  I must sow some more ..these French Breakfast radishes are really yummy and not too hot on the tongue either !

Happy bees with their legs heavy with pollen . One day I would so like to have a couple of Bee hives and have my own honey . It is all so expensive though ...but I do love to watch the bees . Maybe I'll sow the seeds from these flowers..thankyou bees !

                  Pea sticks pushed in and windmill whirling around to keep the birds off .

I did make a start digging the holes for the French Bean frame though .

 I also planted the PSB (Purple Sprouting Broccoli ) Cabbages and Kale and found the environmesh cloche to put over them all ....to keep the pigeons off . That just leaves the snails and slugs...some sharp grit /sand around them . Start saving crushed eggshells     ..they dont like to creep over that .
 Can anyone tell me of an easy way to clean environmesh ?

 Then water in ..using the very last rain water in the water butt . Actually we have four water butts and should probably fix up a couple more . Fresh energised rain water so much better for my plants than tap water .