Getting a New Greenhouse Soon ! 🌿🌺🌵🐌

 

                                     Where have all the Epiphyllums gone ? !

Well , I'm getting a new greenhouse soon ,as this one is falling to pieces . Spent most of the day moving out cacti and succulents .

I need to repot most of them , but only had time to give them a quick tidy up with my scissors . Then into the wheelbarrow and down to the the front porch .

I managed to take out the big scary ones down at the back of the greenhouse . Opuntias and one huge Esposta ( I think it is ) I need to renew all their labels too .

                       Leuchtenbergia principis 🌿

                                 Euphorbia stellata 🌿

I managed to squirrel most of the Epies into the porch ...the big dangerous Opuntias in the far corner .

There's still space to squeeze a few more little cactus sweeties in here .

There are two shelves up above and a couple of hooks for hanging baskets . They should be o.k up there while the old greenhouse is being taken down and until the new one is built .

The new one is going to be the same size and style as the old one ( even though I could easily fill one three times the size ! ) 🙏🏻I did try begging for a bigger one ,💰💰 but funds would not stretch to that and really ..... I am grateful truly for the new one that is coming . 🤍🌿

It's been a lovely sunny day here and I am so pleased to have got this ..well ..almost done .

I will carry on with it tomorrow . 💚🌵💚🌿

Making space for Tomato Plants - Greenhouse

 Yesterday update - Spent all afternoon and evening in the greenhouse trying to make space for my tomato , cucumber and sweet pepper plants .

As you can see from the slimy trails on the window , the slugs and snails are waking up big time .

I apologise for the dark pictures but the sun was just beginning to go down .

My task was to move all the cacti up to the far end of the greenhouse , so that I can grow the Tomatoes nearer the door so that I can reach to pick them without doing myself an injury from the cacti . Last year I grew them too far up into the corner and I just couldn't reach !

I had to make space under the bench too . The plants will be growing in the same grow pot/bags that I used last year . I found I could squish in more plants than if I'd used rigid plastic pots or tubs . These will be set on long plastic trays to catch water .

The sweet peppers will be on top of the bench fighting for space and light in amongst the tomatoes and cucumbers . It's a tough life , but there you go !  

I will pot these into their final bag/pots today . The pot/bags will only be partially filled with compost and I will top them up as the plants grow . The plants will put out more roots along their stems , thus making stronger plants . I also have to fix up the strings , from floor to the rafters of the greenhouse roof to wind the tomato and cucumber vines around as they grow . 

Oh ..and I also quickly planted out the first wave of Dwarf French Beans into my husband's veg trug for him . A bit early I know . Taking a risk I know . Sometimes this pays off ! Fingers crossed . The spinach , coriander, dill, spring onions and lettuces and a couple of strawberries all doing fine . The Flashy Trout Lettuces have turned bright red in the recent wild gales ....the ones in the shed are bigger and more green with speckled red leaves . We have already had two pickings from these and along with some fresh mint leaves from elsewhere in the garden , we enjoyed delicious salads and sandwiches .

I am going to sow more French Beans and lettuces in the shed today , to keep 'm coming !

                                  Wishing you all a beautiful , beautiful weekend  !  xxx

Up early to see the Sun rising this morning

 

                            Up early to get outside and enjoy the sunrise !

                                            What a beautiful morning ! 

No frost this morning , a tad milder dare I say ...never the less I wrapped up warm to go up to check the greenhouse .

I have been laying sheets of  newspaper over everything in there over night and pulling it all off in the mornings this week . It just helps to trap a bit of warmth around all my cacti and succulents  . 

 For the last two nights I lit two candles in the lantern , which also helps a little bit .

This usually gets my plant collection through the winter . 

 The  Velthemia is slowly beginning to push up its flower spike . I,m thinking of bringing it in doors to enjoy on  my kitchen windowsill .

 I gather up all the newspaper sheets and being distracted by something else , I keep forgetting to do it !

This is what distracted me this morning . Marlothistella uniondalensis is smothered in buds again !  I am delighted ! This is my favourite , sweet little darling plant of all !

Time for brekkers !  Cheerio for now my lovelies ! 

Re-potting Cacti and Preparing the greenhouse for Winter .

 Remember this ? I bought it at a boot fair years ago maybe 15 or twenty years ago .
  Two cacti in a heavy glass vase . .... not really the best way to grow them !
I should have re-potted it straight away .... but as you know time flies..and it seems to have been quite happy and has flowered for me many times .

  Anyway , I finally gave myself the kick up the backside to get on and re-pot the poor old thing .

 After sliding a knife aroun the sides of the vase , they both slid out quite easily and I pulled them apart  . . . I wore a pair of thick gloves for this bit  , but then found them easier to handle without gloves , since the roots were so compacted .

   Nice fresh cactus compost moulded around the sides and bottom of the pot .

                              Making a well to gently drop the cactus into .

I managed to do this without getting prickles in my fingers ...because the roots were so compacted , it was surprisingly easy to handle ....with bare hands  !

                I planted it leaning to one side with the babies uppermost .....

                         .......... to give them space to fill out as they grow .

Sadly I couldn't find a nice pot for the other one ...sigh .....so into a black plastic pot for the time being .

    I cut the top off it with the scissors , the part that was dead and crusty ....maybe I should cut it down lower still  ? Cacti usualy respond by putting out new growth ..in this case from the base of the plant .
  It does look a bit rough doesn't it ? I wont be entering it any shows  . However , let's give it a chance to recover .   Plants aren't always perfect out in the wild either and in my opinion that's what makes them so much more interesting !

They look better already and I topped them off with a nice mulch of horticulteral grit .

         So next I have these two Opuntis to re-pot  ....  not so friendly these !

To make things even more difficult the one one the right has leaned over and put roots down into the pot of the one on the left !  The one on the left has particularly vicious spines and glochids .
   I stood and looked at the pair of them ....this is going to be tricky .
Plant them together in one big trough/pot ?    Seperate them ?  I need to give it more thought .
                                              Aah ! Do it tomorrow !  :)

   And with that , I put everything back and continued tidying and preparing the greenhouse for winter .
        To be continued ..........

Parodia magnifica loveliness !

I found this lovely chunky glass vase with two cacti growing in it at a boot fair in Falmouth about 20 years ago . I kept meaning to re-pot them , but never got around to it . At the time it had a dried flower glued on top , which I was lucky enough to peel off without damaging the crown .  Ever since then , it has been quite happy and flowered  nearly every year with these gorgeous , silky pale lemon -yellow blooms .

                                       It has a slight sweet fragrance .

                                                Parodia magnifica
It comes from the grasslands of South America - Brazil , Paraguay , Uruguay and Argentina . In it's natural habitat it experiences the hot sun by day although it prefers and gets some partial shade by grasses, but the nights can be very cold . So it is quite a tough plant and does just fine in my unheated greenhouse here in Cornwall England .
 I never seem to notice the buds forming and the flowers always surprise and delight me .

                     It is tucked away towards the back of my greenhouse .
                      Rather neglected I,m afraid .....along with those giant Opuntias .

                               This morning I noticed that it has babies !

I think the time has come to give it a nice new pot and some fresh compost . 

I have no idea what the other cactus is , but it is not looking very happy .
The vase is lovely , but not really the right thing for growing a cactus in  .
I am going to have a think about it and see what I can do for them tomorrow .
 The weather is still unbearably hot and I,m finding it hard keeping up with watering the vegetable garden which has priority over everything else at the moment .
  We badly need rain , I will take out as many of my plants as I can from the greenhouse to catch the next rainfall and give it a good clean  .

 

Meanwhile up in the Veg Garden ....

 We,ve had a very windy night and heavy rain ... but the sun did make an appearance and I thought take that opportunity to wrap up warm and venture out to check my greenhouse hadn't blown away .
 On the way up I can see that I,m going to have to replace the windbreak mesh that I had sewn on to the fence that surrounds the vegetable garden .  Especially behind the Labyrinth ...I am also going to plant something along there that will look nicer too , although I do like that I can see through the mesh across the meadow ..hmmm ... will have to have another think about that ...but that windbreak is so important to shelter my veg beds .

 The VegTrug is full of goodies , but we're in for a cold clear night sky tonight so I have put on the plastic cloche cover and fastened it down with some of those metal tent pegs and some bricks .

                                           That looks so much better !

                                      Lettuces , onions , kale, cabbages .

Oh dear ! The greenhouse is leaking ! I,m not sure where it's coming in either !
 Anyway , So I tipped that water away , moved a whole lot of precious cacti and put a bowl under the place where I suspect it is coming in .

 I have covered over the more tender Cacti with newspaper to keep them warm over night . I will pop in again later on with two 8 hour candles to take the edge off the cold and everything should be fine . I will uncover in the morning .

In my husband's solar shed , the Gete okosomin is just fine..the two little ones have begun to turn black , I will throw these on the compost heap .The seeds I am sharing will be from that big one !

 This is the awesome no dig keyhole bed that I made over the last year and a half.
This is the basket in the middle , the watering hole that , has a large bucket/tub with holes in the bottom .....this was brilliant for getting the water deep down into the earth and around the roots ..it kept the whole thing cool and moist .
If you are in a really hot zone , or if there were drought conditions , you could weave a simple shade with sticks or straw ,to go over the top of this basket to help prevent evaporation .

 I did cover this now empty bed over with cardboard ..but it has blown away ,so I will have to start again..remember to weight it down with rocks ...note to self !!!

( For those who can see fairy spirits .. there's one in the middle of this photograph !   Can you see her ?  ..yes !....For those that can't...it will just look like a pink orb ! )  :)

Here's another no dig /lasagna bed being prepared for the next veg growing season .

I know all that cardboard and sludgy seaweed , newspapers and manure looks untidy to some..but it keeps down the weeds...cuts down on digging...and improves the earth and feeds the good worms ...and grows great vegetables !

 This bed has next season's onions, a leek soon to be taken and put into a meal .
I,m also trying to get perennial kale growing .

  The Tetrapanax papyrifer rex  is not really enjoying the winter ...but will revive in the Spring .

                                                   Lots of Leeks .

      Leeks are so useful and stand the cold very well and we love them !

                                           We use lots of Kale too .

                     The odd Nasturtium still flowering and romping away .

                                         A few Roses to surprise me !

               Brrrr.......time to go in..I'll just  top up the bird feeders  .

 What ?  No peanuts ? !   So expensive ...but the birds give me so much pleasure from my kitchen windowsill ..o.k..We're wrapping up warm again and off to the shops to buy some more .   Byeeeeee !