The Planting out begins !

 So we're just back from a lovely week away .... but a little worrying since the morning we  on which we left  , I had young plants only a short time out of the greenhouse , left to harden off ...the weather had suddenly turned very hot . I had to leave all the greenhouse windows open , worried about my veg seedlings and cacti about to flower , but everything is fine . ..and there was also the small matter of my having seen a young deer in the veg garden ,actually on the morning that we left ! No idea where it had come from....never before seen any deer here on the Lizard ....any one know anything about deer around Mullion  ?  Delightful to see , but I was concerned that it would hurt itself as it scrabbled through one of my fences .
  Anyway  as you can see I added an extra hazel pole at each end of the bean frame for extra strength . Put on the horrible green plastic netting that I have recycled for the  last three years . I take great care to remove all the dead vines and roll it up tying a rag to the ends so that I can unroll it again the next season ,like you do your Christmas fairy lights : )

Last Earth Day I made myself a resolution to become more plastic aware , that is I will recycle what plastic items I still have and then use alternatives .

This year I am growing Firestorm Runnerbeans which are said to be a cross between runnerbeans and french beans .They germinated very quickly , these have been hardened off and I planted out about 8 of them . The courgettes are germinating rather erratically , which is good I suppose ...the largest of these I nestled into the warm earth and spread sharp grit around . Six Swift sweetcorn  in blocks of three , I will sow some more direct into the earth now .

 On the other side of the frame I have sown  direct into the earth Blue Lake climbing beans and a few Prizewinner Runnerbeans . I will still sow some more in the greenhouse, just in case and to get succession of crops .
 I have pushed in some spriggy hazel pea sticks for some peas to climb up . The peas are germinating on the kitchen windowsill at the moment...this way the mice dont eat the seed and they dont seem to bother with them once they're up .

I am also trying to not buy so many bamboo canes now , they are shipped in from far away and are expensive . I will use the ones I still have till they are not fit for purpose .
 So this means a little bit of hard work cutting my own  hazel bushes , which I am lucky to have . I make use of the branches , cutting them so that I can hang up my coat and garden tools close by  to where I,m working..you cant do that with bamboo canes !
Bamboo canes get brittle and sharp , you can really hurt yourself on them if you're not careful , I am constantly looking for things to cover the cane tops with , so that no one will poke their eye on them .
I will still use them to thread through the chicken wire surrounding each of the veg beds though , to keep the bunnies out .I just cant get the Hazel sticks to push through the holes in the chicken wire so easily .  I would like to not use horrible chicken wire and make woven Hazel hurdle fences around the veg beds ..but I dont have enough hazel to do this .
 Oh well , there you go ...but at least I am becoming more thoughtful about all this .

 My Tibetan Prayer flags are looking a little worn now , but God and the rain ,the sun and the moon know that I am trying to be a more careful Earth loving person .

                                                        Cheerio for now !

Trachycarpus fortuneii

The last few days have been quite hot here in Mullion  ( I,ve put on my shorts ! ) ....and there is an real urgency to get things done out in the garden , before the ground turns too hard  to dig .
  We had found this little Trachycarpus fortuneii at a local nursery , at a bargain price a couple of years ago . When we got it home , we couldn't decide where to put it ,  the ground was rock hard and it was coming into Autumn anyway so it needed to be put into a sheltered place for the time being . So I dug a hole into the soft and warm compost heap , where it has been fairly happy all this time .
    So the above picture shows the compost heap , which I used to regularly turn over and was my pride and joy .

 Then I got sick and had a big op and couldn't manage do it and the nettles and blooming bindweed has spread through it and actually now the whole area needs some serious restructuring .

 The Trachycarpus seems O.K. I think , but needs to be in its final place in the ground now .   It has put out babies around its base ....maybe this is a sign of the plant being stresses ...not sure .....

       So , out with my trusty garden fork..oh those nettles .....heave ho !..and.... I couldn't photograph this bit.....there was no swearing...but quite a lot of huffing and groaning .

                                            ...........into the wheel barrow .

                         Next to dig a hole ....with my little  gardening assistant .

                     
                                                More huffing and puffing .

                                               What do you think Birdie ?
                                                  " Hang on ! "she says .

                                                          " Wait a minute ! "

                                                                 "Wait ! "

                                                              " O.K ! "

             All clear  ! Line it up and roll over the wheelbarrow and it should just.....

          land beautifully perfectly at the same level it was in the compost heap  .

      Very happy me ....apart from my legs now being covered in mosquito bites .

Trevaskis Farm

Blue sky , swallows , the sound of the cuckoo , bluebells, ransoms, celandine , buttercups and daisies . The trees are waking up  , the leaves on this Oak tree looked golden against the blue sky .
 Such a lovely day , Jessica and I had planned to go on a trip to Trevaskis Farm .... .....

                                                    ........ for pudding !

                                                 Well ..it was my birthday !
   I had the apple and blueberry crumble with Cornish clotted cream ....mmmmm......and Jessica had the longest chocolate eclair I,ve ever seen .

The restaurant  is spacious , airy and light , spotlessly clean  and   fresh are the words that come to mind .
 The staff are cheerful and most friendly ,both in the restaurant and in the wonderful Farm Shop , where we filled our baskets with delicious bread and cheese , relish , fresh veggies , dandelion and burdock .  We spent a long time just looking at all the good things  .

                                       Then off for a long walk around the farm  .

                                There is a lovely veg garden you can go and sit in .

Then to look at the happy hens in their dust bath dozing in the warm sunshine .

                                             They really did look content .

                    We saw ducks and geese and goats and donkeys and sheep .

There is so much more than I have shown here .....you'll have to go there  and see for yourself  .

                                   Driving through pretty Cornish country lanes .

It was such a beautiful day .