Autumn Planting Onions - 4th Oct 2019

Out into the veg garden again . I didn't really feel like doing it ,  but taking down the Runnerbean frame just had to be done .
 Back in the Spring I coppiced my Hazel and Willow ....and had taken the Willow by mistake to use for the Runnerbean frame ..only realising after I had fixed it all up ......and planted out  the young bean plants ...and then couldn't be bothered to do it all again .

            I,m trying to be a "no-dig" gardener ....but these had to be dug out .
                                               One hell of a job !

 Look at those roots !  I have nowhere to plant these so they will now be left to dry out and eventually become kindling for the fire .
                  Unless you know anyone who would like them !

 The French-bean frames are fine , I used Hazel for them , some have dried out and will be cut up  for kindling and some I can use again .
 I,m going to grow Sweetpeas here on this wigwam and will be sorting out my seeds to do this later on today .
 I harvested a few more beans from them yesterday , I think I will just sow the Sweetpea seeds in amongst the the roots of these beans and keep the netting onto keep the bunnies out .
 We are forecast heavy rain tomorrow to get  them all germinating fast in the still warm earth .

 What I really needed to do ,  was plant out all my onion sets .
 I had bought double the amount of them this year , to share with my daughter .
I like to start them off in modules...it is worth the extra effort ,to get a good root system growing away before planting them out . I have found that I get  much stronger , healthier plants which grow away faster and also with a better root system the  birds are less likely to pull them out ; they mistake the onion sets little shoots for worms . Some people cut off the new shoots......if that works for you fine ..... but ...I don't do that , poor little onion sets need those leaves to photosynthesise . Anyway this works  for me !

 So I gently planted them all , about 200 of them into the still warm earth .

 I found a bit  more space over in the brassica bed where I had harvested some of my Brussels-sprouts  the other day . Sprouts now frozen and in freeflow packs in the freezer . There are still more Sprouts to come , and I,m much happier now that we are seeing less of the Cabbage White Butterflies as Autumn is now much more noticeably approaching .  ( no frosts though )
 Further up country I think frosts are beginning to happen , we rarely get frost here .

 So I planted more Onion sets into this bed . This bed was heavily manured last Winter ....and the Runnerbeans will have fixed nitrogen into the earth in the other onion bed .
  It is so important to give back to the Earth and I always make sure to do so .

                   Back aching and I still had quite a few onion sets left over .

So these I planted into the Veg-Trug , in amongst the Lettuces , Coriander and Dill . I have covered this with Environmesh just to give a bit more protection from the wind and cold .

 The big storm Lorenzo just brushed past us here in the far South West of  Cornwall . It is very warm and humid  ....but there are gloomy rain threatening clouds overhead ......which for me is good ....meaning that I wont have to water the onion sets in !

                                Very happy to have got this job done !

 I quickly threw over a spare cloche to deter the wild birds ...but once they,ve settled in they wont need any cloche .
 So now a more relaxing day .....sorting out my Sweetpea seeds  :)
   Wishing you all a beautiful weekend ! x

So where is the rain ? The sun is shining here today !

  It has been mild and misty with heavy rain showers the last couple of days  .
We were forecast more today ...it was supposed to be torrential rain with thunder and lightening  . . . .

 ...... but look ! The sun is shining in blue sky !  We went for a walk along the cliffs at The Lizard Point .
 

The cliffs , the sea , the birds , the wild flowers  .....all just magnificent !
It is possible to see seals , dolphins and basking sharks . Sea birds , Buzzards Kestrels and famously Choughs .
                  The scenery is just breath-taking !

The Lizard is the most southerly point of British mainland and is a place that everyone should come and visit .

  Before continuing on our walk , we stopped off at Polpeor Cafe Lizard Point , who made us feel very welcome .
   We sat at a table with magnificent views over the cliffs and sea .....just wow !
I really enjoyed my cup of tea  and husband had a cup of coffee .We shared a perfectly done toasted tea cake . I,m very fussy about how I like my toasted tea cakes...I do not like them burnt around the edges....this was .... perfect ! mmmm .
    Next time , we will have lunch there too , as it looked good on the menu !
 

We walked a very long way , you feel as if you could just keep walking here , wanting to see around the next headland and explore the beaches and caves further round at Kynance . I,ll take you all there another day !
 We walked further than we should have and forgot about the long walk back , but we enjoyed every minute of it .

We stood and watched the waves crashing over the rocks below , enjoying the warm sunshine and breathing in the fresh sea air  .

          The red tinged leaves of Carpobrotus edulis or "Hottentot Fig" .

Some are flowering even now , scrabbling over these warm South facing cliffs .
These I love to see ! They are , what I and many visitors look forward to seeing  !

 Also the Mesembryanthemums or "Sally-Me 'ansoms" as they are fondly known by in these parts of Cornwall .
 We didn't see any Basking Sharks , Dolphins , Seals or Choughs today ,  but did so enjoy our walk .

Sparrowhawk

                We were thrilled to see this female Sparrowhawk yesterday .
                  At this point I,m hiding behind a bulge in the Cornish hedge .

            It had caught a pigeon , in the lane , right outside  our front gate .
I quietly crept up as close to the Cornish hedge as I could and at the last minute popped as little of myself as I could ......and took as many photos as I could before she flew up into the trees .
  I hid behind our front hedge and waited . She kept returning , but every time I began to creep out again a car would come down and she would fly off again .

 She came back and I crept up again , my heart thumping , one very hungry bird , she let me get quite close .

               I took lots more photos before she flew up and along the lane .....

                                   ........this time carrying her prey .

   Female Sparrowhawks are larger than the male and will go for larger birds , but this is about her limit in how much she can carry in flight .

                       She struggled to carry it a bit further up the lane ....

She landed here and I decided to leave her be and finish her meal in peace .
   Later on we heard much screeching and we realised that we had not one , but a pair of Sparrowhawks trying to get to the Ravens nesting in our tallest pine-tree .
  I took lots more photos but I am afraid they are mostly blurred as these amazing birds fly so fast ! 

   See !  So I wont put anymore of those on .....but I can tell you I stood outside watching all this going on directly over my head !  Just such an amazing sight !

It was quite a spectacle !  The Sparrowhawks are very determined  ,the female sat watching and waiting for an opportunity to swoop in , but the Ravens held their own and defended their territory and nest . I didn't see them get anything from the nest .
    Wow !
                 Anyway ..... it is October already ! 
     The sweep came and swept the chimney and made sure our wood-stove is all clean and safe to use  . In good time too  .  Much rain ....more on the way...thunder and lightening forecast too  !