The finished article!

Well, a bit late, but here's what the garden looks like. Well, did look like at the end of the summer. Still, got veg and stuff to look forward to now!

I've had a thought...

I think I'm trying too hard to get the exact preparations, so I'm off to get a book/website to tell me what to plant and when.  It's not like seeds are *that* expensive...  What can go wrong?

I'm trying to figure out what to do with this space. I got a free cold frame and made a raised wooden mount for it out of cheap decking boards. South is behind the camera, so it's bright without getting the afternoon sun. Decisions, decisions....

My back hurts!

After the wildlife extravaganza I got down to work. This effectively what the end result of an afternoon in the garden produces. And filling 10 bags of compost.

The raised bed on the left has cheap topsoil in the bottom third, them load in the middle third and 2" of mushroom compost in the top. Turning the lot makes the soil look like decent stuff. But it won't be 'till next year and the first harvest until I see if it's good for growing veggies.

The middle bit with the plant pots in is shaded 'cos south is to the right of the picture. But it gets evening sun so I'm hoping stuff will grow there - sweet peas, something climbing - elderflowers, perhaps??? Ideas, anyone?

The right hand bit I covered with compost today - Again, I', hoping it'll be able to grow vwggies here - it's went facing, so only gets sun in the late afternoon, as I've 2 mature Oak trees to the south of me which shade the garden during the middle of the day.

The path up the middle is all bark chippings - It's nice and soft, and with a membrane underneath it it should be nice and clean to walk on and at the end of the year should provide a load of nice mulch!

I moved my compost heap today - I've got 20 bags of mostly compost, intermixed with lots of twigs and sprouted acorns - roots galore! While moving a bag I saw this little fella - a Common Lizard, apparently. It's a young one as it was 4cm nose to tail. So I took a few pics and watched him wander off back amongst the bags I'd done earlier.
I just wish I had a good quality macro lens and a proper flash. These are taken with my Canon Ixus in Macro mode with the flash off. The flash seems to produce an image that looks un-natural to me. And I don't have photoshop.....





Now this chap appeared after I dumped a wheelbarrow load of compost onto a raised bed. So they must have been living deep in the compost heap. Lot's of worms, so I guess that makes sense. Unless I'm very much mistaken, it's a Common Toad. But this chap's a definate brown colour. The previous one was much greener.

So I've got two Toads!!


I'm trying to figure out where they've come from and what I need to do to keep them. There's a hedgehog as well, as I've definately seen some hedgehog poo.

Pond life...

... only we don't have a pond.

This little fella (a Common Toad, apparently) was on the new patio as I was clearing up last night.  I got confused as all the pics of them were brown and this guy was much greener than the pic suggests.  But at least I know what's been digging in the flower beds now - and where the little holes under the fence came from.  I was worried it was a rat!!

It's amazing what home composting can do.
At Easter I hired a petrol shreader( they're so much better than electric ones - which I always manage to jam or break), chopped back last years growth and, together with lawn cuttings and the leaves from the two oak trees behind us, set out to make compost. A Gardners World program (just about the only episode I've ever watched) suggested making a composter out of palets, so I di just that. 5 palets from homebase (for free) later and I got going. Having had weeds grow up through the ground on a previous attempt at home composting (using old fence panels) I got half a dozen concrete slabs from Wickes and put them down as a base. Then nailed the 5 palets together, cut up some old fence bits as slats for the front and got shreading.

I completely filled one half with shreadings, leaves and grass cuttings. And the pic is what's there 3 months in. It's absolutely heaving with worms now, which I guess is a good thing. I try to turn it every week or two and keep it 'sponge' wet. Last week it got too dry and the ants moved in, so todays task was turning it and watering it as we went. So I forked and Jenny watered. My back's now killing me.

I got a few plastic terracotta coloured pots at the dump today when I was getting rid of some old engine oil, so that's a win. I'm now on the lookout for cheap 'pots' - I was reading that one guy got a load of reject bathroom bins without lids for 50p each! Freecycle here I come!