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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on Feb 2, 2010 19:40:55 GMT 1
When I last spoke with Jack, he'd had nothing submitted for a newsletter, but also he hasn't been too well, and had a short spell in hospital. (Not sure why.) I know he usually gets SAD during the winter months, though. It might be best if we all just post our gardening news, views and chat in this thread, and, if I can get a mailing list of the GFG's, I'll send the others a link here. I'll keep my eyes open around here for lilac lobelia seeds. There was some in the made up hanging baskets sold locally last year. If I can, I hope to get some brackets for hanging baskets put up on the building's posts down at LT. I was thinking of doing perennial ones and using evergreen plants in those, rather than the usual, brightly coloured annuals. They could be put high enough up the post so the chickens and horses couldn't get at them, or the latter knock their heads on them. Quite possibly the local robin or blackbird might see them as possible nesting sites, though! Other news/gossip I have heard relating to members include a report of a goshawk appearing over Sharom's allotment, and just after he had let his loft of fancy pigeons out for some exercise. A magnificent, and rare bird to see as closely as Sharom and my ex-husband were to it as it hunted the poor pigeons. (Last year there was a nest of them apparently not far away.) On that occasion, the goshawk had picked out a strong and agile, high-flying tumbler pigeon as its potential prey. After quite a display of skills on the part of both birds, the pigeon did manage to live another day. However, Sharom found evidence of a kill in his allotment a few days prior to witnessing the above display, and a farm up on the hill that breeds poultry and ducks has been losing a lot of ducklings to the hawks and local buzzards. Meirion and Hanne have been doing a fair bit of tidying up in their 'Serenity Garden' over the winter, and using much bark chip on the paths and clearings there. That FOC after spotting workmen busy hedge cutting nearby and using a chipper. Despite claiming they didn't want children, Ari and Cal had a son on 15th December - Daniel Morgan - which has prompted Cal to fence off an extra bit of the adjacent field, overhung by an oak tree with a perfect branch for a swing, and with the intention of creating a child-friendly, enclosed 'play garden' with a lawn. I can't help recalling him once saying that nobody would catch him mowing a lawn on a Sunday... We shall see! Sue and Dave have some ideas for progress in the LT Bird Garden, but the weather's been too bad to do anything of late. I've been trying to souce a weeping willow or two for that, but one that will mature between 15' and 20' only. Not had much luck yet, and may have to settle for one that will mature at only about 5'. I have found a website that sells crab apple trees, though. Hope to order some of those soon.
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Post by Florrie on Feb 3, 2010 9:46:22 GMT 1
thanks for the update Ali have the first snowdrops in flower in the garden other than that all looking very sorry for its self have had to move the birdtable as the dogs( ie charley) was trashing the border below it looking for any thing to eat also who took part in the RSPB birdwatch at the weekend ( we did quite well blackbirds, blue tits, starlings, pidgeons and our resident robin ( who I think is biulding a nest in the ivy hedge) and yes and still trying to gets some photos
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Post by petdesigns on Feb 3, 2010 16:48:36 GMT 1
Congratulations for (to? getting totally mixed up again!) Daniel Morgan!! My TRPD-garden on the field is pretty much 'smashed' (duckered?) by the ducks using it as their favourite slug-hunting site! But I'm sure the geraniums will survive! Once we get on a bit more with the garden, I'll take photos! Oh - and on the field we're planning to get chicken as well!
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on Feb 3, 2010 19:23:32 GMT 1
I think you mean on (the birth of) Daniel, Jutta. Cal chose that name, and Morgan is a family name in Ari's family. Her late paternal grandfather was Morgan, but usually called Mog, the same as my old mare. I remember him from my teenage years, and he was a great raconteur. Especially after a couple of pints in the local pub! Ducks are great slug hunters, but at least they don't tend to scratch everything up as chickens do.
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Post by petdesigns on Feb 4, 2010 12:00:22 GMT 1
OK then, ON the birth I was immensely useless yesterday - all that water bucket carrying for the ducks and geese especially in the really cold spells and too much work 'at work' had left my back in a rather sorry state - so I got a steroid injection yesterday which knocked me for six - I could hardly walk all day But I'm fine now, just waiting for my brain to work properly again....
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on Feb 4, 2010 14:25:53 GMT 1
Hope you will be feeling 100% better very soon, Jutta. This wet weather is now playing havoc with my arthritis, including my right thumb, which is making sewing difficult. Most frustrating.
Still not managed to track down a weeping willow tree of the eventual size I'm after. If I don't act soon, I can see Sue filling the whole bird garden up with fruit trees! Don't suppose the birds will mind! I have to go to town tomorrow, so will have a chat with the manager of a store there that often have trees. I nearly bought a twisted hazel the other day, but the shape wasn't really as nice as some I have seen.
I don't know what others think, but if one wants trees as particular feature ones, my feelings are that they need to be asthetically good, shape-wise.
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Post by petdesigns on Feb 4, 2010 15:33:31 GMT 1
Luckily, we've never looked for a 'feature tree', so haven't had that problem/never bothered about it much. But as I said before - I can get some weeping willow sticks you can plant, but of course it will be a while until they turn into a 'proper tree'. Back's much better today, thank you. It's been a a lot recently - Dicker collapsed with 'geriatric vestibular syndrome' 1.5 weeks ago. It's awful to watch, eyes flickering, no sense of balance whatsoever, falling over, being sick... We thought we'd lost him, but he has recovered very well, even though he's not quite back to being the old Dicker yet. He and Baine also suffer with arthritis in this wet, cold weather, despite being on Flexicam!
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Post by Florrie on Feb 5, 2010 9:37:27 GMT 1
sorry to hear about Dicker hope he is back to his old self soon take care
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on Feb 5, 2010 13:07:20 GMT 1
So sorry to hear about Dicker, Jutta. Let's hope he makes a full recovery very soon. If you could send me some weeping willow sticks, that would be lovely, thanks. I have quite a lot of Sharom's lupin seeds here that were donated to grow for the bird garden and swap for things to benefit that project, if you fancy swapping the sticks for some? They do attract bees and aphids for the birds to feed on. (Who would have thought of wanting to encourage aphids into a garden? ) Not sure if I mentioned it before, but the weight of the ivy on an old elder in the hedge behind the new building has finally brought that down. I'm now in a quandy over what to do with it. It's covered in ivy berries at the moment, and not really in the way where it has fallen, plus the robin has been known to nest in it. I THINK there should still be enough room to the south side of it to build a field shelter for the little ponies, and there is room the other side to walk between it and the back of the building where the water butts are situated to access those. Someone did offer to bring a chainsaw and deal with it, but I said not at the moment, so the birds will be able to feed and clear the berries. The ivy is still very much alive. I'll try to remember to get a photo of it. There is still quite a lot of debris there too from the old building, and the little wren, along with other birds, seem to like searching for insects there. Dai's been moving that around to clear the space for a mini digger to get in and level the ground where the field shelter will go. That disturbs the bugs, so the birds soon get in where bits have been moved. Once the field shelter goes up, the plan will be to plant a fast growing climber of some sort to disguise and cover it as much as possible. Perhaps a passion flower or Russian vine. Insects would benefit from either, hence the birds, too.
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on Feb 5, 2010 14:18:05 GMT 1
What do you think of this for a weeping willow feature tree with a bit of a difference? Salix purpurea pendula
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Post by petdesigns on Feb 5, 2010 17:51:22 GMT 1
That's a very nice willow!! Funny - we have a collapsed old tree on the field, also because of the ivy and also still in a lot of 'use' by the birds and insects! I'll see what I can do re the willow sticks (I've already placed a bid on the lupin seeds - and I'm sure I can survive a donation for LT! ) PS Dicker is steadily getting better - 3 walks a day and we are certainly not allowed to let him wait!!! ;D
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Post by Florrie on Feb 8, 2010 10:12:47 GMT 1
oh I like that willow ( would look nice in my tiny front garden ;D) am trying to get photos of birds honest so far this but can you just see the female blackbird
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Post by petdesigns on Feb 8, 2010 16:27:52 GMT 1
When I don't have the camera with me ... like this morning on the field! .. Mr Rob Robster, the Robin, is waiting for me and making it very clear that he's hungry and wants mealworms! only about 20 cm away from me staring at me. Perfect for photos... Sigh.
We're having a seed swap ("seedy saturday") in the village hall this Saturday! I hope it'll be a great success! Thankfully, there are quite a few keen gardeners / allotment peeps in the village, so it should be quite interesting.
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on Feb 8, 2010 17:42:37 GMT 1
Love the squirrel, Sue, and can just about identify the blackbird. Jutta, I'll be looking forward to hearing about how the seed swapping event goes. Is there a particular society behind that and doing the organising? If so, will they be doing plant swaps, too?
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Post by petdesigns on Feb 9, 2010 15:37:47 GMT 1
I'll "report" back to you, Al It's organised just by the village hall committee, I believe, to raise funds for the roof! I don't know about plant swaps, but there will be some sales stands - I'll try to sell some of our duck eggs and one of the organiser's garlic plants.
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on Feb 10, 2010 3:45:48 GMT 1
If it is a success, I daresay they'll want to organise more.
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Post by petdesigns on Mar 14, 2010 11:41:29 GMT 1
Sorry, I was ill the whole week after the event and then totally forgot to "report back"! The seed swap went quite well (we were mentioned on the BBC news Points West weather!), about 50 people turned up and we even got a write up (and a photo of the organiser Sam and ... myself, aarrggh) in the local newspaper. We'll definitely try to organise another one next year! I got quite a few 'local' veg seeds as well as some green manure seeds. Of course we have a flower show in September as well (including an official vegetable show, photographic competitions, baking, jam making and handicraft competitions and this year for the first time an egg show!) which is great fun
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on Mar 14, 2010 12:08:37 GMT 1
Sounds lovely, Jutta, and something to look forward to later in the year. Hope you are now fully recovered from your illness? Yesterday, I planted some rhubarb crowns in the lower side of the manure heap, and a couple of fruit bushes in the little terraced border that Peter prepared, along with some more strawberry plants to hang over the terrace wall as they develop. We could do with some rain now, though. (Never tought I'd say that!) The underground stream seems to have dried up for the first time since it was discovered. A bit of rain and a rise in temperature should help to bring things on, as everything is so late this year. My daffs still haven't opened, so are now over a fortnight behind last year.
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Post by petdesigns on Mar 16, 2010 18:33:57 GMT 1
Thank you - pretty much recovered, seems to come back every now and then, very odd!
I planted some strawberry plants yesterday and wildly thew some seeds around on 'my' flower bed. I hope they all survived last nights frost!
It's supposed to start raining tomorrow, Al! We could do with some more water, too!
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Post by Florrie on Mar 31, 2010 13:08:11 GMT 1
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