Training the Jasmine

The Jasmine (J. officinale) has gotten big, but it's been growing towards a point.  I want it to spread; so I've strung my remaining wire over the arbour, untangled the plant from itself, separated the larger vines and threaded them around the arbour framework with the support of the wire.

It looks overwired right now, but you look again in a year from now...

I've got some wire running to the frontpiece, which should promote curtaining (which is awesome!)

Cuteness happened.  Bloody annoying that he's dug up my garlic, but cute all the same.  

I borrowed a brazier.  Ten minutes later I was going "I HAVE GOT TO GET ME ONE OF THESE!"

And I've been getting equipped for college.  I'm weak on maths so I've been reading this a lot. 

Lastly then: I saw a caterpillar in the garden; big hairy bugger.  Caterpillars are unique to the butterfly or moth they become, but I've not found a match.  Any ideas?

Later.  Jx

Jo's Strimmer!

Because if I'm gonna be cracking puns anyway then they might as well be about the frontman of my favourite band.

So happy about this right now!  A) new toy, B) flat lawn, C) cut grass smell, D) NEW TOY!  

I found a ton of dessicated dog poo that had fallen below the horizon.  Now that the lawn is flat I should have no problems spotting it early.  

  Other things: the potatoes were overlapping the thyme and alliums, so I've put in some bamboo.  

I now have red strawberries!

The runner beans have gotten as tall as the bamboo.  

And tarred most of the roof of the shed.  The bit I've missed I'll get with a long-handled roller on the next dry day we get.  The stuff stinks and it goes on like Marmite, but that's bitumen for ya.  

And lastly I've given the lawn a good feed to help it recover from its first mowing.  

It looks so much neater for a good mowing, but more than that, doing something that's a visible change for the better has lifted me right out of the blues.  

Once more:  NEW TOY!!!

Good times.  

Boi-oi-oing!

Spring is springing!  My crops are well on the grow.

Spuds:

Strawbs: 

TINY BABY LEEKS; SQUEE!!!

Last year I planted a Jasmine at the foot of the arbour.  I read up on it before I planted it, so I knew it died back in the Winter, but I didn't realise just how much it dies back!  All the leaves fell off and the vines shrank and turned a very dark green.  I was convinced by March that it had died.  I thought "crap, I'm gonna have to dig this one out, amend the soil and go buy a new one".  Then just as I was contemplating doing the work we had the first hot sun of the year and the Jasmine burst into life, grew half a foot and sprouted a mass of leaves in less than a week!  Now it looks like this: 

I fully expect that Jasmine to be a further foot taller come the Autumn.  Also in Spring news, my lawn received its annual infestation of weeds.  This year however I used a weed knife and cleared half the lawn in a few hours.  I really must recommend a weed knife.  Compared with a hand fork it takes a third the time, a quarter the effort, and leaves the grass minimally damaged; whilst hand-forking is hard, long, sweaty labour that leaves your lawn looking like it lost a fight with a platoon of moles.  Seriously, get a weed knife.  Best tenner ever spent!

So yeah, all in all I'd say there's no overstating the boon that a little sunshine can bring to my garden.  And of course as soon as there's hot sun on the grass you'll catch Bill outside, shedding his Winter stoicism in favour of his Summer friskiness!  

Until next time xx

Alliums, Blackcurrants and Cuteness

Got another three sacks of that organic, peat-free compost that I like (and it's great that it's 3 big sacks for £12), and I've planted up the second bed.  This one's the allium bed.  I've planted, from the left:
Leeks (Musselburgh), Onions (Ailsa Craig), Garlic (buggered if I know).

 The allium bed is shallower than the potato bed for now as I had to top up the potato bed with half a sack of compost because somebody has been digging up my spuds.  And my lawn.  Somebody who's going the right way towards being a furry hat with earflaps.

The lawn's greened up a treat; but in a week or two I'm gonna feel the need, the need for a reseed.

Now George likes to climb into the Strawbrary via a rip he's made in the netting at the back, so that he can get as close as possible to the cat that lives a few doors Eastward and over the back before barking furiously.  This is a behaviour we've tried to discourage in various ways, of course, but still he rips the netting as fast as I can fix it.  So today I've planted a big blackcurrant plant in that corner, and I'll be putting a trellis over it just as soon as the stain has dried.  That'll go some way toward excluding George and keeping my strawberries from being trampled any further.

Lastly then, because I did indeed promise cuteness:

George, of course... ;p