Clematis / Daisies / Brassicas
Posted: Monday 30 May, 2022
Monday 23rd May
Cool and overcast; Linda said it was 5C early this morning. Poor ewes, without their woolly coats. They love the beech hedge and keep it nicely trimmed along the sides. The lambs can get their wee noses through the netting and nibble there, while Bean and the BFLs get on their back legs and can reach quite high.
Snacking on the beech hedge.
The folk who are buying Bean are also buying Scoot, her two lambs and the two Ryeland x Shetland gimmers. Alistair was admiring the gimmers yesterday. If I was starting again, I think I’d go for Shetland ewes crossed to a Ryeland tup.
Office day today – got a list as long as your arm. Booked the livestock trailer in for its biannual service – he asked hard questions like “What model is it?” and “Does it have a sump?”.
Tuesday 24th May
Strange weather; thunder, heavy rain, warm sunshine and windy. Got a text from Nik, our cattle foot trimmer to say he can come tomorrow morning. Help ma boab! – I hope the cattle come in. The field they are in has a lot of grass. I’ve barely seen them for 48 hours.
I seem to be spending a lot of time on desk stuff. My brain hurts.
Wednesday 25th May
Still blustery and changeable – one minute heavy rain, then warm sunshine. Still, the grass should be growing.
All the cattle had their feet trimmed this morning. They were pretty well behaved, including Grey. That should be them now until after they calve. Fingers crossed.
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Bronte.
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Grey.
Took myself off to the cinema to watch “Top Gun: Maverick”. Loved it. Meanwhile, Dan planted out the rest of the Ailsa Craig tomatoes.
Thursday 26th May
The three varieties of Sunflower I sowed are through. They’ll need thinning so I’m wondering if I can pot them on. The calendula are showing too. The soil in that bed is awful – full manure dressing this winter. And all eight dahlias are showing and the sweet peas are coming away. So pleased.
Sunflowers.
Friday 27th May
Did some office stuff – Diesel helped.
Diesel in the in tray.
We’re seeing a lot of foxes just now. Thankfully, no damage. Our own short-legged fox decided to be a pig.
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Gwenna,the fourthspig.
Dan planted two clematis for me (Montana and Macropetala Blue Bird). This one, whihc has been in foranumber of years, is using the solar lights. It looks lovely.
Clematis.
He also cleared out a weedy wee bed behind the bins. And we’ve decided to take out the fuchsia hedge and replace it with roses (today. This could change). A lilac is going to be planted by the gate – I love the idea of a scented lilac hanging over the wooden gate.
Saturday 28th May
Still breezy, but warm and dry.
It was a weeding sort of day, so I finished the peas and took the cover off. That was followed by the garlic and shallots, then finally, the brassicas.
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Brassicas.
Dan cleaned the polytunnel cover – what a difference!
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Shiny polytunnel cover.
Then he mowed the lawn, carefully mowing round the patches of daisies.
Daisies.
We had some rabbit holes developing in Sheepfold, so Dan filled them. Don’t know how long this will last, but it will hopefully avoid equine injuries meantime.
Bloody rabbits.
Grey, on the other hand, managed to get his back leg royally caught in the fence. No photos – the priority was to get him out. Thankfully, the damage is restricted to some grazes. Rora is in season.
Looks like Dan’s last be colony has failed. While he’s disappointed, he’s planning to use the time to sort out the apiary and his bee equipment, then start again in a couple of years when he has more time.
I don’t know what this is, but it’s lovely. The flowers close up at night.
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Pretty plant.
Sunday 29th May
Mild, still, broken cloud and sunny spells this morning but a shower of rain just after lunchtime.
Dan brought the electric fence back from Laing’s Field and set up a track along Near Ditch so the cattle can come in but can’t graze the paddock. Grey’s leg looked fine – it was more of a graze than a cut. No sign of Rora bulling today.
Electric fence in place..
Then it was man and strimmer in perfect harmony; finished doing all the edges then strimmed three hen paddocks. He’s just done the nettles and the weediest bits. And he cut the vegetable garden grass. It’s looking OK.
I got in the polytunnel - hot, hot, hot- and fed the tomato plants with comfrey – this will be a regular Sunday thing. I potted on more of the wee Gardeners Delight, giving us twenty plants. The surplus will go a local school project. Did a bit more weeding and fed the strawberries with comfrey.
Tara, Ashley and I took the ponies for a walk. It was lovely, ambling and browsing. I gave Smokey a good brush, picked his feet, put cream on his itchy bits and Vaseline up his nose (it’s supposed to reduce the pollen that goes up it). He’s such a good boy.
Our planned visit to the garden centre is postponed until tomorrow. Gives me a bit more time to make a list. A plan is emerging.
After lunch, we cleaned out the greenhouse. By that time, it was proper raining, so I came in to make some lists and do my Monday jobs so I can go to the garden centre with a clear conscience.
I need to think about weaning Spot and Notspot. The milk powder bag has three criteria – minimum 35 days (that’s 31st May), twice birth weight or 9-10kg; and eating 250g hard feed. Well, ours don’t get any hard feed, so we’ll weigh them this week and use that as a guide. To be honest, I’m happy to finish the bag of powder because I won’t need it next year.
