There’s been a right change of weather over the last few days. The sunflower (above) next to the garage has taken a tumble a few times because of the wind and is back up supported by some garden wire connected to various old nails in the wall. There’s been some damage to the main stalk so if we can get another couple of weeks out of it before the frost or parakeets get to it that’ll be something, finger crossed.
We’re also seeing some progress with the semi-open compost heap (above). We give it a weekly turn and there is heat in there and lots of brandling worms and the old bath mat does its job of keeping it covered. As for the dalek bin (below), the compost is now ready and it’s being used. It isn’t a short process but one well worth doing for some great soil improver for next to nothing.
And we’ve been doing a bit of “little and often” gardening at the side of the pond which can get a bit neglected at times but with a help of a brown Lewisham garden refuse bin (which is a boon, it really is. We pack it to its gills then leave it out in the sun for a couple of days for the stuff to dry out a bit and then add “just one bit more”) and regular watering we are getting somewhere.
For the bed in the front of the picture below we’ve just split the odd plant and found some self seeded volunteers and stuck them there. It’s mainly mint and it will go a bit wild but it better than just weeds. Any chance of a last bit of sunshine please?
While we’ve been writing this we’ve had this on in the background, another show worth listening to!
Another thing with this changeable weather is it is a breeding ground for slugs and these are the gits (above) we have to contend with in SE23. They’re sturdy old things and we think they’d return if we collected them all in a bag and slung them up the local park. These are not common or garden slugs these are south London slugs and they mean business!
The bags of soil enricher stood around in the corner for the grand total of about 24 hours until it was put to good use on the raised beds that have now been stripped of their spuds, lettuce and onions apart from a couple of lone tomato plants.
Our own natural soil enricher projects are going well, we’re having a lot of success with the open style compost heap (complete with an old bathroom mat to keep the goodness in and the rain out.) It doesn’t smell, doesn’t attract vermin (we don’t think) and seems to be working well in breaking down the garden waste. A weekly turn with a garden fork helps too.
In the dalek bin, things are progressing and it looks like the worms are on the way out (that’s a good sign to say it’s nearly done) even though there’s a few hanging onto the side. The dark brown crumbly stuff inside looks like it’s going to be good for the garden.
Weeds up to me knees 