This week saw the garden battered by high winds and torrential rain, I know the tall plants get beaten to within an inch of their lives but you just can’t beat the drama of a good thunder storm, especially in the evening when you’re all comfy and cozy.
It a good job that my huge old apple tree has thousands of apples on it, I filled two trugs with apples the winds blew down.
Ever since I planted the new back garden I’ve been moving plants that have been sulking. In this little border behind the planted-up fire pit I had a strawberry patch which was an absolute washout! So I put a few dogwoods in here that were unhappy in the felled tree border.
Btw, can you see my fig tree in this picture? No figs this year but lot’s of strong growth and healthy leaves.
I popped the strawberries in the sorrel patch. I have no idea why I grow sorrel as it’s a bitter herb that I never use….but on it grows….year after year!
Talking of hissy fits, my potted chocolate silk tree and acer have been dropping leaves like there’s no tomorrow, this has had me utterly baffled. They are seriously nurtured, regularly watered, fed and placed in the sunshine….why oh why I asked them daily. Then yesterday I caught him in the act, yes, Sam has been cocking his leg and watering them daily or maybe even several times a day. What to do about that eh?
To add to my woes the lawn is full of beech nuts, now I know they are good for the red squirrels and that they’re edible if soaked overnight, and eaten in SMALL doses….it’s just that I like wandering around the garden barefoot and now I have thousands of nuts in the lawn which are pretty painful on the old feet being so darn prickly an all! We have six beech trees, four in the back and two in the front, [just over the fence on the left] They are beautiful trees though and are particularly breathtaking in winter.
Now, you know how I’ve been trying to grow a patch of meadow for years? Well….drum roll please….I’ve given up, thrown in the towel and accepted defeat. No matter what I try I just end up with a patch of long grass. The only way forward would be to dig the grass up and start again and well, life is TOO short!!! So it’s been mowed and that’s that! [Once I’ve get over myself I may try one somewhere else….]
So moving on… see that potato digger? This week we MOVED it…it only weighs 1.3 tons and near gave hubs and I a hernia, and a bust lung not to mention possible death by impalement! Happily, apart from a little backache no real harm was done, that a stiff drink didn’t fix anyway. It’s now sitting on a rubber mat so will look a lot tidier. And can you see the patch of long grass that it was sitting on before? Just in front of the digger? Maybe I should dig that out and have a new border there…or maybe a tiny circular meadow!
Looks like I may finally have tomatoes, what an age they’ve taken to ripen! I even took to singing to them in the hope they’d get a wriggle on, seems to have done the trick.
On the fox front things are warming up. Now the foxes are indulging in lots of yawning and slow eye blinking. I’m not sure if I should slow eye blink back and yawn too, would that constitute bonding? Strictly forbidden that is.
And finally….
On the farm we have three turkey hens and one turkey. Now recently one of our turkey hens has been going missing. No-one knows where she keeps creeping off too, and just as the staff start getting really worried she returns looking most pleased with herself. It’s a complete mystery as to where she goes, the staff have literally crawled around every inch of the farm and still can’t find her hidey-hole. I suspect she may come out one day with a whole line of turkey chicks!
Have you tried growing wild flowers as plugs and planting them in your meadow? Meadows are hard work, I am always pleased with mine in Spring with all the daffodils and in early summer it looks good too. But now it just looks a mess and has to be strimmed. And that means I have to nag the strimmer operator. Each year in August I think I will give up pretending its a meadow and just call it a lawn.
I’ m not entirely sure what a 1.3 ton potato digger is and why you have one. Can’ t you just dig them out with a fork?
I’ m glad to hear the foxes are doing well. I should think you’ d be able to blink and yawn a bit. What harm could it do?
Sadly I’ve tried every which way to grow that darn meadow, I’ve planted pots of wildflowers, I’ve punched thousands of holes and popped very expensive wildflower seed into them, I’ve sprinkled….sighs….they aint having it! I am going to plant lots of bulbs there this autumn, surely I can’t go wrong with that?
Lol….if Armageddon strikes, I can plant the entire garden with spuds, then get me a horse to pull the digger and Bob’s your uncle! Until then I have a dead weight on my hands, although I am rather fond of the thing until I have to move it of course.
I shall take your advice and partake in a little slow eye blinking and yawning….yes. Thanks Chloris.xxx
I tried a meadow mix in a large circular planter this year – what a mess! I had mostly little white flowers that grew all straggly and one tiny bright pink vetch which was actually rather nice. Not sure I’d bother again. But I do love to see long grass with just a path mown through it, stylish and low-maintenance!
Ha! I had those straggly white flowers too from seed I grew in pots….and strangely enough a pink vetch or two, we must have been using the same mixture. Maybe I should just settle for long grass as you say, that’s easy to accomplish! Thanks Caro.xxx
Little boy dogs just don’t have any manners when it comes to relieving themselves, do they? Archie’s just the same. You look to have a decent amount of tomatoes on the plants, they’ll ripen eventually and then you’ll have a wonderful harvest. I remember removing the whole lot from my plants one year as they weren’t ripening at all. I brought them indoors and ripened them on the windowsill, it hardly took any time at all for them to turn red yet it just wasn’t happening on the vine. I think Mrs Turkey must be doing something very important when she goes missing, perhaps sitting on some eggs.
No…..the boys don’t have a scrap of respect for pots, sometimes I think they believe they are there for that very purpose.
All the toms are beginning to ripen now so I have at least ten a day which is lovely, they have taken their time though!
I have a sneaky feeling that eggs may be the route of her disappearing act too….time will tell. Thanks Jo.xxx
Have you thought about overseeding your grass with clover? The pollinators love it and even if you mow it, it will come back. So glad the foxes are on the mend. 🙂 As for that turkey hen, what a sneak! Are any of the male turkeys sneaking out after her? We’ve had a moist summer, too. I love it!
I hadn’t thought of clover but I will give that a go now! Lol….the turkey sneaks of without the male, he has three girls to look after.xxx
That’s a lorra, lorra apples as Cilla would say. 😀
I too love having mature trees in the garden, but those leaves can be a pain to deal with. I read somewhere that the leaves can be used to make a mulch. Can’t remember where I read it now. But that would be the answer.
I do love those gnarly roots in the strawberry patch.
My fig tree has put out lots of leaves this year but not many figs. Just this last week or two the figs have started to develop but they are too late for this year.
Autumn is a lovely season but as your other readers have said, it is the prelude to winter with all that entails.
I wonder what me turkey hen has been up to ? Do let us know :yes:
Lol….sure was a lorra lorra apples….ahh bless Cilla!
I know what you mean about clearing leaves, I’ll be at it until late spring now, and it’s all those nuts and seed from the silver birch too, still it’s lovely to have the huge trees, if only I lived in the woods, then I could just leave them where they fall. I do compost the leaves, along with other garden waste and do get fairly good compost…..it takes an age though.
You must post pics of your fig tree…..be good to see your little fruits.
Yes, I think autumn is here, so we may as well enjoy it.Thanks Keggs.xxx
Ha….I played that video and now I too have the song going around my head in a loop!!!
I may give the meadow one more shot and dig out the turf in a different spot….a project for winter. So glad you have had a little rain.xxx
Well, I figured your title must mean something I wasn’t aware of…and I found a youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1TD95M8Fe4… Hard to believe I’d never heard that song before, but now I can’t get it out of my head!
A mowed meadow sounds welcoming just the same, except for the carpet of beech nuts. Lots of rain here lately, too, but it was needed. We’ve had weeks of dry sunny weather. Impressive fig tree! An interesting turkey story there!
I like your little infirmary for recovering plants, but I guess sometimes they (like your strawberries) just want a new location! As for the sorrel… I’m surprised it’s bitter for you. My mom grows some and it’s just tart. She uses it chopped up in a big herb salad (cilantro, mint, purple perilla, fish mint, rau ram along with some lettuce leaves with some sort of chopped up protein in a fish sauce with peanuts). As such, sorrel is just a mildly tart note in the salad.
My strawberries didn’t yield anything this year which was rather disappointing, but I do suspect Sam, he usually gets to the strawberries before I do.
Your mum’s salad sounds really gorgeous, so I shall try adding sorrel to mine with a few more interesting ingredients. Thanks for that, it’s a shame not to use it.xxx
Awesome as always thank you for sharing have a blessed day
Thanks so much Linda.xxx
I hope you find your turkey hen! Judy also likes to walk in the garden barefoot so I understand what you mean about the beechnuts. Could be worse, though, have you ever tried walking on ground covered with the prickly fruit of the sweetgum tree? Not fun.
Our turkey always returns, which is why I think she has eggs somewhere that she is keeping warm. Time will tell! Oh goodness, I’ve never heard of the sweetgum tree, I must go and look that up. Sounds most exotic though.xxx
trust Sam to be weeing on yer trees the beast!!!
Lovely to see your garden in all its glory and to hear all about your busy plans and plottings and doing in yon garden…. don’t know where you get the energy and impetus! Well done you!
And as for dragging great tonnages of lethal potato diggers around the place…. you great raving loony… and putting it on a rubber mat! 🙂 Marvellous!!
Dear little fox lurking in its newspaper…..
I am looking forward to hearing you have found an enormous turkey egg at some sharp point!xxx
I know! What IS he like!!!
I must admit I have lazy days where I look at all the jobs that need doing and get stuck into a good book instead!
Lol, that digger will be the death of us, we need a shire horse to move it. Hopefully it’s in it’s final position now!
Wouldn’t it be fun if we did find a huge egg or a batch of chicks suddenly appeared….thanks Arose.xxx
Do I take it that you want to create a natural meadow area which refuses to oblige?
How about a bit of flexible border around the tops of the tree pots. This might deter the generous urination and territorial marking. Check though, to see where else it might turn up.
A flapping flock of turkeys…could be interesting.
xxxx
I am desperate to have a strip of natural meadow for the pollinators but so far after years of trying I still have no success. If I want one I’ll have to dig out the turf and start from scratch….maybe I’ll give it a go in a different part of the garden.
I’ll have to do something to deter Sam, even if I have to raise the pots until he finds a new area…..sighs…
Lol, what fun it would be if a batch of turkey chicks turned up! Thanks Menhir.xxx
Another super entertaining post….Yes! Saw your fig tree….thoroughly enjoyed reading about your hard work….Foxy might soon be thinking of ‘slinking off’ somewhere…..like your turkey hen. I best she has a paramour somewhere….You might well be telling us about her miraculous family soon. Thanks D! Hugs! xx
Thanks Bushka, it would be fun if she returned one day with a line of chicks!!! Hopefully that fox will be released soon, his broken leg is well on the mend.xxx
I had to go out and pick up a truckload of apples too the wind has made a right mess of the garden and now lots of rain, everything is totally flat. I laughed at your description of moving the potato thingy glad you escaped unscathed. I am always amazed at how big your garden is – you would have thought that Sam could find somewhere else to cock his leg wouldn’t you. As for the disappearing turkey – perhaps he’s practising for Christmas time.
The winds do wreck the garden don’t they. I’ll be picking up leaves from now to spring as those trees along with the cherry and hawthorn really do have an enormous drop.
That digger is almost impossible to move, you need a horse!!!
I totally agree about Sam, he has a third of an acre to piddle in but he chooses my favourite plants!!!
Lol….that Christmas comment had me smiling, thankfully ours are safe.xxx
What lovely news – I do enjoy looking round your garden and learning the ups and downs of it all. And I love trees too – beeches are among my favourites, despite the prickly seeds 🙁
I was in a garden centre this week and saw with interest that it was selling a ‘wild flower mat’. Apparently you just put it on the ground and water … hey presto … apparently!
Just so long as the fox and the turkey don’t meet 😉
I’ve heard of the wild flower matting too and really would like to give it a try. I’ll have to dig the lawn area out first……sighs….maybe a winter project, but I do yearn for a patch of meadow!
Lol….the foxes are secured in cages and in a room on their own, struth the turkey would not want to run into them….or the geese and chickens.Thanks Gilly.xxx
Yes, the weather this month has been very autumn like to say the least. We have had the high winds and unbelievable rain storms…including just today….all of which makes it difficult to keep gardens.
And oh that Little Sam….what a beggar he is….weeing on the plants…no wonder!:)
I love your posts, but I do feel a little sad as it’s clear that summer is at its tail end…..
The fox has such a lovely face…I would definitely want to bond, and I think yes, to baby Turkeys:)xxxxx
It’s always sad to see summer end isn’t it….how I wish we could have a few more months of warm sunny weather, it just flies past!
Sam…..I couldn’t get over how he picks out my favourite plants to water….and he still does it even if I move them….
It is so hard not to bond with the foxes but we don’t want them thinking people are friendly as they will get into trouble if they approach people. Thanks Janet.xxx
Your fig tree is glorious! Hope you will see some figs next year~ Do not know if they operate like nut trees but our pecan seems to bear well every other year , providing the weather also cooperates. Lovely seeing the diversity in your little paradise.
I would be so thrilled if I ever got figs, what a treat that would be. How lovely that you grow pecans, one of my favourite nuts!
Thanks Val.xxx
Glorious garden shots: your work has really paid off! I love beech trees, but can sundress the hassle of bare feet on nuts…yikes!
I know it’s frustrating to release garden dreams, like the meadow. I have an acre I always wanted to use for a prairie and labyrinth, but prairies take a long time and lots of money to truly establish, so the acre remains a “field” for foxes and others to play and rest…for now.
So happy the fox and turkeys are doing well…please keep us posted on the hen’s disappearing act. 🙂
Thank you for the lovely update and peace to your week’s end, Dina!
How wonderful that you have an acre that the animals can live in, at least it’s going to good use while you can make plans for it, I’ve always wanted a few acres that I could let grow wild just for wildlife, maybe one day eh….
That turkey is definitely up to something, she always comes back so she must be sitting on eggs. It will be funny if she returns one day with a line of chicks, they will be most welcome.Thanks Kitty.xxx
As always a most enjoyable post and wonderful photos. Flighty xx
Thanks Flighty.xxx
What a shame about the meadow not working out, I guess sometimes things are not meant to be. I hope you can try again in another patch somewhere as it sounds like a lovely idea.
Bless that little fox, and as for Ms Turkey, lol, I wonder what she’s up to!
I agree, that meadow was not meant to be, I tried everything but it simply refused to grow!
Lol…I think the turkey is sitting on a batch of eggs…xxx
You just can’t beat walking around barefoot, it’s a lovely feeling!
Perhaps Ms Turkey should have a little camera around her neck but as long as she keeps coming back safe and well, all is good. Suzy x
Oh yes, bare feet on soft grass is the best! Lol….the camera is a good idea! She always comes back that’s why I think she’s sitting on eggs somewhere.xxx
Hope that you find Mrs. Turkey safe and well. Do you get red squirrels we have seen them at Formby.
Mrs Turkey always returns and is currently safe and sound. Yes, living as we do in Formby we have red squirrels in the garden, years ago we had dozens but they were decimated by the pox virus, happily they are making a slight come back.xxx
Meadows sound simple to do, but they aren’t. I’ve tried as well and just ended up with a floppy mess.
Oh I totally agree about meadows being hard to grow, and even when established they are difficult to maintain.xxx
Lovely to have a tour of your garden and see what has been going on there. The trees are beautiful and you look as if you have lots of tomatoes ripening up. Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment on my last post which was really appreciated.
Thanks Linda, I do love the trees but the leaf fall is a huge challenge to clear, especially the nut shells as they dig into the lawn.xxx