I watched the third and final election debate last night. David Cameron and Gordon Brown were back to arguing with each other, Nick Clegg in the middle shaking his head and trying to look above it all. Basically Cameron's message was big society, small government, start cutting spending and waste now, it is time for change. Labour is don't rock the boat and risk the recovery, we can't cut spending this year. The Conservatives claim backing from big business, Labour the backing of nearly all countries round the world for their recovery plan. The Lib Dems are all about fairness and working together with the other parties to solve the countries problems.
My problem is I think they all have some good ideas, if you pool them all together we might get somewhere. So really I want a hung parliament, I want voting reform pushed through and I want the parties to talk to each other and work together.
Unfortunately none of this has particularly helped me decide who to vote for. I like the Lib Dems fresh, co-operative approach and I like many of their policies. Alas I live in a Labour / Conservative marginal so is a vote for Lib Dems a wasted vote? Still some thinking to do methinks.
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Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tim Rice's American Pie
Have been listening to the radio 2 series 'Tim Rice's American Pie'. It's a 50 episode series, each episode telling the music history of one state. The series started in Washington State in the far north west, and is working its way down. It has the full tracks of at least 10 songs, with bits of history and biographical information sprinkled in between. A very enjoyable series. The songs I like for each state are:
Washington State - 'Honeycomb' by Jimmy Rogers & 'Alone' by Heart. Also Columbia River Ballads.
Oregon - 'Arizona' by Mark Lindsay (re-done by Kings of Leon?) and 'The Lady Came From Baltimore' by Tim Hardin. Mark Lindsay was the lead singer with Paul Revere and the Raiders.
California - Walking in Memphis by Cher & 'Don't Speak' by No Doubt (fronted by Gwen Stefani)
Washington State - 'Honeycomb' by Jimmy Rogers & 'Alone' by Heart. Also Columbia River Ballads.
Oregon - 'Arizona' by Mark Lindsay (re-done by Kings of Leon?) and 'The Lady Came From Baltimore' by Tim Hardin. Mark Lindsay was the lead singer with Paul Revere and the Raiders.
California - Walking in Memphis by Cher & 'Don't Speak' by No Doubt (fronted by Gwen Stefani)
Saturday, April 24, 2010
General election
We are about halfway through the election campaign now, and my opinion of it changes every few days. I started off being really excited by it, watching a lot of news and tv, Reading the papers and so on. Then I think I got electioned out and sick of it. The Conservatives were alas going to win, and that was that. I was ready to volunteer to hand out leaflets for labour to do my bit, even if I thought it was lost cause. Then came the first tv debate. Nick Clegg the Lib Dem leader whose party was in a distant third place, won convincingly and suddenly it all started getting a bit interesting. Of course given the biased, unproportional voting system we have, it is near impossible for Lib Dems to win, but it is very possible that they will greatly increase their seats in parliament and have the balance of power if no side has a working majority. A hung parliament could be very interesting. The second tv debate was a draw really, and the ten point bounce in the polls remains. One final debate on the economy this week. 12 days to election day. More soon.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Gardening & nature update
There has been lots of things I've wanted to blog about in the last week, but haven't had any time at all unfortunately. So all I can manage for now is my weekly garden update, and hope I have more time this week for blogging.
In the front garden there is not much change, flowers I planted several weeks ago look exactly the same as when I put them in, no flower buds or new leaves. Garlic doing fairly well, and a blue flowering plant from last year has flower buds now but they are this time...purple!
In the back garden, 3 of my 5 potato bags have sprouted. In the garden itself there is some signs of poppies or cornflowers starting up (or weeds).
Inside, the mini sweetcorn is still doing really well, all six plants. I have about 5 bean plants now and, some quite big, and quite a few sunflowers. The chilli peppers are just starting to come up too, and the tomatoes are doing ok, though still just look like little seedlings. The beans desparately need repotting into individual pots, and the corn could do with it too.
On the herb front, re-potted the sage into different pots and some in the front or back garden. Most are surviving so far, though some looking rather the worse for wear. Flat leaf parsley desparately needs re-potting, and the basil needs repotting too. Lots of re-potting to do therefore.
In other gardening news, I went to a discussion in Lancaster about creating 'edible streets'. Quite interesting discussion, but most interesting was learning that there is a community orchard in Lancaster, only a few minutes walk from my house. There are volunteer days and evenings when you can help with maintaining the orchard, and it's free access for anyone to pick the fruit when ripe. There are apparently lots of different types of Apple trees (20 varieties) plus pears, plums, cherries, damsons and nuts (hazel, walnuts, chestnuts). Will have to go look this week. It's the Fairfield Orchard, just off Westbourne Rd in Lancaster. There are also apparently 3 'fruity corners' in Lancaster, where soft fruit bushes have been planted, including grapes in at least one. They are just off Dorrington Rd, just off Derwent Rd and also one in Williamson Park. Again, free for anyone to pick. If they get funding, there could be more being grown too.
On the wildlife and nature front, not a lot. There are nice clumps of forget-me-nots in Winckley Square in Preston, and I found my way to Avenham Park, a large park in Preston. On Friday I sat on a rock in Avenham Park and ate my lunch (there were benches, but too obvious!). It was lovely. That was on the edge of the park, it's very big and extends down to the river and beyond. Am looking forward to having some walks in the park, trying to spot wildlife including flowers (and trees when they get some leaves on to make identification easier), and also finding some nice spots to sit and eat lunch. Work is a bit mad (busy), so am going to need my lunchtime escapes more than I have in years.
Also today, saw a Blackbird with nesting material in her beak, and two Robins flying at each other and pecking each other. Quite a sight. They were either mating or fighting, I suspect too male Robins fighting over territory (they are quite territorial I believe).
Anyway, that's ll for now. Hope to blog more in the coming week than I did last week.
In the front garden there is not much change, flowers I planted several weeks ago look exactly the same as when I put them in, no flower buds or new leaves. Garlic doing fairly well, and a blue flowering plant from last year has flower buds now but they are this time...purple!
In the back garden, 3 of my 5 potato bags have sprouted. In the garden itself there is some signs of poppies or cornflowers starting up (or weeds).
Inside, the mini sweetcorn is still doing really well, all six plants. I have about 5 bean plants now and, some quite big, and quite a few sunflowers. The chilli peppers are just starting to come up too, and the tomatoes are doing ok, though still just look like little seedlings. The beans desparately need repotting into individual pots, and the corn could do with it too.
On the herb front, re-potted the sage into different pots and some in the front or back garden. Most are surviving so far, though some looking rather the worse for wear. Flat leaf parsley desparately needs re-potting, and the basil needs repotting too. Lots of re-potting to do therefore.
In other gardening news, I went to a discussion in Lancaster about creating 'edible streets'. Quite interesting discussion, but most interesting was learning that there is a community orchard in Lancaster, only a few minutes walk from my house. There are volunteer days and evenings when you can help with maintaining the orchard, and it's free access for anyone to pick the fruit when ripe. There are apparently lots of different types of Apple trees (20 varieties) plus pears, plums, cherries, damsons and nuts (hazel, walnuts, chestnuts). Will have to go look this week. It's the Fairfield Orchard, just off Westbourne Rd in Lancaster. There are also apparently 3 'fruity corners' in Lancaster, where soft fruit bushes have been planted, including grapes in at least one. They are just off Dorrington Rd, just off Derwent Rd and also one in Williamson Park. Again, free for anyone to pick. If they get funding, there could be more being grown too.
On the wildlife and nature front, not a lot. There are nice clumps of forget-me-nots in Winckley Square in Preston, and I found my way to Avenham Park, a large park in Preston. On Friday I sat on a rock in Avenham Park and ate my lunch (there were benches, but too obvious!). It was lovely. That was on the edge of the park, it's very big and extends down to the river and beyond. Am looking forward to having some walks in the park, trying to spot wildlife including flowers (and trees when they get some leaves on to make identification easier), and also finding some nice spots to sit and eat lunch. Work is a bit mad (busy), so am going to need my lunchtime escapes more than I have in years.
Also today, saw a Blackbird with nesting material in her beak, and two Robins flying at each other and pecking each other. Quite a sight. They were either mating or fighting, I suspect too male Robins fighting over territory (they are quite territorial I believe).
Anyway, that's ll for now. Hope to blog more in the coming week than I did last week.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Walk along the River Lune - Part 2
Today I went with my dad on the second part of our walk along the River Lune. This time it was Lancaster to Caton, about 5 miles. The problem with doing a one way walk is how to get back, and so I looked up the bus times back from Caton. They were once an hour on a Sunday, 9.49am and every hour after that. So I arranged to meet my dad at my house in Lancaster, to start walking by 10am. I thought this would give us plenty of time to walk and catch the 11.49am bus.
The weather was nice, hazy sunshine and clouds but very warm. For the first 40 minutes or so I was in familiar territory, all the way up to Skerton Weir, and after that it was all new. Also after Skerton Weir, the river mud and silt disappeared, and the water became clear. We saw a couple of chaffinches, as well as an oystercatcher and a couple of female grouse or pheasant. My dad spotted some Coltsfoot (yellow dandelion-like flowers) which he hasn't seem since his days in Bolton, more than 35 years ago, where they were the first sign of Spring. We also saw Lesser Celandines (fanned out buttercups) and some wood anemones (European), lovely white early Spring flowers. It was nice, spotting the flowers especially as my dad could identify them all (though he claimed it was just luck, and did call the wood anemones acanites which my mum later laughed at him for). Flowers are something I used to know something about, but tend to overlook these days. Didn't think about what trees there were, there were a lot along the path, but were not in leaf yet. It will be easy to identify them next time we walk when the leaves will be out.
We didn't see many boats, but did see a small sail boat in Lancaster with a St George's cross flag, and a couple of speedboat/jet-ski boats. Also saw a longboat being rowed upstream (like the ones in the Oxford/Cambridge boat race).
There was some lovely river scenes past Skerton Weir, and some lovely houses on the other side of the river, including a farm by the river with what looked like a cave carved out of the rock. We missed the Lancaster Aqueduct, but crossed another aqueduct later on. We passed by Halton railway station, disused for several decades at least.
We also passed by Crook O'Lune picnic site, though we didn't stop. By this point we realised that I'd been a bit optimistic about how long it would take. We stopped a couple of times to ask other walkers how long it would take to get to Caton and realised we were going to be cutting it close, though when we saw people pushing babies in prams along the cycle path we knew it must be close. Just after we turned off the path, we saw the strangest and most humble looking Catholic Church I've ever seen, a small squat stone building which was an old storehouse. I think of Catholic churches as grand, purpose built buildings with magnificent stained glass etc etc.
We didn't have time to stop in Caton, but it looks a pretty village. It's been around since Saxon times and was called 'Catun' in the domesday book. Following the introduction of water power, Caton became quite industrial with 8 working mills at one time. According to my 'Walking Down the Lune' book (useful, but going in the opposite direction to us, which is confusing), orphaned children used to be sent from Liverpool to work in the mills in Caton, accounting for upto half the workforce at one time (that's 75 children). They were indentured servants, which reminds me of immigrants to America, and makes me wonder what happened to them after their terms of service were up. Did they go back to Liverpool, travel elsewhere or stay and make a home for themselves in Caton or nearby Lancaster?
Apparently the Romans are known to have passed through Caton too, and a Hadrianic milestone has been found, now in the Lancaster City Museum. Will have to go look sometime.
We got to the bus stop with about 3 or 4 minutes to spare, and my dad immediately struck up conversation with an old lady at the bus stop, asking her questions she didn't know the answers to (How much is the bus fare to Lancaster? A: I don't know I have a pass. Oh I really should get one at some point, my wife keeps telling me to, never got around to it. And: Where is the Methodist church? [he had been many years before]. The lady then revealed she was a visitor and although she came her often, she didn't know for sure!).
The bus driver drove like a maniac and shouted at other people in cars that passed ('What do you think you are playing at mate?'). There was spilt water and coffee on the journey back, and sore teeth from where my water bottle had jammed into my mouth after a particularly sudden application of the breaks. It was a rare experience for both of us, having neither been on a bus for a long time. We passed through Halton on the way back, which was a nice looking suburb of Lancaster, a couple of miles out.
Overall, a lovely walk, much nicer than the first one, partly because it was warmer and sunnier, with more spring growth, but also because the river is prettier and more rural than the first leg of the journey between Glasson Dock and Lancaster. It was lovely walking with my dad, as always, and we agreed that it was much nicer doing a long walk in spaced out stages rather than all on consecutive days, as it allows more for reflection and enjoyment.
The next leg is probably Caton to Hornby, hopefully in the next few weeks.
The weather was nice, hazy sunshine and clouds but very warm. For the first 40 minutes or so I was in familiar territory, all the way up to Skerton Weir, and after that it was all new. Also after Skerton Weir, the river mud and silt disappeared, and the water became clear. We saw a couple of chaffinches, as well as an oystercatcher and a couple of female grouse or pheasant. My dad spotted some Coltsfoot (yellow dandelion-like flowers) which he hasn't seem since his days in Bolton, more than 35 years ago, where they were the first sign of Spring. We also saw Lesser Celandines (fanned out buttercups) and some wood anemones (European), lovely white early Spring flowers. It was nice, spotting the flowers especially as my dad could identify them all (though he claimed it was just luck, and did call the wood anemones acanites which my mum later laughed at him for). Flowers are something I used to know something about, but tend to overlook these days. Didn't think about what trees there were, there were a lot along the path, but were not in leaf yet. It will be easy to identify them next time we walk when the leaves will be out.
We didn't see many boats, but did see a small sail boat in Lancaster with a St George's cross flag, and a couple of speedboat/jet-ski boats. Also saw a longboat being rowed upstream (like the ones in the Oxford/Cambridge boat race).
There was some lovely river scenes past Skerton Weir, and some lovely houses on the other side of the river, including a farm by the river with what looked like a cave carved out of the rock. We missed the Lancaster Aqueduct, but crossed another aqueduct later on. We passed by Halton railway station, disused for several decades at least.
We also passed by Crook O'Lune picnic site, though we didn't stop. By this point we realised that I'd been a bit optimistic about how long it would take. We stopped a couple of times to ask other walkers how long it would take to get to Caton and realised we were going to be cutting it close, though when we saw people pushing babies in prams along the cycle path we knew it must be close. Just after we turned off the path, we saw the strangest and most humble looking Catholic Church I've ever seen, a small squat stone building which was an old storehouse. I think of Catholic churches as grand, purpose built buildings with magnificent stained glass etc etc.
We didn't have time to stop in Caton, but it looks a pretty village. It's been around since Saxon times and was called 'Catun' in the domesday book. Following the introduction of water power, Caton became quite industrial with 8 working mills at one time. According to my 'Walking Down the Lune' book (useful, but going in the opposite direction to us, which is confusing), orphaned children used to be sent from Liverpool to work in the mills in Caton, accounting for upto half the workforce at one time (that's 75 children). They were indentured servants, which reminds me of immigrants to America, and makes me wonder what happened to them after their terms of service were up. Did they go back to Liverpool, travel elsewhere or stay and make a home for themselves in Caton or nearby Lancaster?
Apparently the Romans are known to have passed through Caton too, and a Hadrianic milestone has been found, now in the Lancaster City Museum. Will have to go look sometime.
We got to the bus stop with about 3 or 4 minutes to spare, and my dad immediately struck up conversation with an old lady at the bus stop, asking her questions she didn't know the answers to (How much is the bus fare to Lancaster? A: I don't know I have a pass. Oh I really should get one at some point, my wife keeps telling me to, never got around to it. And: Where is the Methodist church? [he had been many years before]. The lady then revealed she was a visitor and although she came her often, she didn't know for sure!).
The bus driver drove like a maniac and shouted at other people in cars that passed ('What do you think you are playing at mate?'). There was spilt water and coffee on the journey back, and sore teeth from where my water bottle had jammed into my mouth after a particularly sudden application of the breaks. It was a rare experience for both of us, having neither been on a bus for a long time. We passed through Halton on the way back, which was a nice looking suburb of Lancaster, a couple of miles out.
Overall, a lovely walk, much nicer than the first one, partly because it was warmer and sunnier, with more spring growth, but also because the river is prettier and more rural than the first leg of the journey between Glasson Dock and Lancaster. It was lovely walking with my dad, as always, and we agreed that it was much nicer doing a long walk in spaced out stages rather than all on consecutive days, as it allows more for reflection and enjoyment.
The next leg is probably Caton to Hornby, hopefully in the next few weeks.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
More gardening...
It's been a lovely weekend so far, and seeds have responded to the weather and started growing. Tomato plants have sprouted, as have all the minipop sweetcorn. Sunflowers are growing too. No sign of chilli pepper plants, passion flower or beans. On the kitchen windowsill, the herbs are going to need re-potting soon. The flat leaf parsley desperately needs a bigger pot, the basil could do with being transplanted into the terracotta pot I've got for it, and the sage now needs separate pots for each of the plants, as they have grown to 5cm tall now.
Outside, all of the garlic has definitely sprouted, but nothing much else happening yet in the front garden. In the back there's quite a few unknown veg plants growing in one of the L-shaped raised beds from the veg box I planted at the end of January - Kate thinks they are beans.
Today I weeded nearly all of the garden, between all of the rose bushes and other shrubs, and sowed poppy and cornflower seeds all around the garden. I also planted beetroot in the L-shaped veg bed. So in there now is some garlic, mystery veg and beetroot. Depending on what comes up, may also plant some chanteney carrots in there too (though have already plantedsome in a trough). The other L-shaped bed doesn't get much sun and is just for herbs. There was just some mint starting to re-grow at one end, and a rosemary bush at the other. I planted the marjoram plant I bought last week in the middle, and also sowed some chive seeds in the bed. In the front garden I planted the coriander and oregano plants.
No action yet from potatoes and chanteney carrots, but it is early days.
There is a day of events in Lancaster next Saturday about environment issues and global warming - a lady handed me a leaflet while I was stood by the organic veg stall waiting for Kate to finish. I'm not that interested in most of it, but there is a session about creating edible streets in Lancaster. Presumably this is about growing food using spare land, grass verges etc. a bit like they do in Todmorden (see previous blog article here). Could be interesting.
Weather this week has been fairly good, with some rain but not a lot. Last couple of days have been sunny, warm and dry.
Outside, all of the garlic has definitely sprouted, but nothing much else happening yet in the front garden. In the back there's quite a few unknown veg plants growing in one of the L-shaped raised beds from the veg box I planted at the end of January - Kate thinks they are beans.
Today I weeded nearly all of the garden, between all of the rose bushes and other shrubs, and sowed poppy and cornflower seeds all around the garden. I also planted beetroot in the L-shaped veg bed. So in there now is some garlic, mystery veg and beetroot. Depending on what comes up, may also plant some chanteney carrots in there too (though have already plantedsome in a trough). The other L-shaped bed doesn't get much sun and is just for herbs. There was just some mint starting to re-grow at one end, and a rosemary bush at the other. I planted the marjoram plant I bought last week in the middle, and also sowed some chive seeds in the bed. In the front garden I planted the coriander and oregano plants.
No action yet from potatoes and chanteney carrots, but it is early days.
There is a day of events in Lancaster next Saturday about environment issues and global warming - a lady handed me a leaflet while I was stood by the organic veg stall waiting for Kate to finish. I'm not that interested in most of it, but there is a session about creating edible streets in Lancaster. Presumably this is about growing food using spare land, grass verges etc. a bit like they do in Todmorden (see previous blog article here). Could be interesting.
Weather this week has been fairly good, with some rain but not a lot. Last couple of days have been sunny, warm and dry.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
General Election campaign begins...
It's general election time in the UK again, and this, along with the World Cup, is one of the big events of the year. I've always had some interest in politics, but there are long periods of boredom with only the occasional interesting happenings. This election is shaping up to be very interesting, it is a full 5 years since the last one (the legal maximum gap) and it's been 13 years since we had a realistic prospect of a change in government. It's been even longer since there was any real doubt as to the outcome - you have to go back to 1992 for that, and since the first general election I could vote in was 2001, it's the first really interesting election I've been able to participate in. I just missed out on being able to vote in the 1997 election, though my parents allowed me to stay up all night to watch, and it really was exciting stuff as the Labour party won by the biggest landslide in modern times.
For any non-British readers, or British readers who don't know anything about our UK politics, a brief summary. The UK is a parliamentary democracy, so you vote for a party, not a prime minister. The country is divided into 650 constituencies (4 more than last time), and voters in each constituency vote for an MP for that constituency. There will be candidates from all the major parties in each constituency, and the candidate with the most votes becomes the MP for that constituency. To form a government, you generally need more than 50% of the MPs in parliament, so at least 326. Labour currently has a majority of 48, and to get a majority the Conservatives need about 130 more seats this time.
The major political parties are:
Labour - currently in government, leader is Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Historically party for working classes but 'New Labour' in the mid-1990s changed all that and blurred the dividing lines between parties.
Conservatives - the second biggest party, with around 200 seats in the current parliament. Leader is David Cameron. They are ahead in the polls, so have a good chance of getting elected. Traditionally the party of the middle classes, they believe in smaller government, greater partnership with private sector etc.
Liberal Democrats - the third party, with 62 seats in parliament this time. Leader Nick Clegg, but Vince Cable, their equivalent of Chancellor of the Exchequer is very popular. Realistically cannot win a majority, but could hold the balance of power if there is a hung parliament.
Green Party - green/environmental party. Currently no seats in parliament.
UK Independance Party - believes Britain should leave the EU. Has some following, but has no seats in Parliament.
British National Party - ultra right wing party, generally considered to be racist. Believe in 'repatriating' foreigners, encouraging people not native British born to leave. Some following in run-down areas, but no MPs in parliament.
Realistically, the chances of Green Party, BNP or UKIP getting m(any) seats very slim, due to first past the post system (they may receive a reasonable share of the popular vote, but spread to thin to win seats in constituencies).
So there is a good chance of a change in government, a good chance of a hung parliament (where no party has an overall majority), but no one knows. If a hung parliament, no one knows what will happen but it will be a mess - hasn't happened since the early 1970s.
I live in Lancaster, which is the 81st most marginal seat, and one the Conservatives must win if they are to be elected. So a battleground state!
For any non-British readers, or British readers who don't know anything about our UK politics, a brief summary. The UK is a parliamentary democracy, so you vote for a party, not a prime minister. The country is divided into 650 constituencies (4 more than last time), and voters in each constituency vote for an MP for that constituency. There will be candidates from all the major parties in each constituency, and the candidate with the most votes becomes the MP for that constituency. To form a government, you generally need more than 50% of the MPs in parliament, so at least 326. Labour currently has a majority of 48, and to get a majority the Conservatives need about 130 more seats this time.
The major political parties are:
Labour - currently in government, leader is Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Historically party for working classes but 'New Labour' in the mid-1990s changed all that and blurred the dividing lines between parties.
Conservatives - the second biggest party, with around 200 seats in the current parliament. Leader is David Cameron. They are ahead in the polls, so have a good chance of getting elected. Traditionally the party of the middle classes, they believe in smaller government, greater partnership with private sector etc.
Liberal Democrats - the third party, with 62 seats in parliament this time. Leader Nick Clegg, but Vince Cable, their equivalent of Chancellor of the Exchequer is very popular. Realistically cannot win a majority, but could hold the balance of power if there is a hung parliament.
Green Party - green/environmental party. Currently no seats in parliament.
UK Independance Party - believes Britain should leave the EU. Has some following, but has no seats in Parliament.
British National Party - ultra right wing party, generally considered to be racist. Believe in 'repatriating' foreigners, encouraging people not native British born to leave. Some following in run-down areas, but no MPs in parliament.
Realistically, the chances of Green Party, BNP or UKIP getting m(any) seats very slim, due to first past the post system (they may receive a reasonable share of the popular vote, but spread to thin to win seats in constituencies).
So there is a good chance of a change in government, a good chance of a hung parliament (where no party has an overall majority), but no one knows. If a hung parliament, no one knows what will happen but it will be a mess - hasn't happened since the early 1970s.
I live in Lancaster, which is the 81st most marginal seat, and one the Conservatives must win if they are to be elected. So a battleground state!
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
New job...green shoots
Today I started a new job, working for the same firm but in a different office - Preston in Lancashire for those who know the area. This means rather than walk I have to get the train from Lancaster to Preston. It's a longer day, but I don't mind, as it's only a 20 minute train journey, and gives me time to read, blog or listen to my ipod on the train. I haven't commuted by train in quite a few years (nearly 8 years) so it makes a change. The job itself looks like it could be good - I am going to be very busy, but a lot of the work is much more interesting and bigger jobs than I am used to. Am looking forward to the challenge.
It could be said that after years in the doldrums workwise, there are green shoots for my career all of a sudden, but the green shoots I'm referring to are the shoots coming up from the garlic I planted in the front garden the weekend before last - I just noticed them as I got home this evening. Hopefully by weekend there will be more new growth to report.
It could be said that after years in the doldrums workwise, there are green shoots for my career all of a sudden, but the green shoots I'm referring to are the shoots coming up from the garlic I planted in the front garden the weekend before last - I just noticed them as I got home this evening. Hopefully by weekend there will be more new growth to report.
Monday, April 05, 2010
Front garden plan
With a spare few minutes, I drew a plan of my front garden patch. Neither the garden nor the drawing are very good, but at least with the drawing I have the excuse that I did it on a computer, with only a laptop touchpad, not even a mouse. I used a free package called paint.net and it is the first time I've used it, hence why it looks like a five year old drew it. Hopefully will update plan as I plant more things, and as things start to grow. If I get time, will do plan for back garden, pots etc.
Bank holiday gardening
Well it has been the bank holiday weekend, 4 days off work, and the weather hasn't been as atrocious as the BBC weather forecast would have had me believe, so I got some gardening done. It was even quite warm and sunny at times. Firstly, I tidied out the shed, which was in a terrible state with stuff quite literally just chucked in. It's a small shed, with a lot of things in, but I can actually walk in, turn around, do some seed planting in pots if I want (was going to but then it stopped raining so did outside), and even find things!
Next job was planting potatoes. Last year I had one 'potato bag' which was a big success. The bags are strong, sturdy plasic bags, with a flat bottom, tall and will stand on their own. I bought two official 'potato bags' and used 3 other bags I had lying around. Fill the bag a quarter full of compost, then plant three potatoes in, ready chitted and with the tubers as far as possible pointing upwards. Half bury the potatoes, but then cover with more soil. The bags are still now only a third full of compost. Oh, should have said that there are four drainage holes in the bottom. Anyway, water well and leave in a spot that gets a good amount of sun. Once the potato plants start to grow, I will keep earthing them up until the bag is filled with compost. This should give strong plants and maximise number of potatoes. This year I planted one bag with Charlotte salad potatoes, and the rest with Arran Pilot maincrop potatoes. I am hoping this will save the need to buy potatoes for many months after harvesting.
Also planted some cherry tomato seeds, habenero chilli peppers, sunflowers, sweetcorn minipop (those little ones you eat whole and put in stir fries etc) and beans. The beans I planted actually looked like magic beans. They are open pollinated which means that the next generation of seeds will be usable, and in fact if I keep the seeds from the plants that do best in my garden it should produce better plants/produce the following year, and so on. I don't know much about seed-saving, but it is supposed to help preserve old varieties that are becoming extinct these days, as commercial seed sellers use homogenous, close-pollinated seeds which don't produce good plants from the second generation (I guess they want you to keep buying from them!). I bought these seeds in Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts, so they have come a long way! They are similar to the beans grown by the first settlers in New England, nearly 400 years ago, so it will be especially interesting to see how they do. I may have to invest in some copper slug rings to keep the infernal beasts at bay.
I also planted some flowers, and have bought some herb plants - oregano, marjoram and coriander. They are all foods I want to use in cooking later in the year. The marjoram will go in the back garden in a bed with rosemary and mint already growing, the coriander and sage will probably go in the herb patch of the front garden.
Weather during the last week (27th March to 4th April) has been mixed. The first weekend was nice and mostly sunny, then during the week mostly rainy with odd bits of sunshine. Easter weekend has been very mixed, half day of rain or overcast, half day of sun. No frost for ages however.
Must go, back to work tomorrow, starting a new job for a new boss (though same firm). More soon.
Next job was planting potatoes. Last year I had one 'potato bag' which was a big success. The bags are strong, sturdy plasic bags, with a flat bottom, tall and will stand on their own. I bought two official 'potato bags' and used 3 other bags I had lying around. Fill the bag a quarter full of compost, then plant three potatoes in, ready chitted and with the tubers as far as possible pointing upwards. Half bury the potatoes, but then cover with more soil. The bags are still now only a third full of compost. Oh, should have said that there are four drainage holes in the bottom. Anyway, water well and leave in a spot that gets a good amount of sun. Once the potato plants start to grow, I will keep earthing them up until the bag is filled with compost. This should give strong plants and maximise number of potatoes. This year I planted one bag with Charlotte salad potatoes, and the rest with Arran Pilot maincrop potatoes. I am hoping this will save the need to buy potatoes for many months after harvesting.
Also planted some cherry tomato seeds, habenero chilli peppers, sunflowers, sweetcorn minipop (those little ones you eat whole and put in stir fries etc) and beans. The beans I planted actually looked like magic beans. They are open pollinated which means that the next generation of seeds will be usable, and in fact if I keep the seeds from the plants that do best in my garden it should produce better plants/produce the following year, and so on. I don't know much about seed-saving, but it is supposed to help preserve old varieties that are becoming extinct these days, as commercial seed sellers use homogenous, close-pollinated seeds which don't produce good plants from the second generation (I guess they want you to keep buying from them!). I bought these seeds in Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts, so they have come a long way! They are similar to the beans grown by the first settlers in New England, nearly 400 years ago, so it will be especially interesting to see how they do. I may have to invest in some copper slug rings to keep the infernal beasts at bay.
I also planted some flowers, and have bought some herb plants - oregano, marjoram and coriander. They are all foods I want to use in cooking later in the year. The marjoram will go in the back garden in a bed with rosemary and mint already growing, the coriander and sage will probably go in the herb patch of the front garden.
Weather during the last week (27th March to 4th April) has been mixed. The first weekend was nice and mostly sunny, then during the week mostly rainy with odd bits of sunshine. Easter weekend has been very mixed, half day of rain or overcast, half day of sun. No frost for ages however.
Must go, back to work tomorrow, starting a new job for a new boss (though same firm). More soon.
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