Baskets up - Baskets down

Earlier this week we were enjoying a lovely stretch of fine warm days.  We got loads more done outside in the garden.   

The bold step to hang the hanging baskets out was taken.

Baskets at the kitchen door

It gave so much more room in the poly-tunnel and greenhouse.  No more bumping my head! 

On the "courtyard" side of the house we have three doors.  I put a hanging basket on either side of each door.  That makes a grand total of six hanging baskets.  They really brighten up the place.  It is a daily activity to water them completely (until water is running out the bottom).  The spent blossoms also get pinched off.  Deadheading keeps the plants blooming for longer.  If they don't make seed, they will keep producing flowers.

There are two big enemies of hanging baskets, not watering them enough and wind. In the last couple of years we have not only lost a hanging basket to the wind, we lost an entire bracket that was bolted to the wall! 

Baskets unhooked because of wind

When the forecast was for wind today one of the last jobs I did last night was to unhook all the hanging baskets from their brackets and place them on the ground.

I am glad I haven't planted out the beans and pumpkins yet.  This wind would shred them.  It's really rattling the windows.

comfrey jungle near the chicken run

There is a lot of comfrey growing here.   The bees love it!  On a warm, still day I could be mistaken for a beekeeper.  There are hundreds of happy little buzzers.

We didn't plant the first comfrey plant for the bees. The bees were a delightful added bonus.  The comfrey was planted so we could make fertiliser for our vegetable plants.

We cut down loads of comfrey leaves and fill a bucket.  Nettles may or may not be added to the mix and then top it up with water.  The whole lot is left to putrefy for a few weeks.  There is a lot of protein in the comfrey plant so when the leaves rot down it really stinks! 

rotting comfrey leaves

When diluted this mess is a brilliant high potash feed.  Great for tomatoes and flowers.    It costs nothing, is completely organic and boosts the fertility of the garden enormously.

This bee was in the kitchen this morning.  He isn't supposed to be in there.  I gave him a little feed and then sent him on his merry way.