We spent a big chunk of our day watering today. We are looking after a friend's house/garden while they are away so we went there and did some watering.
My pots (not on the watering system) at home need watering every day, fortunately that's only a handful of the 22 pots I have around the place - I am so glad I cut down!!
But then all the 22 do need feeding once a week. I usually do this on Sunday but we are out tomorrow so that needed doing too.
......and then, there's the lotty. That's a lot of water!
I took five teeny tomato plants with me - this is as far as they have got from seeds sown in April so I am not very optimistic about them. I still want to have a go outside though and see what happens. I pulled up the last of the radishes and put these tomatoes in their place. I assume the spring onions and lettuces will be out of the way before (if!) the tomatoes take off.
I have three varieties to go at so that should be interesting too. Strictly speaking it is the humble spud which led me to the lotty in the first place - never could grow enough in the garden to make it worthwhile, so I knew this would be the answer.
I took the net off the mixed veg box and lobbed it over the strawberries as we have quite a few flowers on them so we should get some fruit. As I had pigeon damage early on this year I thought the birds might have a field day on the strawberries when they come in. The rhubarb is still a bit pathetic. I know it needs at least a year to settle in - it just seems as though its not moving at all.
The plum tree £3 bargain wasn't a bargain - it was as dead as a dodo. I wish I trusted my instincts more. It was pulled up and cut up and that left a pot of perfectly good compost going begging so it may as well house a courgette plant. Get ready to find the hundred things you can make from a courgette cookbook.
I grow absolutely organically but I am not against weed-killing in path areas which is what we did here. A few days ago I sprayed it with Path Clear - chose a no wind day and aimed it low down and with great care. Today that meant the huge clumps of grass and dock leaves were fairly easy to pull up. Not that it isn't a back-breaking job and I am very grateful for my garden labourer who comes to the lotty with me each time.
I know exactly what you mean. Even in our smallish back yard plot, with two large and two small water butts connected up to various down-pipes, we're still in danger of running out of water if we have a dry spell that lasts more than a week or so.
ReplyDeleteMy missus Jo did come up with a partial solution a while back, though: invest in a bucket (or two). You'd be surprised how much clean or slightly grey water you can collect from the shower and/or kitchen, which can at least help keep the flower tubs from drying out.
Now that's commitment - well done you two - wish I wasn't so lazy. The lotty has a couple of water butts waiting to be 'piped' from the sheds and three others scattered around the site with no means of catching water. We can only lug round about 30 litres which goes no where. I do a rain dance when it rains. Hated by everyone!!
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