Butternut Squash Butterball – Eileen's Tiny Welsh Garden

Monthly Roundup: September

Published on 1st Oct 202129th Sep 2021 by Eileen's Tiny Welsh Garden4 Comments

Compost Corner

Not strictly September but on the last day of August, I emptied Compost Bin 2 into old growbags and compost bags – eleven in total – ready to take to the allotment to help improve the soil in my bed. So while Bin #1 does its thing over winter, I can start a new batch in Bin #2.

I could, however, have done without the eight-and-a-half-hours in A&E with chest pains that followed; and the potential diagnosis of angina following two ECGs, four blood tests, and four hours on a cardiac monitor. I am now on one low dosage aspirin a day, have a GTN spray for when the pain starts. BUT, after a chat with a cardiac nurse on September 10th, it MIGHT NOT be angina after all. Further tests are being arranged.

Gardening, apparently, is the best exercise; though I doubt she meant lugging great pots of compost around and stretching across raised bed. She probably thought I meant a little gentle pruning and a bit of weeding!

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Monthly Round-Up: August

Published on 1st Sep 202130th Aug 2021 by Eileen's Tiny Welsh Garden

August has been a long month, concentrating as we were on house and garden maintenance; not so much gardening, more prettifying the area around the garden by painting exterior walls and paintwork, as detailed here and here. A month that, as it neared the end, found us running out of energy and time to do the things that had to be done.

Tuesday last week found me painting the other side of the gate and the frame around the garage door, which I wasn’t looking forward to as it is fiddly to get at. The old paint was flaking off and required a lot of preparation before I could start. But it’s done now (though with the garage door half open I did spot a couple of patches where the brown paint hadn’t covered the blue; but they’re underneath the dips in the door and can’t be seen when it’s down. I can live with that for a couple of years).

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Monthly Round Up: July

Published on 2nd Aug 202131st Jul 2021 by Eileen's Tiny Welsh Garden

To-Do List

Another tick on this year’s To-Do list. After the front path and drive (cleaned and sealed), the wall and gatepost (painted), I’ve had the paintbrush in my hand yet again – this time for the garage door! I can’t remember the last time I painted it but it’s been quite some time.

An up-and-over door isn’t the easiest thing to paint. I managed the top of the door (standing inside the garage with the door open) and the bottom of the door (standing outside on a stepladder), but I could only manage the lower half of each side due to lack of space inside the garage. It could probably do with a second coat (sometime) but it’s better than it was and I quite like the neutral brown colour.

I’ve still got to pain the white door surround. The paint here is flaking off so will need brushing and sanding, but that will be done at a later date, as will the door behind the brick arch (image 1 & 2). In the final image, the garage door looks blue, but it’s just the reflection of the sky in the wet (brown) paint – I haven’t “missed a bit”.

Faded blue with brown stripes
Chestnut Brown
Before 24/6/2021
After 26/7/2021

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Six on Saturday: 26 June 2021

Published on 26th Jun 2021 by Eileen's Tiny Welsh Garden7 Comments

Late again! Not because I overslept but because we took advantage of the ‘sunny’ weather here in North Wales to get on with our ~~TOP SECRET~~ Project (all will be revealed hopefully before the end of this month). The sun did come out, eventually, just as we were packing up for the day. So before I sit back and look through all the Six on Saturday posts for this week – courtesy of The Propagator – I’d better send mine hurtling through cyberspace. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to sit down with a beverage of your choice, a chocolate Hob Nob or three, and to read it!

Perennial Sweet Peas have suddenly produced flowers – and very pretty they are too. Shame there’s no scent.

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Monthly Roundup: April 2021

Published on 3rd May 202130th Jul 2021 by Eileen's Tiny Welsh Garden4 Comments

Raised Bed preparation

Raised Bed A

I tackled this bed mid-month, hoping that we’d seen the last of frosty nights! The first thing was to clear away all the daffodil and narcissi pots to give access. Second – the temporary removal of the arch. Third, remove everything else and prune the fuchsia cuttings along the wall.

I rescued as many brassica leaves as I could (for our evening meal), then dug everything out, apart from the purple sprouting broccoli. I weeded, hoed to brake up the crust on the soil surface; added loads of chicken manure pellets; added the compost from five growing bags (my failed experiment to grow salad crops over winter), and raked and hoed everything again.

I’ve used a row of bricks to separate the fuchsias from the veg bed, added a ‘fleece’ layer (to start warming the soil) topped of with upturned hanging baskets to discourage cat activity, and replaced the arch in a new position – at the front of the bed where it will – hopefully – allow easier access to peas and beans (and provide some much needed shade while we have our morning coffee – once the beans have grown). All in all, a good morning’s work.

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Little seeds of Joy

Published on 4th Apr 20214th Apr 2021 by Eileen's Tiny Welsh Garden5 Comments

I always have to remind myself not to panic when I see others have sown their vegetable seeds and are even potting them on into larger pots or planning to plant them outside. This post is to remind myself to do things in my own time, based on previous years, as it will all work out in the end. Better late than never, and if something fails, just try again.

Leeks: Lyon (12 cells), Musselburgh (4 cells)

18 February 2021