Gardening Pursuits

[gothwalk]

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

It is a glorious day out there. I stepped outside when I was letting the cats out, and watched Junior Cat sprint across the garden and hop in the pond - no, I don’t know why, he seemed as surprised as me. However his sprint was slowed a bit by the jungle in his way, hitherto known as a lawn. I know it doubled in depth during the week, because last weekend, I could see Senior Cat when she was lying down in it. This morning, it was hard to see her when she was standing up. So out with the lawnmower… oh good gods, what the the hell’s happened here?

The alleyway beside the kitchen extension was completely blocked by honeysuckle. Now, this “alley” is a good eight feet wide, and holds a shed, with room to open the door. While the honeysuckle grows like wildfire at the best of times, that was ridiculous. So I forced my way through, and found that in last night’s wind, the trellis that it started out climbing on and and has since mostly eaten, had parted from the wall. At least I think it was the wind, it could have been sheet weight of honeysuckle. Two stout planks from the shed helped to force it back to the wall, and then I realised that the composter was still completely invisible. I poked through the honeysuckle until I heard a thump, and then did some digging. And then went and got the shears. I had to literally carve a short tunnel through the stuff to reach the composter, and open actual warfare to clear enough space to open the top. And since I last put stuff in it about three days ago, I can only guess that the slide forward off the wall covered the bin, and the planks didn’t push it back off that bit, or Jeff Noon has been having a word with it.

I’d already spent about half an hour just on this, but I at least I could then get out the lawnmower.  It’s a manual push-it-and-it-cuts type. Whirr, whirr, chunk. Clean mower blades. Whirr, whirr, chunk. Repeat. I eventually worked out that clearing one area and mowing toward that would work better, as opposed to the more intuitive clear an area and mow from it technique.

So now there’s a scent of fresh-cut grass, enlivened by the added scents of fresh-cut dock, nettle, and rosemary (not at all a bad combination, mind) from where I had to trim back some stuff around the edges. I’d forgotten the nettles were there; I had a notion earlier in the year of eating them, but they’re gone way too stringy now. There’s still a lot of trimming to do, but I’m going to have to wait until the evening for that, as it’s now baking hot out there.

In a repeat demonstration of feline insanity (or maybe he’s just too hot), Junior Cat proceeded to dance in the sprayed water from the hose as I attended to strawberries and rocket. He went to demonstrate his new damp self to Senior Cat and got boxed in the ears for his troubles.

The rocket has come up gloriously, and is now starting to go to seed, so it’s time to harvest and replant - actually, does anyone know if I can get the seeds from the old plants and plant them? The ground-planted herbs, on the other hand, were a complete failure - I saw three small dill plants, which later vanished, and nothing else came up. The strawberries, both alpines from Freecycle and a larger unnamed breed bought in from a florist, are all doing very well - we should have the first alpines by midweek, I think, and bigger ones by next weekend. If anyone knows of somewhere I can reach by bus that is still selling strawberry plants, I could do with about a dozen to fill up the top of the planter.

And now I’m at the machine, beside a very open sash window, with the cats going in and out through it, and sunshine blazing in around me, with much-needed coffee. I’m going to have to venture out of the house soon to get bread and milk, but otherwise it’s an afternoon for complete relaxation.

Comments

[graylion.livejournal.com]

that sounds cool.

BTW, what is the verdict on the SEO stuff?

[rowancat.livejournal.com]

Some cats take to water like, well, like a fish to water.

Not to confused with catfish which besides having whiskers,
behave a lot like cats, stretch out sleeping on a rock in
the bottom most of the time, getting up to eat once in a while :)

[caturah.livejournal.com]

The strawberries I got a while ago are Lohan(sp?) brand, from B&Q. They said they'd be getting them back in, and as I need another half dozen myself, and I should be out Mac and Dee's way this weekend, I could give you a call if they have them back in?

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

Do, please. Although the ones we have are sending out runners, bought ones would give a head start.