Sunflower

Despite all this rain and gales, our dwarf sunflower is still cheering us up and producing more flower heads.

:-)

Stubby carrots

Just picked some carrots with my children from our little veg patch. Bit rubbish and stubby but who cares? They loved pulling them up and got excited and they should taste nice at lunchtime.   :-)

Reason to grow your own salad

Got a bag of salad from Tesco. It was such a relief to see the 'V' symbol on the back of the packaging and to read that salad IS in fact suitable for vegetarians! Nice to know that Tesco rate the UK public as having decent IQs. Yet another reason to grow your own in the face of such an idiotic thing.

Some things like thunderstorms in Summer

Just came back from a weeks holiday in the beautiful Peak District and got used to some proper summer weather. Today in Norfolk we've had downpours and a thunderstorm. At least this little frog likes it and can help ne protect my seedlings from the slugs. Saves me reaching for the table salt. Only joking!

;-)

Will the nimbys win on renewables in the Con-Lib coalition?

There has been a lot of speculation on the direction of the policies towards the environment in the UK with the new coalition government. The Independent on Sunday highlights the areas where blue and yellow don't make green, one being an increase in energy generation from wind turbines.

My view is that the situation we are in demands that all options need to be considered, including nuclear.

We will have to see whether this new government can agree on this important issue on our behalf rather than on their party supporters behalf who may not like a change in the skyline.

Grey squirrel dilemma

Was pegging out washing this morning and spotted a young grey squirrel in a shady part of our garden on the forage. He got really close and despite what they have done to the red squirrels in this country, it was very sweet.

He disappeared in our shrubs and I didn't think any more about it as we get loads of squirrels in our garden, nicking the food I leave for the birds.

Late afternoon, I saw a neighbourhood cat stalking something and spotted a bushy tail poking above the grass at the base of one of our pine trees. I chased that away and saw the little squirrel again. It didn't want to move and eventually curled up and went to sleep on the ground.

This one of those wildlife dilemmas. Should I try to look after it in a box or leave it alone and let nature take it's course. I chose the latter but when another menacing cat appeared at sunset, I scared that one away and gave the squirrel a friendly nudge and it shot up the tree. Hope it stays there tonight.

The joy of pegging plastic

At last the good weather is here! Grass is cut and no mercy shown to the sycamore seedlings. We even managed to wash a plastic bag for reuse and peg it out with the washing. Spring is here at last.