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Friday, March 18, 2011

Red Nose Day 2011

If you have, put her back immediately!

We had loads of gardening jokes for Red Nose Day in 2009, which has been my most read post for the past month. Do add some more in the Comments below ;)

Monday, March 14, 2011

Look Out Flingers, We're Coming to Seattle!

I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions anymore, but I did make a couple of promises to myself at the beginning of the year which started to come together last week. The first of these was to go to the Seattle Fling in July.

That sounds a pretty easy promise, but I gave myself a couple of hurdles to make it a tad more tricky. I didn't feel I could go all that way without NAH coming along and I couldn't really justify splurging out on a mega holiday from our savings without getting some paid work beforehand.

It's time for our Census this year, so our going to Seattle hinged on me getting one of the 35,000 temporary jobs on offer. We'll draw a veil over the frustrating and long winded process this has been: suffice to say at last a provisional job offer came through last Monday, subject to the necessary security checks, references, training etc. etc. all being satisfactory.

In the meantime I've been emailing NAH with links to various things we could do and see in and around Seattle entitled Persuasion. Lots of engineery type things; boat trips; spectacular coastal and mountain scenery; Mount St. Helen's; whale watching; a hop, skip and a jump to Canada. Lots of exciting things to make it a wonderful time for us both, with not one mention of gardening or blogging ;)

You see, I'd assumed NAH would join me for a holiday after the Fling...

Then our friends in Oz got in touch to say they'll be in the UK in July and could they stay with us on July 22nd -arrrrgggghhhhh! Much frantic emailing ensued and they're now staying with us on the 21st July - phew!

Then NAH announced not only is a trip to Seattle most tempting after all my Persuasion emails, he's also found out one of his classmates at university now lives in Seattle. So yes, let's both go and let's go there at the same time.

So the flights are booked and we'll be arriving on the 22nd :) Treat him gently eh guys?

Friday, March 11, 2011

Fish Trap Gardening

It's not often the worlds of two of my passions, freshwater biology and gardening coincide, but they did last week when Threadspider and I took one of our regular trips to our local garden centre. Here we are at the Garden Bygones section where all kinds of items are for sale. This is the place where I bought my vintage potato fork a few years back and I'm always tempted to buy some of the old apple boxes.

The strange looking contraption you can see in the photo is a salmon fish trap used on the River Severn during the 1950s. I was rather surprised to find a couple of metal ones on display as I've only seen ones woven from willow before. You can see the more traditional structure and an explanation of the fishing here. I felt rather sad to see them as it probably means someone has stopped fishing the Severn in the traditional way: it's a technique that's dying out as and when the fishermen retire. However, looking on the bright side using them for a different purpose is far better than just throwing them away.

I'd love to have one as a companion for the woven one I have in my study as I write this. A friend brought it back as a gift from her trip to Cameroon to remind me of my fishy past when I researched salmon and trout populations. That was here in the UK rather than in Cameroon, but I did appreciate her thoughtfulness. However, the price of the salmon trap on display is a bit too steep for me. Mark managed to acquire some for Otter Farm recently, so I'm hopeful I might find a cheaper source soon. I won't be using it for the purpose suggested on the label you can just see in the picture though: it's for growing sweat peas ;)

Monday, February 28, 2011

West Dean Gardens

I'm fast forming the opinion February is one of the best months for garden visiting. There's less crowds, the reward in the tea shop afterwards is far more comforting and there's a delicious sense of being let outdoors when it really isn't allowed.

Earlier this month I had a gallop round West Dean Gardens following my day's course there and despite the rain, what I saw was enough for me to be smitten instantly. Who can't help but fall in love with a garden boasting features such as a crinkle-crankle wall with matching hedge, plus a dear little hobbit-like building built into it?

When the borders lack flowery fireworks the attention is drawn to the garden's 'bones' instead. West Dean has particularly fine ones and as you can see I was rather taken with the brick and flint contrasts I found there as they add texture as well as visual interest.

West Dean is noted for its walled kitchen garden and I now have severe glasshouse and cold frame envy. Old tools such as watering cans and lantern cloches were posed around the garden to good effect. Even bare earth can be made to look attractive in my view. It was good to see proper rhubarb forcers in action and I now realise I'm far too mean with the amount of manure I use around mine. A good layer a few inches thick is what's needed!

February is the best time to see just how fruit should be pruned and the multitude of different ways in which it can be trained. There's a masterclass of techniques on view here and over at Sign of the Times, I've already displayed the perfect arch. Whilst I was there I met a number of the garden's volunteers plus the garden manager and his wife. They are all truly proud of the place they have under their care.

This pergola was designed by Harold Peto in the 1890s and is a promise of things to come out in the main part of the garden. I'm already planning to return for a his and hers weekend: The Weald and Downland Museum next door for NAH and a much more leisurely stroll around here for me :)