What are we doing in the garden 2025

Fed the birds and hedgehogs, hubby did a bit of weeding but it was too cold to stay out long.

 

Sowed a few seeds in the greenhouse, couldn’t feel my fingers by the time I’d finished.

 

Took one look at the temperature and windswept garden and abandoned any idea of any further activity today. I’m not likely to do anything until Tuesday next week if the forecast can be believed .

 

Potted up an order of lily bulbs in greenhouse. It's cold and miserable outside!

 

I’m getting itchy feet now (not literally, thankfully) as we are mid Feb and I’ve done nothing much apart from tree cutting (which was mostly supervisory). Ailments and weather have conspired to keep me out of action. Roll on April 1st, as I have a week off and that should (guarantee rain) be the start regular efforts.

 

I am still collecting leaves and the green waste bin is full and I have enough black bags of green stuff to fill another green bin.

The council has just opened the green waste subscription for 2025, which starts in March. It's 20 fortnightly collections for £61.80.

The problem is that the bin men are on strike and no recycling waste is being collected at all. This strike is scheduled to go on until April and we have been told not to put our recycling bins out or we can take it up the tip ourselves!

Well, where does this leave green waste? Are they taking subscriptions knowing it won't be collected? Our council has gone bust and they are trading while insolvent.

So I will subscribe to another year just in case they come. Hubby won't take green waste up the tip, because slugs may escape inside the car and he would go all funny.

So those of you that have a green or any other recycling collection are very lucky.

 

I hope they resolve the strike before April, that's a long time to be without refuse collections. If they're bust I suppose they'll still charge you, they'll need the money, but it's too bad you're paying for nothing.

Well thanks for reminding me about garden bins, I'll have to see about our collections here, it will begin soon, and I don't want to miss out.

 

Wow, my council's not in a good state either. Hope we don't get similar problems because the tip is not an option for me, as a non driver. Luckily I started composting my food waste a few years ago, when I had concerns about the reliability of getting it collected. If I lost the green bin collection I'd just have to let the garden revert to the wild though because I can't compost all the woody waste and brambles!

 

We're managing so far without using the paid-for green waste collection that was introduced 2 years ago. I'm managing to compost most stuff but if we need to go to the tip for anything else I'll also take any big branches I've kept aside. My shredders have been a sound investment though. Our problem (if you can call it that) is having too much compost!

 

I’ve done an hour in the garden!! Just a tidy of leaves and debris in and around the pond edge. It’s a start! The beach/gravel area around it is self-seeded with Aquilegias and other bits and bobs - do I weed them out this year and have a tidy space or enjoy the wildness?? Not sure…

 

Too wet but dug up some carrots and kohlrabi.
Feel we should be sowing veg seeds but we always have to do this indoors as the clay soil stays cold for many months. Still haven't started but we will...one day.

 

I always think its best to wait.
Its still early, only 5c here today.

 

Yes we set about looking through the seed box & ordering new ones today. I grow chillies every year but wonder whether I actually need to this year when I've still got so many in the freezer. That started a clear-out. Couldn't quite believe we've still got chillies in there from 2020! They're now getting chucked but I'm wondering whether I can compost them, ie are they harmful to all the little creatures in there? Will worms get burned lips?

 

Messy, very messy afternoon by the dining table Outdoors is so cold and clammy that my vision of happily pottering around in my first ever inherited greenhouse massively backfired so dining table it was.

Festuca Glauca seedlings got transferred in clumps into pots by The Child, who unwittingly revealed a touch of education that had stuck by calling a single plant a "Festucus". Closet posh

Houseplants got re-potted, it was rather a painful job as all the nice pots I took with us when we moved house last August were used as emergency housing for Cacti I had to dig up from the communal 45cm bowl planter that didn't fit into the new house. Handling Cacti safely is an art I'm still to master.

A full round of seed sowing happened too. Basically everything from the seed box that can be sown now went in, and leftovers and unwanted ones went into the swap pile The Child will give to her gardening volunteer buddies.

I like very much working on things like this with The Child. She (still) asks for my guidance but is building her own experience and opinions. We had good discussions on how deep and how many seeds to sow on the various things we had, and agreed on the "well, let's see what happens" approach.

I have swept the floor and scrubbed the table. If the weather is a bit more merciful tomorrow, there are a thousand nice jobs waiting for me outdoors

 

Not much but for potting up the ensete. Some wally stored it upside down