P usually goes out after dinner and looks around the pond. I think he communes with the newts and looks around for our single frog friend.  This evening, same as usual  (he's a creature of habit), there he is bending over the pond water and I hear a frightened cry of "snake". Now P does not like snakes, it might even be a phobia. I had go and rescue him from this monster.

It was really a snake, not just an earthworm  .  It was about 15" long and as thick as as a large pencil. It was swimming around the edge of the pond as if it was looking for a way out and wasnt happy being looked at by either of us. I wasn't sure what type of snake it was,  so I dashed  indoors to get a photo. Unfortunately,  I failed miserably but saw our baby snake disappear up under the waterfall base.  Investigation revealed it was a grass snake, not and adder thank goodness.  P is still not happy about it but I've calmed him down.  Liizard last month,  snakes this month,  what will it be next month, alligators?  

A large branch just fell off an old apple tree, about 20' tall. next to the house. Also in our orchard, a branch fell off a small pear tree that was loaded with pears. I think the likely causes of both were the weight of fruit and stressed because of drought. Not sure what the best course of action would be:

I can just dispose of the apple branch and leave the rest of the tree but the tree leans quite heavily one way and with this branch gone, most of the weight is now on the side the tree is leaning.

Another option would be to remove the tree completely. It was a well established tree when we moved here 40+ years ago and has had mushrooms growing on it all the time, a variety called turkey tail I was told which feeds on dead wood so not likely to harm any living material in the tree. The tree is likely over 150 years old as the old couple who lived here before us, the lady was over 90 and said the tree was here when she was born in the house so at least 130 years. At an apple fair at Reaseheath, the local agricultural College, I was told that it is a Gravenstein. I don't really want to cut it down.

If I leave it up, I was wondering how much I could trim the rest of the tree, to take some of the weight off it, without causing too much harm? It always has far more apples than we can use but is delicious, particularly as stuffed and baked apples.

          

The pear tree is a lot younger. I planted it about 10 years ago. The way it has broken has badly damaged to main stem. There is a weaker stem you can just see on the right in the second picture below. Any suggestions what you would do with this?

               

You're never too old to learn, right? 
I seem to be learning new things every day so I thought I'd write them down here, before I forget!! Please share things you've learnt too, no matter how small or trivial - maybe we can all learn from them 

1. Montbretia spreads by seed as well as corms. The seedlings look like grass.
2. The spiky thing on a garlic press is for taking the stones out of cherries & olives.
3. Its better to put the wool insulation inside the pot, not underneath.

Just read a news item about food price rises and how people are coping. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn5kvv9n10go

Research has shown that people are making simpler meals in order to reduce cost. 
"Almost 7 in 10 Dinner plates include fewer that six components" said the researchers. 

Seems I've been cutting back for years as I'd be hard pressed to think of many meals I've made eaten with more than six components - assuming that means something like meat and five vegetables? 
Not sure that I really understand what they're trying say here. Thought a  standard meal was something like fish chips & peas, or meat and two veg with maybe a Yorkshire pud and gravy. Maybe a stirfry, a curry or casserole would have more than six ingredients - but, is an ingredient a "component"?
How many "components" do you put on your dinner plate?

Yes Folks, Its time for a new, cunning Plan. 
I've put all the vegetables that I could grow into Traffic Light categories - Green Light are my favourites, the ones I really, really want to grow, Amber Light means it would be good to grow but not as my first choice. Red Light veg are ones I've struggle to grow and don't really enjoy - or, can be bought fresh cheaply.

For example:-
GREEN Light veg include Tomatoes, cucumber, courgettes, beans, mangetout, salad leaves, beetroot & carrot, chard. 
AMBER Light veg include leeks, onions, radish, broad beans, spinach, kale.
RED Light veg are parsnip, swede, turnip. kohl rabi, aubergine, peppers, celery, celeriac, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, sprouts, sweetcorn.

What about the Zones, I hear you ask?

ZONE 1 is the Best growing area - sunny, fertile, close to water and to home. Its the easiest to maintain because its convenient to pop into! Basically, its the GHs and pots on the Patio and the old Chicken Run.
ZONE 2 are the Veg Plots at the far end of the garden - BUT not all of them, only those that have been kept clear, or have usable structures like bean frames
ZONE 3 are the Veg Plots that need some TLC and the rest of the garden. 

Now it doesn't take a Giant Leap to see that GREEN Light veg should be grown in Zone 1, AMBER veg in Zone 2, and RED Light veg seeds should be chucked out, swapped or randomly scattered.

These were my first earlies type Solist sewn end of Feb in poly tunnel and harvested on 18th May

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Hi folks it’s been a long time since I posted, my apologies   I am still growing and have made a number of changes to my garden set up. I will post about these later when I get some decent photos. In the meantime hello again.

Look what I found in my live mouse trap this morning!      . A proper monster. 

This is the second one that’s been big enough to set off the trap.

I struggle to organise the flower spaces in the garden. The spring is beautiful with bulbs but as the season progresses it loses a lot of its colour. I could, if I was inclined, research, buy and plant things from the garden centre but I'm tight and  time is always short when these things should be done,  as the veg patch takes all my concentration. 

As an experiment,  In an ideal world, if you had say a 2m² bed,  what flowering/colourful plants would you plant to give some colour for the main seasons, I'll let you off winter, if that makes it easier.  I think SC will be a dab hand at this one.

Whilst planting out some bedding in a very dry bed I was visited by a lizard.  It wasn't very plump and was about 5-6in long. Research tells me it was probably a common lizard. He stopped to say hello then scuttled under the perennial rockery wallflower. First time ever I've seen a lizard in the garden.