So does anyone else get a rash from picking DFB ? Or am I just delicate & sensitive    .

         

It’s not much of a rash and it’d gone within half hour. But it was noticeable an felt a bit prickly.

Well I’m back. Good old France Telecom have decided to install Fiber Internet all was going well until they hit a problem. As a result there are a lot of people in our area with out phone or internet for the last month! Anyway they have now given us a Dongle so we are back in line but still no phone. Lord knows when we will be reconnected proper!

Saw this and thought I should share it.
It seems that the companies "Garden Gear" and "Happy Beaks" are sister companies of T&M and calls to their Customer Service helplines are charged at Premium Rate - this has been unlawful since 2014.

Read more at:-

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/j...D1YZyqvLUQ

At the edge of my lawn to the hedge I have a small slope which is annoying to mow. I've left it to grow long this summer mainly due to laziness and a few wild flowers including red campion and some others I can't name have popped up. It got me thinking could I make a mini meadow strip? 
So my plan is cut the long grass back hard, heavily scarify the area to open up bare soil patches and sow yellow rattle alng the ridge at the end of this summer. Then allow that to get established next year only cutting the grass early in year then in August (or after yellow rattle has set seed). I may at that point also add some wild meadow seeds or leave that until spring the year after. 
Anyone think I shouldn't bother or do something differently?

Its hot and my mind is wandering (again). Memories of things/happenings are surfacing so I thought I'd share them with you - as nobody else will listen.

Yesterday, I remembered that old cars and motorbikes had a "reserve" tank of petrol for when you ran out of petrol. My Dad's Austin 7 car would run out of petrol whilst he was driving, and he'd coast to the kerb, say "I'll turn on the Reserve", get out of the car, lift the bonnet, turn a knob/switch, put bonnet back down, start the car with a starting handle, and off we'd go again until we reached a garage.

I told my brother this and we couldn't remember whether these cars had a petrol gauge - I suppose so but not very accurate.

Look who had germinated this morning

   

Is it only me, or has anyone had fantastic crops of juicy strawberries this year whereas last year mine were rubbish . No blackcurrants this year but goosegogs are good as well. Birds have had most of my redcurrants.
Strangely, without even netting,  both birds and slugs/snails haven't had many either.

Has anyone grown Nectar rose before. Its suffering badly with BER whereas every other plant under the same watering and feeding regime is fine. Ive had a bit of BER before on longer toms such as orange banana  but this variety  seems quite squat so a bit of a surprise. I 've now added a bit of calcium to see whether that helps or hinders but it's very soon going into the compost bin and the 'dont grow again' pile unless I can fix it.

I have been thinking about ways to make my (hopeful) future space as productive as possible. While I like ornamentals, I am most motivated by growing things I can eat (with attracting pollinators and growing green compost also important). So, until I have more space for fruit and veg than I can handle, I want to pack as much as I can into every available bit of garden. 

I am going to have a reasonable size south facing back garden (hard to be sure on Google maps, but I think around 112 square metres, or 1200 square feet for the old'uns), though some if that will end up being paths, shed, pond, compost bins etc. However, there's also a smaller north facing front garden. The top bit will be very shaded by the house for most of the day, but the bottom two thirds look like they may get a bit of sun as there isn't really shade from the east or west. In an ideal world, I'd like to get some fruit and veg growing there as well, but I would want to grow things that will be okay next to a main road. I'm thinking leafy things and herbs will be difficult to wash, but perhaps there are other options that would work well? 

Until I live there, I'm not going to know for sure how busy the road is, but I don't think it is going to be too bad. Although it's a main road, it's on a spoke that just leads up to the top of the (populous) village (where there are a couple of schools and a GP surgery) then out into countryside. I don't think there will be heavy traffic. So, hopefully it will be okay to grow some food there? 

I'm looking for ideas of things that will be easy to wash, won't look a mess growing in the front garden, can cope on a slope, and don't need too much full sun. What do you think?

Hi
Anybody has success with flowers this year that have previously failed???
I have tried for years to grow gypsophila and mesembryanthemum (livingstone daisies). Amazingly, this year they have flourished / no idea why!
But full marks to me for repeated attempts to get there!

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