Plans

Posted byofftheedgegardeningPosted inUncategorizedTags:,

Cosmos atrosanguineus Chocolate Cosmos

Another lovely day in horti-land.  I am now fully embracing this autumn thing.  Working conditions are ideal at the moment, mild and dry for the most part, and I have renewed enthusiasm for my work.  Not that I wasn’t keen before.  It is just that at the moment I am keener. The low sun bathes everything in a flattering light, enhancing the looks of everything, including the workers.  This can only be a good thing.  You never know when a Hollywood producer might be passing or maybe an artist in need of a muse.  It is perhaps a little chilly first thing in the morning but nothing a few layers can’t sort out.  Which is yet another incentive to get moving.

Plans are afoot at The Farm.  They may be a little ambitious.  We will have to see.  But what am I thinking?  We have Farm Force to call upon.  That crowd can do just about anything.

Due to the nature of the beast these undertakings cannot be started yet.  Next week is half term and the Farm will be full of families intent of making the most of the last break before Christmas. As soon as the last family drive down the lane, waving cheerily after a jolly week in this rural idyll, the chainsaws, tractors, dynamite and hard hats will be taken out of storage.  Until then we must control our urges.

Today we worked mainly in the vegetable garden.  Last week I purchased some young plants of spring cabbage and purple sprouting broccoli and they were more than ready to be planted out. We dug over the area and added some of last year’s spent mushroom compost which is now indecently delicious.  They were planted at exactly, give or take several centimetres, 45cm centres, firmed in nice and tight and given a good water.  To protect from root fly, we made collars from an old compost bag and slotted them around each plant.  Organic slug pellets were then scattered to deter late mollusc attack.  The first thing I saw this morning was a rabbit running across the lawn in the centre of the site.  Even more protection was necessary.  If you believe Beatrix Potter anyway.  A net was used to cover the cossetted babies.  So root fly, snails and rabbits, all sorted. What could possibly go wrong?

Cosmos atrosanguineus, Chocolate Cosmos, glistening in the soft autumn light.

19 thoughts on “Plans”

  1. Just out of academic interest, were those organic slug pellets scattered such that they fell in the intersections of a grid pattern of approximately 4 inches square? Otherwise they are likely to attract rather than repel/kill. I just cannot understand people who take the salt-n-shake approach to slug pellet scattering. I’ve always dropped them individually (I wear a disposable glove for the purpose) to supplement the nematodes (which should be pronounced in a voice akin to that witch in Hocus-Pocus who seemed to have a heavy cold). 🙂

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  6. Your photo of cosmos was great and made me think what happened to our chocolate cosmos this year. I suspect it has been too dry and they are really small plants to the extent I may not bother next year! One of the downsides of a large garden is that it is impossible to water everything. But there are many positives!

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