My eco solution to rat problems

[Valkyrie]

Sorry Daphne, nothing as weird - it's just the run was originally the chicken run and then became the duck run - we keep saying duckens so that OH knows which one I mean - chickens are now under the walnut tree in a new house and run.  Also the first ducklings were hatched under a broody hen, so we called them duckens.  She wasn't amused when they went swimming and even less amused at their toilet behaviour, in fact she was disgusted that she abandoned them, but they were able to fend for themselves - sad though as they couldn't understand why mum was so mean!  It was all change for the first lockdown here - chickens in the barn and the ducks in the chicken area.  Now we have more so there's the field run with ducks and the kindergarten run for the ducklings.  Musical chairs!  LOL!

Oh dear Beannie!    The radishes sound yum!  At least some things going to plan.  We luckily missed out on a mega storm, although we could see the clouds from here.

Getting cracking in the greenhouse, seeds sown, yacon potted on, the little onions are sending out strong roots and green shoots that were only a diddy bit of green are now nearly 3 inches tall!  Definitely time to go in.  Job for tomorrow.

[Beantree]

The Radish are 'Saxa 2" @Daphne. Didn't plant them last year because the packet said a germination temperature of 6 -8C and it was far too hot. But this year I checked that temperature on the internet and discovered germination is 12- 24C, so an error on the packet i think. Anyway it was around 15C when they germinated. I was attracted to buy them because it had "culture facile" on the packet (easy to grow). Ready in 6 weeks with a fine texture to the flesh. Says don't leave them in too long or the skin splits. Radish I've grown in England were much bigger and mild.

Going to try growing our onions from seed as soon as we have a greenhouse @Valkyrie, because the sets are expensive and so many are thrown away tat have shrivelled to nothing. But we're a way off the greenhouse yet, with trees to remove, steps with a handrail (so you don't slip off and land on the greenhouse) to make up the bank behind and guttering to fit to collect water. Interesting project though and should look great when finished.

[Daphne]

I'm sure it will BT!  Round here its seems to be quite routine to hire a man and a digger of some sort to come and uproot trees.  Its either from forest for wood sale/clearing fire breaks or from your own land because the trees are dying/worn out (mostly cherry) or if you want to move a few old trees to plant a lot of young olives/vines or whatever.   There is a lot of chainsawing going on as well, its a bit like lawnmowers in the UK sometimes.  They always talk about 'cleaning' the land rather than 'clearing' it. 

Mystery solved Valkyrie!

I see we have rain forecast for the next week, on and off.  Miracle.  We shall see.  OH has acquired a cold and says he feels rough from spending a week touring wet Italy.

[Valkyrie]

I was a bit late this year for sowing onion seeds, but I do have some ready for this winter.  Sets were plan B!

We have a polytunnel ready to erect.  Blinking builder ripped the package open in the rain to find the instructions - which got soggy - now in the barn and dry.  I have no idea what he was thinking - apart from something else to bodge, get paid for and scarper.  He's had his final ultimatum date and has been told that we will be starting legal proceedings against him under the Consumer Credit Act - I think - thanks to the National Farmer's Union and the Citizens Advice Bureau.   So I think Monday will be the day when it all kicks off.  Fingers crossed.

I remember eating radishes that were so hot they made your eyes water.  Have been disappointed with different seeds because I like the heat in them.  I think the seed companies produced bland varieties so that the consumer didn't complain.  Pity.  I stopped buying radishes from the shops when they became tasteless.  I know OH doesn't like the hot ones.  After growing lots of beetroot for him last year most were eaten over winter by the slugs and he ate about 3 in the end.  Certainly not devoting time and space for those anymore unless it is a bit of a filler in a corner. 

A tad warm outside and the sky is a gorgeous blue.  Onwards and upwards!  

[Beantree]

Lifted two Agata early potatoes at 10 weeks, so 3 weeks before they should be ready. Good size and no blight. Total weight 760g, so with 56 plants we should turn our 1.5Kg of seed to 21Kg of food, perhaps more if they grow a bit more?

Noticed that we still have some disparity between bed fertility, so this year I'll make a note and dose some with extra compost. We have one row of Sputa in bed 'D' that is 50% taller than bed 'B' even though they were planted a week later.

[Valkyrie]

Nicely grown Beanie.  Last year was so hit and miss with our spuds - fingers crossed the rest of yours will be a good harvest.

I've been sowing seeds like crazy.  We've had a warm and dry spell lately with a bright hot thing in the sky - am told it is called the sun.  Been able to weed most beds, still a couple of thistle-ridden messes, but I'm getting there.  Couch grass is a bigger issue, but some beds finally seem clear.  The shallots have gone to seed so I'm not going to try with those again.  Winter onions getting nicely swollen.  Garlic is covered with rust and look weedy.  The only ones looking reasonable are the elephant garlics that  saved from my bulbs from last year.

Lots of pesky aphids in the greenhouse so I'm going to try boiling 2 crushed garlic bulbs (not the cloves, but the whole thing) in a litre of water for 10 minutes, let it cool down and then spray.  I gather it isn't a killer, more of a yikes I don't like that smell repellent.  It may repel me!

I also have a lot of tomato seedlings at last but decided not to buy pepper plants from the garden centre this year.  I have sweetcorn, assorted squashes and climbing French beans on the go too.  Very late, but I'm sure things will catch up in the warmth.

[Beantree]

Creeping thistles are very difficult to get rid of @Valkyrie, if not impossible. We had them years back and the only solution I found was to wait until they were quite tall, then cut the stems a few inches above ground level. That reveals a hollow core that was injected with neat weed killer. The result is the thistles are killed about 4 shoots back and don't grow from there again; seems to penetrate their root system. Wouldn't advise that approach in a veg plot.

Our beds are divided by grass walkways. One of the few grasses that can survive here is couch, so all we can do is fork the edge of the beds to expose the roots and pull them out. There are two types here. One has a fine root and the other very thick and strong, sufficient to go through a potato, with an extremely sharp point. Wear gloves when pulling those out.

These new potatoes won't last long. We have just had dinner and finished them all; very tasty indeed.

[Valkyrie]

Good grief - you have couch on steroids!  I've noticed that with a lot of nice compost added, it makes the ground easier to work with and the couch roots are much easier to pull.  Then they form little bulbs at the base to get a stronghold - but they don't get a chance.  A farmer friend said that with creeping thistle, you must get at least 4 inches of root up with it, again with the softer surface, they don't get too much of a hold on it, the little sproutings are easier to pull up too and sometimes you can get a chain of them.  I haven't got round to squirting things with vinegar (confirmed kills by my mum!) but that is a last resort.  With all the flying seeds of dandelions, buttercups all over the place, dock and sorrel, it's a never ending session, but I am winning slowly.  The hogweed sends down deep tap roots, but mowing stops that and the stinging nettles - eventually.  Dock is another 4 inch root removal session too.

Glad you enjoyed your spuddies!

[Daphne]

I've been hand weeding too as we keep having rain which makes the job a lot easier.  Its a constant battle though, next door is not lived in so the grass grows over a metre tall before someone comes to strim it meaning the seeds are everywhere.  Although I actually like a lot of wild grasses as our house in UK was set in wild flower grasslands, but of course you get more pervasive weeds in there as well.  I've noticed that every year the make-up of the wild stuff is different.  This year I've actually got a lot of stipa type grasses which look quite elegant, or they would do if they were growing between planned planting, mine are arching over dandelions/thistles/groundsel/something I don't recognise but its like a dandelion on steroids etc etc.  I don't have nettles, but I do have brambles.

On the plus side, all this rain and unseasonable cold after a very warm and dry spring means that the fruit is early.  We have eaten the cherries already, and can't keep up with the peaches.  I picked about 40 windfalls today - they are huge, shop size.  I think its all the water has meant they are too heavy to stay on the tree (plus the wind) as they aren't quite ripe, I will have to cook or freeze most of them.  I have also counted 40-50 passionfruit (nowhere near ripe) so those two fruits between them are our star performers.  We had peach crumble for dinner with peach ice cream - what a rare treat!  

[Beantree]

Our cherries haven't really filled out this year, but they taste OK. Chickens are wandering about with black faces from the juice. Had more rain so they are beginning to rot with the humidity, but on the plus side we are only 17% short now on our annual rainfall. Some of our grass areas are 4 feet high and the best showing of orchids we've ever had by a long way now can't be seen.

Once again (we tried several years ago) our beef tomatoes are not pollinating. I'm sure some will eventually. Nothing to do with the lack of bees because the one cherry tomato plant in the middle of them is full of fruit. Anyone else had this problem with beef tomatoes?

Despite moving the rhubarb and giving it plenty of compost after 5 years it has failed to do much. Never had anything worth trying to eat. Had plenty of small leaves earlier, but then they all died and there are just a few shoots from the centre. Certainly taking it out, but might try a darker spot somewhere under the trees? Where does everyone else grow their rhubarb?

[soapdragon]

OH 's parents had THE most amazing rhubarb and I was very impressed until I realised how near the soakaway for the septic tank it was! Gah! Likes to be wet, I think!

[soapdragon]

Anyone ever grown Firestorm runners? I have about a dozen plants in pots (rubbish soil) having got carried away by the blurb on the packet. However, reviews seem to vary - I hadn't realised it was a cross with French beans either! Am beginning to regret my choice but it's too late now!!!

[Beantree]

The thought of eating something that has grown directly from septic tank outflow horrifies me @soapdragon. We have a damp spot from the garage guttering, so might try it there?

French beans require very poor soil to grow, as opposed to these 'Firestorm', but germination can be a problem because they don't like heat. Guess the proof of the pudding is in the eating? Perhaps pick them very early for best flavour? We don't like runner beans but love French beans picked at 4" long maximum.

[Beantree]

All our Agata potatoes died off seemingly overnight. Lifted some from the bed and they are fine, but I've haven't seen that happen before; two whole rows went brown and shrivelled at the same time. Raddish have gone 'woody' and started to bolt, so all pulled out and another sowing to go in, but it may be too hot now?

Good news on the rainfall. We are only 15% down on the annual now after a few showers. Drove over the river today and it was a surprise; a raging brown torrent. So there must have been some pretty heavy downpours South of us (our river La Baïsole flows North). But no rain for the next three days and it's been hot today, so back to the usual watering routine which is about 20 cans worth.

[Valkyrie]

Thank goodness the potatoes are fine underneath.  Very strange indeed!  All the shallots went to seed I did remove some heads, but others I just lifted as they weren't really doing anything for weeks.  The winter onions are being harvested as needed, taking the largest so the smaller ones can use the space.  I couldn't get pea or bean poles in the ground - like concrete!  One of the beds looks like we had an earthquake, the gaps between the "plates" are about an inch apart.  We have had a little rain the other day, but not enough - last night a deluge, so I'm hopeful when I go out in a while.  No beans showing at all so again will need to sow some indoors or horror of horrors - get some in!

Due a bit of a damp spell - all those slugs will come out in force - I've planted all my maincrop onions now.  They were looking quite good in their cells - not sure what to expect this morning as I reckon they've been munched!  Sweetcorn needs to go in - weird that they are so erratic, sowed so many, some are tall, some are short and others didn't germinate at all.  

Meanwhile the polytunnel frame is gradually going up.  The instructions may as well be Chinese - so contradictory and pages to go through before finding the relevant section but very little detail referring to parts and photos, so had to resort to old videos that need a little updating as we have parts that they didn't show.  The hoops are up as are the crop bars.  Like all men with drills it is shove it together while I go out and say this should be there and that is the wrong way round.  Even so, some parts are still not quite right but it is so sturdy that a hurricane would find it difficult to wobble - which is the main thing.  Yesterday HRH and I were putting in the base and side rails, plastic inside can be rolled up and an outer green mesh is for ventilation on hot days which is separate from the plastic over the top of the hoops.  A bit more complicated than I thought with the supports a bit too low in places - ugh.  The guys on the video fly through, but they don't provide people to erect it - pity!

Just working our way through the early spuds.  With the rain I think they'll be happier now.  Eradicating the creeping thistle and the roots are getting weaker as long as I go along with my dandelion pokey thingy and get a lot of root with it.  

Yacon is ready to go in now and I had a nice surprise when a lot of the little bulbils took root.  I have way more plants than I started with - and I gave a few away!

The fruit have suffered a bit, swamped with grass, some fruit died in the dry spell but as they are supposed to be putting out roots, being the first year planting, I'm not so worried as long as the plant survives.  Went to a pick your own strawberry place.  All on staging with water and nutrients flushing through.  Beautiful, picture perfect strawberries - no flavour.  My own strawberries are so much more intense flavour-wise, but not as many plants.  Need to prep a bed for them.  Courgette seed was sown - old seed - all popped up.  Oh well, looks like a lot of shredded courgettes for the freezer.  Squashes doing well - Uchiki Kuri very disappointing - only one plant while two seeds are no-shows and the 4th decided to grow upside down - it was sown on its side so why it did that I have no idea.  And I have a whitefly invasion in the greenhouse.  Meh!  

Am going to do a repellent thing whereby you chop 4 whole bulbs of garlic (not the cloves), and boil in a litre of water for 10 minutes.  Let it cool outside to reduce the garlic pong indoors and then spray the plants.  Doesn't damage anything, just drives them away - I hope.  I have done neem oil in the past, but seeing as you mix with some washing up liquid to get it mixing with the water, I don't think it is the neem doing anything - more likely the soap!  That's the perennial kale.  I have perennial cauliflower but I'm not fussed as the florets are weedy so it is just nutrients going where they could be used better elsewhere.  I'll put it in the veg patch and let it do its own thing, same for the kale - which I really grow for the chickens and ducks.

We have 7 ducklings so far and a persistent broody duck on 2 eggs - and seems 3 now so she'll have to be removed soon for her own good.

Oh well back to the grindstone.  All the best for some good harvesting Beannie!

 

[Beantree]

You sound very busy @Valkyrie whereas we're now just sitting back and waiting. Bought another 20 bags of cheap compost to do all the beds as the crops come out, which will save labour digging it in. Only one bed is still clay lumps. First time it's had potatoes so I've dug under the spade depth layer of soil conditioner (had 160 litres) to get them out and brought up spade sized lumps of clay. So adding another 4 bags of compost (160 litres) and breaking the lumps up. Now we have worms in the soil they may break it up further, but first that bed will be planted with leeks, probably next month to be a Winter harvest.

Having an awful lot of rain here at the moment. Usually we've run out of stored rainwater by this time, but not this year and I haven't needed to do much watering either.

Our three courgette plants on the compost heap are producing too much at the moment, so the excess will be put back to compost. The butternut squash plants next to them are huge now but we've only had one flower? Dozens of male and female flowers on them which are all staying closed. What are they waiting for?

Tomatoes are a disaster. Only put in 7 plants and they have been hit with the same brown dieback of last year, but worse. The few cherry tomatoes have gone brown and dropped off, two of the beef plants have died and none have pollinated. Won't be growing any tomatoes next year; just a waste of time, money and a bed that could have been a potato crop. But the French beans look like being a massive crop, so I'll soon be busy every morning picking them.

Now our soil is so much better I might try parsnips again?

Been told the garlic spray does work. We made some, but didn't use it because the Nectarine tree it was for just died?

[Valkyrie]

Oh no!  The nectarine!  I love those.

Not that busy, but when I get my head down the time races by!  LOL!  I'd like to be easing off and just watching, but I was late doing anything.  Too cold, too wet, too frosty - then the summer comes and almost on its way out again!  More heavy rain overnight and our empty pond has started filling up again.  We are redoing that, making it bigger and with little stream, a waterfall and a wildlife friendly pump - runoff from the rain on the roof, so am looking forward to seeing more dragonflies now that the awful pondweed - huge monstrous plants - have been removed.  I hope the newts and frogs return though.

The creeping thistle is weakening.  The more root I get, the quicker it goes.  Those that are new plants from seed are sorted before they get their roots running along.  Well happy with those, plus a lot of beds are couch grass-free!  I'll definitely be covering the empty beds over winter.  

I must sow the leeks, won't be long before the new spuds are cleared. Thanks for the reminder!   I'm hoping to put the toms in the polytunnel - working on that again tomorrow.  I know which bed I want to sow the parsnips in and today we bought more compost, so I'll be raking that in to the bed ready for sowing.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Glad the garlic worked.  Lifted the elephant garlic today, not too bad.  Will be replanting the tiny bulbils (not the cloves) which will form the new plants in a couple of years.  Well, I hope they do!

 

[Daphne]

You both sound super busy!  I'm not, mostly because I only planted cherry toms and they are fruiting, although 2 out of 6 plants are super weedy with more toms than leaves.  Otherwise I have cleared all the winter greens, allowed parsley to self seed, cut back perenniel spinach so it can lie low till winter and basically if any fruit ripens we eat it!  We've finished the peaches now, lost some to the rain and some to the wasps.  Its MidSummers Day, but we are still in cool wettish conditions.  However, from tomorrow the temp shoots up to 34-36, crazy.

I've found nectarines to be very hard to grow.  We bought a tree about 5 years ago, along with an apricot and a peach.  The apricot is about 20 ft high (needs pruning) and fruited from Year 2.  The peach is about 10 ft high and this year had a 'proper' crop after starting in Year 2.  The nectarine struggled along with no fruit until OH mistakenly strimmed it last year.  I have noticed new shoots this year so will give it the benefit of the doubt for a while longer, but I just think they are a bit iffy.

Another benefit of the rain may be that the worms are encouraged, BT.  I know clay can be very difficult if it has a tendency to pan or if the topsoil is very thin. I've not gardened on sandyish soil before, but I can see the benefits, although obviously water retention is an issue, but then there are underground springs in various places.   However, overall it sounds as though you (and me) are getting to the stage where we retire gracefully and only grow what grows fairly easily.  I think I am going to give up on garlic as I can buy it cheaply and my cloves don't bulk up a lot, although they are strongly flavoured.

As for tomatoes - I was complaining about the cost in the winter, but for about 6 weeks they have been dirt cheap in the shops, there is a glut, partly coming through from Spain which was held up by weather in Spring, but mostly Portugeuse.  I pay 1.35 euro/kilo!

 

 

[Beantree]

That's another reason for us not to grow tomatoes @Daphne. They all arrive at the same time so we have a glut and give them away and that's the same time when prices hit rock bottom anyway. If we want tomatoes when ours have finished, or before they have started, they are expensive anyway.

We planted a self-pollinating cherry last year to eventually replace the aging one we have. It's doing very badly with no new shoots so it will come out at the end of the year and be replaced with one from another supplier. On the other hand the plum planted at the same time is doing very well and fruited. We have cut all the fruit off to avoid weakening the plant at such an early age. The old plum tree hasn't died yet (but the branches are hollow and splitting) and is fruiting well; too well, we'll have to take at least half the fruit off so the branches don't collapse.

[Valkyrie]

We had a couple of cherries on our new tree - Stella - it needed watering as the leaves started to turn colour.  The mulberry was very late to leaf up - then again so was the walnut so probably down to the plant.  It being so cold late in the spring may have been the reason.  But it is a young tree and so not expecting it - was surprised the cherry was producing.  I'd rather it put down roots.  The damson and plums kept getting knocked down in the winds even though I barricaded them up - they just fell at a different angle.  I call that sneaky.  Unfortunately the slugs had a field day when they were down.  At the moment the damson is looking very healthy while the plum trees have less leaves, mostly down to being eaten.  We have one damson ripening - I'm watching it closely!  LOL!

I don't mind having a tomato glut - we make passata and sauce.  HRH likes his tomato soup - I have my nettle soup!  We dehydrate them and put them in the blender to make powder - a really intensive flavour or add a bit of water to make a very thick puree - great for Mexican dishes.  The tomatoes we get in the shops aren't tasty and quite bland so we continue to grow our own.  Definitely need to be under cover with our monsoons.

Interesting about the nectarines.  My great aunt, in London, had peaches growing against her walled garden.  Very protected and it was huge.  Not a particularly nice lady, complained that her neighbours could reach those hanging down in their garden.  I was allowed to have a sliver - which was super.  I reckon the wall gave it the protection from wind and the disgusting grime protected it from leaf curl!  I figure nectarines are similar.  But you guys are in warm areas - maybe nectarines are just more fussy.

Went to a local pick your own.  Raised on long trays, dripping water and fertilizer, the most picture perfect plants and fruit.  Disappointingly very watery fruit and tasteless!  Back to waiting patiently for my own - which are deeelish, although the plants are few - and I noticed beak marks in some of the berries.  Pesky birds sneaking in the greenhouse!

[Beantree]

Had a reporter in the South of France this morning looking at the apricot crop. We are the number one supplier of fresh apricots in Europe, so perhaps we should try one. Not sure where to put it yet though?

We bought early strawberries here @Valkyrie and they were pretty much as you describe; lovely looking fruit but with little substance or flavour.

We put the discarded plums on the compost heap in one small area so that the stones can be sieved out when the compost is ready. The stones don't seem to decay at all?

[Beantree]

Looking at the second early potatoes I could see something rather bright clinging to a stem; this little chap. When I say little he is the size of my middle finger. Photo doesn't do his colouring justice. He is a very bright yellow with silver diagonal stripes and what a cute tail. We've had one before here in 2020, but not quite as big or colourful. He will be a 'Death's Head Hawk Moth' and we know that because all the lambs are quiet at the moment. Keeping a close watch on him because a few hours ago he was upside down and that could mean turning into a chrysalis. Hanging from a decaying potato stem isn't a good idea, so we'll have to move him somewhere safe and make sure he can exit safely to expand his wings and dry out.

French beans taste great and have nearly finished. Onions are now huge and have stopped going brown, so it was a combination of over-fertilisation and too wet. Kiwi are very large for this time of year. Earlies are nearly all up and the leeks are ready for watering out and back into the earlies bed. So many raspberries! Courgettes are going crazy on the compost heap and so are the butternut. Good season so far and nearly everything should be done and out before the Summer drought.

[Daphne]

Lovely to see the caterpillar, I'd have had no idea what he was, because he's so bright and the end result is so dark and scary looking!  However, obviously the size of eventual moth is apparent from the size of the caterpillar. I reckon you are lucky and observant!  Its a fabulous picture, I love the tail!

The garden is sounding super productive, carry on enjoying everything, it sounds such a lovely combination, particularly the raspberries and beans.  Neighbours of friends brought them armfuls of beans and plums at the weekend, we are going over to check on a friend's plot to see if he has plums for eating and making hooch from.

 

[Cat tails]

Any of you lot know what kind of blackberry this is?

I keep cycling past it every year and OBS Identify tells me it is a Rubus of some kind, but I can’t find any photos like it on the internet.

[Beantree]

No idea about the blackberry Cattails. Anything spikey gets dug out before it flowers.

Made another mistake with our onions. I've watered them even though they had started to die off. With the soil retaining so much moisture lower down the bulbs have started to rot. We've just lifted them all and taken off the rotting layers but two huge ones had gone right through (maggots in the roots) so they have been thrown away. Suspect even after thorough drying these onions will rot in storage? Perhaps next year will be better and I'll pay more attention to them? Lifting the other row now, but these are only half the diameter; the size we used to grow.