Tickle the earth with a hoe, and she will laugh with a harvest

[Rhubarbgarden]

Potting shed chat for all those interested in wittering on about gardens and sharing the love of plants. Plenty of dusty old deck chairs to sit on and sloe gin to warm the cockles; join us!

[Rhubarbgarden]

I love courgette cake too. Thank you!

I've had a few though.

[SugarPlumTree]

I'm just back from a rare night out and real rather than virtual alcohol and there's a new thread and Rhubarb needs cake . Happy birthday. And Echt has snow, can't get my head round that.

Squeaky, I have gallbladder issues and suspect it's about to kick off in a minute a a punishment for alcohol and meal out. So courgette soup for me tomorrow. I don't get how they can hide so well under the leaves and get big. The bottom of the fridge has more in than I would like to count right now.

[JennyOnTheBlocks]

Just marking out a plot here - pot and border gardener here :)

[echt]

Not snow personally, Sugar, I'm too near the sea, just guffawing at the media hype.

< Having said that, if any fell in my bit of Melbourne, I'd be out snapping and posting asap. Dammit, I posted about having frost on the car windscreen once >:o

Welcome on board, Jenny. Years of renting meant most of my Aussie gardening was in pots for ages.

[MaudantWit]

Welcome, Jenny and Enid.

Rhubarb, you are eternally young and lovely but I agree it's a shame about the lack of birthday cake in RL. There's plenty here, though.

[funnyperson]

Here is some cake for you rhubarb : chocolate though it is a bit early in the morning and a bit too late for your birthday!

We're all off to DD's graduation today, having spent all of Tuesday at DS's do.

It is all very well organised by the universities.

Lunch followed by photos followed by ceremony and inspirational speeches by eminent movers and shakers in Grand Old Listed Hall with staged world music and dancing in DS's case, and Latin incantations in DD's case, followed by reception in lovely gardens in Bloomsbury in DS's case and Oxford in DD's case. All day affairs. I hope you don't mind me sharing with you that I'm feeling quite proud of them both and a bit relieved we've managed to get at least this far.

I suppose now that us parents have to pay lots of money for tuition fees, the universities feel we deserve wining and dining. It is all very pleasant indeed after all the hard work preceding. I hope all of us make it through the day: I shall be sitting a lot and flopping afterwards!

The DC go out partying some more though! It does help them and us cope, because its a big transition.

I'm hoping the gardener at college has remembered my cuttings. Abutilon, viburnum plicatum, and some ancient tree I've forgotton the name of.

[Castlelough]

I fell off the thread!

Thanks Squeaky for fetching me back! I was on a bit unmotivated in July, but I'm back!

Belated birthday wishes Rhubarb! Cannot believe I missed the party!

Nightshade Congrats on your wonderful news! Wishing you well! My little rosebud is almost 18 weeks along now!

Funny Enjoy the graduations! Well done on all those years of great parenting it took to get them that far!

Welcome LadySybil and waves to everyone else!

On the horsey conversation, I was obsessed as a youngster growing up in the 80s/90s. I traipsed second-hand bookshops for pony books from 1930s and onwards. Begged for lessons, eventually had my first lesson on my 11th birthday. I still remember it cost £7 (Irish punts) for half an hour and I was in heaven! I spent my weekends helping at the riding school for free rides, as my parents couldn't afford to send me for lessons for long. I have been mad about horses all my life, and finally bought my own in 2010. Like a real-life pony book I paid €200 to save him from being sent to the factory. A few years later he won two point-to-point races and we had great fun racing him on the track up until Feb this year when he got hurt. All well again now, eating his head off in the field and I'm hoping to finally ride him myself next Spring after the baby has arrived! So Rhubarb beware what you may be getting into with DD!!! !

[Castlelough]

Off to examine my poor potted garden, after spending a week at home with my mum. Dread to see what condition everything may be in...expecting casualties...

[traviata]

Happy Birthday dear Rhu-barb, happy birthday to yooo!

it is drizzling this morning, not enough to be proper rain.

congrats to the funny offspring

[Lexilicious]

I missed the whole of the last thread! I have some loveliness in my garden now - honeysuckle reaching out from along the fence, and holding up the tops of the many self-seeded verbena bons... And the baby loves to explore now she's mobile - she pushes a big megabloks truck along the grass!

have a lovely graduation Funny, hope there are strawberry tarts and lovely tea in china teacups.

[Rhubarbgarden]

Rejoicing in all the cake and good wishes! Thank you!

Congratulations to funny's children, their graduation celebrations sound wonderful. Enjoy yourself!

Lovely to have Castle back and to hear that all is well! I was worrying about you. If it's a girl you have to call her Rosebud! Heartwarming story about your horse.

I'm off for afternoon tea with some girl friends at Gravetye Manor; famous garden created by William Robinson. I've wanted to see it for years. Really hoping it doesn't rain as we shall be sitting in the gazebo in the gardens, surrounded by floral loveliness and drinking champagne.

[Rhubarbgarden]

And lovely to have Lexi back too!

[HumphreyCobbler]

Happy Birthday Rhubarb XX Enjoy your day

Many congratulations to your DC Funnyperson, how proud you must be of them. I hope you are having a lovely day.

[HumphreyCobbler]

Castle - 18 weeks already?! I hope the sickness has passed by now?

I too loved the pony books as a child, although it never translated into an actual riding habit with me. We are in the heart of pony club land here, tbh I live in dread of DD catching the bug

[ppeatfruit]

Yes for the lovely new thread and many Happy Returns Rhubarb Dead at 40!!!! I beg your pardon !!!!

I make a fab. curry with courgettes. Chop them smallish with onions and garlic, cook gently with olive oil in a heavy saucepan add whatever spices you like (I don't like chilli so I put in ground ginger and or wasabi instead), coriander, cumin,plenty of turmeric, and garam masala, cook with a tightly closed lid on the lowest light on your cooker. I add water or stock if it gets too dry and check it.It doesn't take long. It's lovely with rice or whatever.

I wnt up to the orchard end of the garden yesterday (I haven't been for quite a while it's been too hot . And the walnut tree is laden with nuts , the self seeded plum tree is laden with yellow greengages, hooray ! BUT my 'cherry plums' have dried up on the ground I will definitely make sugar free greengage jam because I've got a 'barquette' of them from my plant lady in the market today plus another bastard balm because they're ideal for my 'woodland edge ' type of garden.

[Blackpuddingbertha]

No rain here . Rain dance didn't work. It keeps trying but only a few teeny drops fall.

Hope graduation going well Funny. You have every right to be very proud and vocal about being proud!

Welcome to more new people

Off to the garden centre later. Will try not to spend too much but the sight of my poor parched and dying plants is proving too much and I need cheering through new purchases. and possibly an irrigation system

[Callmegeoff]

I loved catching up with the two threads this morning but was too tired to post.

Enjoy your day funny and rhubarb

Welcome back lexi and castle.

What did you get bertha ?

Does anyone want Nigella seeds? They were white, light blue, dark blue, and purple. I will also have pink cleome seeds.

[FunkyBoldRibena]

Afternoon, can anyone join in?

Talking about elder, I noticed the first ripe ones yesterday. We usually make 5 gal of elderberry wine but this year we might make 10.

And we also have courgettes a plenty. We had some yr 11 s at our community garden on Thursday and they harvested all they could find and yet another 8 there again today. They were holding the big ones like babies and giving them names. There is a lesson plan in there somewhere!

Toms are starting to come now, and the first two seeds for saving are fermenting in water on the windowsill. Happy days.

[SugarPlumTree]

I love these threads. There are all these potting shed babies, some born and some growing. And FP's children being all grown up and graduating, congratulations to them both.

Hi to Jenny and Enid. Great to see Castle and Lexi back. What's even better is I am a bit hung over and thought it was Sunday and DH has informed me it's only Saturday, plus it has rained heavily finally so no watering and I can still fit in gardenng tomorrow as I've a whole extra day.

Geoff I would love some Cleome seeds please.

I want to know how courgettes can be so productive without water, my beans are struggling but the courgettes just keep going. Some days in the heat they were wilting like mad but always seemed to recover. The courgette soup is still at the courgette pile in the fridge stage.

My Bowles mauve have some weird pattern thing on their leaves, are everyone elses ok?

[echt]

Welcome back, lexi and castle, and hello to enid and funky. Lovely to hear all the summer harvesting stories. Yesterday I dug over the soil to prepare for the fruit trees arriving next week: virtually pure sand, though I did spot a worm, which was encouraging. I know you're supposed to do it months in advance, but there you go. Put some strawberry plants in a sunny bed to fill in the spaces where lavender, rosemary and other bee-attracting plants will eventually fill in.

Yet another effort to get plants to grow in a steeply inclined raised bed behind the retaining wall at the front. I put in scaevola, a ground cover verbena, some thyme and two casuarina glauca Cousin It, which should do the trick - everything else has given up the ghost in the face of sandy soil and scalding sun. Fingers crossed.

[NotAnotherNewNappy]

Funny - congrats on the double graduation. You must be v proud.

Lexi - Welcome back! I've had the astrantia seeds you sent me in and out of my fridge all summer but I still can't get them to germinate.

Funky - more the merrier!

Geoff - yes please to nigella seeds! I have PM'd you.

I took some penstemon cuttings today from the park. Carol Klein says to put the in a bright spot -but I'm wondering if they should have a plastic bag over them, to stop them drying out?

[Lexilicious]

Oh bother NANN, I was just wondering whether any of the seeds I've sent various people had been any good. I'm sorry they haven't worked out. I'm just about (i.e. sometime this summer) to get on with making a pinterest board of what's in my garden and another one for what Id like in my garden, so if you want to have a look and ask for divisions let me know!

[Castlelough]

Welcome Funky! And thank you all for the lovely welcome back .
We had some much-needed rain today. My pot inspection yielded mostly forlorn looking specimens , apart from the apple tree and the blueberry plant which are both laden ... and surprise, surprise one of my grandad's rose cuttings has a healthy red opening rosebud on it!

[NotAnotherNewNappy]

Funny - congrats on the double graduation. You must be v proud.

Lexi - Welcome back! I've had the astrantia seeds you sent me in and out of my fridge all summer but I still can't get them to germinate.

Funky - more the merrier!

Geoff - yes please to nigella seeds! I have PM'd you.

I took some penstemon cuttings today from the park. Carol Klein says to put the in a bright spot -but I'm wondering if they should have a plastic bag over them, to stop them drying out?

[HumphreyCobbler]

Lexi, hello! Missed you earlier.

Isn't it hard to garden with a mobile baby ? I have got the bad back that I always get with a ten month old baby. Hopefully it will pass soon!

Lovely news about the cutting Castle.

It has rained a fair bit here. The cottage borders were looking rather crispy and dried out so I am pleased. The deep pink cosmos and the ammi in the crab apple borders are looking v nice now I have propped up the ammi. The cosmos purity in the front garden looks nice, but I should have planted twice as many plants. I will remember to do so next year. The remainder of the lettuce I planted as bedding in the round veg patch has started to bolt. I must say that I am finding harvesting stuff quite tricky, can't put baby cobbler anywhere there is a gravel path as he tried to eat it, can't put him on my back as it hurts, can't put him on my front as he gets in the way! Baby prison is NOT popular! My new plan is to get out first thing when DH is still here, harvest all I need for the day and then it is done.