Shed extention started August 28th 2009

Well hubby has decided to put a lean-to on the end of the sheds! He cleared a space, moved the compost bin and has now got the frame up!

This is what it looks like from the bedroom window, a bit cock-eyed!

and here he is having a beer-break surrounded by bits of wood, the roof is half on anyway. Found some old pieces of corrugated iron for that.

More pictures coming soon....finished I hope, still its giving him something to do...

Pots by front door 30th August.

The pots by our front door have come on really well this year, here they are on the 7th June when I planted the flowers.

and here on 30th August, 3months later.

Its always in the shade so pictures not very good.

Wasps deterrent

Wasps are being a real nuisance now, they are looking for food and come buzzing round you when you are trying to have a late summer BBQ.
We have found that by putting out a jam jar with jam smeared round the top and a small amount of water in the bottom attracts them to that and not your food.
They crawl round the top and fall in then drown.

If you would prefer a more humane way to get rid of them, we also found that by burning incense sticks is helpful. They just do not like the smell.
Here is a packet of sticks I bought from a 99p store.

Each separate packet contains 15 sticks!

Larry the Lettuce ( topiary on a lettuce?)

It is possible to topiary a lettuce yes!

JUST FOR FUN,
yes it has finally gone to seed
..will be taking pictures of lettuce flowers soon!!

Our 'home-made' garden shed 5 yrs later!

This is how our home made shed looked 5 years ago when hubby built it....
complete with stable door!

Now we have double glazing!!
a neighbour was giving away a window,
so we put it in the greenhouse, very smart now!

this shed and greenhouse was built entirely of wood from skips,
leftover by people that did not want it.
An old shower door was used too, at the back of the greenhouse.

Japanese Lantern Plant 10th August

Our Japanese Lantern plant has flowered and now has green lanterns on it,
they will turn orange and red soon..
here it is earlier in the season...11th June...

and here on 7th August...

as you can see some of the leaves have dropped off
due to lack of water and space,
I am going to transfer to much bigger pot soon.

they are turning orange now..
TIP: if you keep them in the garden and not confined
to a pot they will 'take over',
the roots spread underground and new plants pop up every where.

Buddlei flowering 7th August

The Buddlei plant has made a lot of growth this season
from 11th May when it was like this...

to this on 7th August.

it is taller than the fence behind but you can't
see the flowers very well so here is a close up.

the butterflies will be here soon I hope!!

Peppers growing 2nd August.

The peppers are doing well as you can see.

rather a funny shape though!

Cucumber growing well 2nd August.

Looks like we might have success with the cucumber plant.

It is growing every day.

Apples nearly ready 2nd August

The apples are coming on nicely now.

Funny Lettuce

This has to be the funniest lettuce, all the rain has really made it grow!!

It hasn't yet gone to seed though as you might be thinking!

Stringing/plaiting Onions 2nd August

We had a go at stringing our onions today.

Leave them out to dry for 2 weeks first.

It was quite easy really, just take one piece of string,
tie both ends to a nail so you have a large loop,
then you create loops inside the loop to thread the onions,
like the figure below.

You pop the onions through the loop and tighten it up ,
the weight of the onions keeps them on the string.

We now have a collection hanging in our home made greenhouse!