THE IRON GRIP OF WINTER Ground is like iron out on the plot. We’ll not be lifting roots for a while yet, save pot-grown carrots which are in the greenhouse to keep off the worst of the frost. I walked down the allotment field to the tinker-chime of feeding goldfinches in charming flocks. They love [...]
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Posts Tagged ‘asparagus’
21 December 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman THE IRON GRIP OF WINTER
Monday, December 21st, 200928 October 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman HOT WEATHER AT THE END OF OCTOBER
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009I don’t doubt for a moment that I’m not the only home-producer still picking delicious raspberries. Such has been the weather that my autumn-bearing canes still hang heavy with luscious fruit. I vied for a ripe ’un with a bee who was after flowers on the same bunch. We both got what we wanted. True, [...]
Read More »27 October 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman EARLY AFTERNOON IN THE ORCHARD, BY THE FIRE
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009If I was to leave the fruit garden to nature it would soon be swamped by creeping buttercup and grasses. Then goodness knows what else’d come in and try to take over en route to becoming a small wood. Over the last half-dozen years I’ve carefully nurtured my collection of nuts and top fruit to [...]
Read More »26 October 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman NOT QUITE HOT ENOUGH
Monday, October 26th, 2009It was incredibly warm today in Shaftesbury. Tee-shirt weather at the end of October. I had to open extra vents in the greenhouse. Gave a drink of water to revive wilting salads in pots. Also took the hoe to a smattering of weeds that peppered bare soil between Brussels sprouts and recently planted winter onions [...]
Read More »13 September 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman MOMENTS OF CLARITY, AN EMPTY SKY
Sunday, September 13th, 200913 September 2009 MOMENTS OF CLARITY With the fresh winds come a sense of clarity. Looking over the plot you can beginning to see what’s in store as winter approaches. Against the light-brown of a dry surface and under blue sky with white fluffy clouds, mid-September offers much in the way of promises for the [...]
Read More »1 June 2009: DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman USEFUL WEEDS
Monday, June 1st, 20091 June 2009 USEFUL WEEDS A weed is just a plant growing in the wrong place. Thus, the volunteer potatoes which punctuate my onion bed and irritate the view are weeds this year when last they were a crop. They have to go. Pulling is as good a method as any, so as not to [...]
Read More »27 May 2009: DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman SOME RAIN AT LAST, SAY IT WITH ASPARAGUS
Wednesday, May 27th, 200927 May 2009 SOME RAIN AT LAST Some rain has fallen at last. To me, crucial; to my plants, essential; to wildlife in general, more than welcome. A barbeque summer of searing heat and wide open blue skies may please deck chair vendors, builders and folk who want to cultivate a tan, but for the [...]
Read More »5 May 2009: DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman POTTING ON TOMATOES, TOMATOES & ASPARAGUS
Tuesday, May 5th, 20095 May 2009 POTTING ON TOMATOES At the weekend Mrs Nails and I visited a keen gardening couple and saw the most magnificent tomatoes you could imagine. They were in big pots and positively glowing golden-green at the centre tips. They were Gardener’s Delight and their owner was very proud. I said I’d rarely seen [...]
Read More »30 March 2009: DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman DOWN TO EARTH
Monday, March 30th, 200930 March 2009 DOWN TO EARTH There is much pleasure to be had in the repeated and rhythmic cycle which gardening provides. Just as Monday’s have connotations regarding the working week, and feel quite different compared to a Thursday afternoon or Friday, so the gently ticking months offer moments and experiences which feel like they’ve [...]
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