Plotted this morning. Dug for an hour and a half, hoed everywhere, uncovered the manure to get a bit of rain on it before I spread it.
When I pulled back the tarpaulin I found two slow worms. Fortunately Chris was on his plot next door and moved them to under the shed for me. I'm not usually squeamish but I felt a little bit unsafe. Also he had gloves on, and I've had "garlic" hands after handling them before and didn't fancy it again!
This afternoon DH had his mainland hospital visit so I stayed in the back garden. I planted out my runner beans.....some were 3 ft tall and winding round everything in the tunnel. I didn't spend long enough hardening them off really so I hope they are OK. I've fleeced them a bit.
I also strawed the strawberries. I ran out half way through (I only managed to get one small bag of straw from a pet shop.....will get more when they have a delivery on Friday!) The bed looks so old fashioned now. I'll take a photo when it's all done.
It looks like more rain tomorrow. The water buts are full so it could stop now! I've started moving it round the butts that don't have a supply from a downpipe using my Hozelok butt pump. It's brilliant. I can see me having little use for watering cans in future.
It was quite a funny sight earlier. I put the pump into one of the butts without putting on the hose. This was to see if it was running. It was submerged with about 4 inches of water above the top of the pump. I turned it on to check it was working! It shot the water up into the air about 12 feet! It gave the sunroom windows a little wash!
I used it to water the tunnel with a watering wand spray. The pressure it produced was very good. Not as strong as from the Mains but still good. In fact, for watering plants it was better being a bit gentler.
I need to sow lots of seeds tomorrow....hope it is dry for some part of the day....!
posted by lilymarlene @ 9:56 pm
5 comments
5 Comments:
I must say that when I read that you had found some slow worms, I thought, "what's the big deal?". I thought slow worms were the opposite of fast worms.
Curious, I then googled "slow worms". Good Grief! They're legless lizards? Yikes! The worst part was that google told me that you can recognize a slow worm because it has eyelids. Eyelids!!!! Ewwww!
I don't blame you, now! I have never heard of such a thing.
I'm sure you beens will be ok; I know you always seem warmer than us and the temperatures seem to be picking up again. Hope it doesn't get too windy though. I remember one year we had to be away from home for a few days at this time of year and rather than risk the beans drying out we put them in the soil and made a real wig-wam with fleece around the canes; we did the same with the tomatoes....typically we had a mini heatwave while we were away! Had to smile at your pump story.
Please let us know what seeds you will be planting! My greenhouse is full at the moment (I started everything late!) but am still hankering to sow more!
SWD
Well, I had a similar reaction to "slow worms." I was thrilled when I saw a legless lizard here while out walking a couple years back.
I was surprised to see this from the BBC (so it must be true ... LOL) "Slow worms are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 from being killed, injured or sold and are less common than they used to be. "
"Garlic hands"? Do they leave an odor on your hands?
The ones that lived in my old compost heap back in Kent left a garlic smelling mess in my hands after I picked them up. I think they defecate when frightened......or perhaps they have another mechanism that sprays this mess. It stunk and was difficult to wash off.
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