Spiders!

Here the spider situation is a world apart than that in Arizona.  Let's face it, in Arizona the spiders are BADDIES!  They can even kill you or at least make you very ill.  Here, well, spiders can be a nuisance, but are not poison and aren't going to hurt you.  In fact, they are a welcome sight in the garden as that means they will be eating all the other little critters that are after our flowers.

 The other day Joseph and Jon found this little next of spiders, and then a couple more.  They were big furry cocoons full of tiny little spiders.  A bit creepy, true, but also very fascinating.  Take a look...Joe was tracking them all afternoon watching their every move.  We now find a few little babies here and there and each time Joe exclaims that it must be the same ones.

Our Allotment

Our allotment is really coming along.  We have put in a lot of work to get it to the state it's in now, which when compared to my allotment neighbor's plot is shameful, but, it is what it is and I am very proud of it!

We've got so many veggies and flowers growing there and it grows each time we visit.  A little more done, a bit more planted.  We still have a long way to go, but I love seeing everything growing and sprouting up towards the sky.

This is the bulk of our plot that butts up to the little drive that separates some of the plots.  The tree there is a huge apple tree and when it was flowering earlier it was gorgeous.  The big mound of dirt in the forefront is the next bit that will be tilled under and have courgettes (zucchini), summer squash, pumpkin, cucumber, and melons in.  Between that and the tree on the left center is our potatoes, and on the right is broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and kale.  We've done a lot of companion planting this year intermixing nasturtiums, marigolds, and even onion and lavender.

The plot on the left here is where a lot of the root veggies, beans and peas are.  Things are coming along there quite nicely, and then the two little raised beds are for salads, lambs lettuce, little gem, round lettuce, and spinach.  Bird scarers are everywhere as are the birds!  We want them around but what them to eat the pests, not our seedlings.

Sunflowers interplanted with geraniums and some sweetpeas at the back.  Hopefully by the time everything blooms, this little corner will be alive with color.

Corn, albeit the salad corn (long story) and morning glories planted next to some sugar snap peas and a few more sweet peas.

The potatoes from another angle.  They have done really well in the ground here and absolutely horrible in the grow bags at home in the back garden.

Kind of a bigger view of the allotment.  You can kind of see the Croc planters we put up on the little shed we have that hold pansies.  They make me smile everytime I see them.  Unfortunately, that is not my greenhouse.  We have one at the house that I love and is more temporary than the glass kind.

June 14, 2013