" I collect heads you know "

Collecting heads makes me sound like Ireland's answer to Ted Bundy, but although I did consider wearing one as a hat, this is where the similarity ends. Or does it ? This year I have quite a lot of sunflowers and most of them are of the branching type giving up to ten heads per plant. A huge amount of sunflower seeds were in danger of going to waste as I couldn't possibly set them all or use them for food. There would be a genuine danger of me growing feathers and moving to an aviary. Which when considered in more detail doesn't sound all that bad. But in the meantime my plan for the seeds is to dry and keep them until the weather turns harsher and the food for birds becomes scarce. Then I intend to mount the heads on poles ( a bit of medieval inspiration here ) and let the birds do the rest. The heads hanging from the rafters in the garage have a slightly macabre element to it, but when winter comes the birds should have a veritable feast on a stick ! So if you grow sunflowers consider the birdies.

Even if you don't grow sunflowers consider the birdies.

Oh dry up !

The shallot harvest was on me unexpectedly, these little critters were planted on the fourteenth of March and as can be seen from the photo below most of the leaves had fallen over and were dying back. I decided to pull them all and dry for storage. But how do I dry them ? The good book says let them on the bed or on trays for up to two weeks to dry while moving them in when raining. It's August in Ireland, two weeks of no rain here would be akin to a biblical plague. Actually it's August everywhere isn't it !!



My darling wife wouldn't part with the child's buggy so I could convert it into a movable drying rack. How inconsiderate is this ? Here I am supplying enough shallots for the rest of the year and all she can think about is the welfare of our only child ..... some people !!

So plan B it was then, I simply cut some rabbit wire and put it on the floor of the coldframe. The wire takes on a natural curve and so allows air to flow freely through the shallots. The coldframe is easily closed when inclement weather is expected and the damn thing retains heat during the night aiding the drying process.



I checked this evening and it appears to be working a treat, so the next step is to tie em up and hang em from the rafters until needed. The onions will be dried in much the same manner and hopefully they will be harvested soon.



There they are now all snugsy wugsy.

Oh, and I'm still suffering with atrocious bad wind after them shallots .... just thought you'd like to know.

I've got thirty greenhouses !

OK, they're not quite what you imagined upon reading the title and perhaps you thought I was being boastful. Well I can assure you that eating spaghetti bolognese and lasagne for a month in order to collect enough glass jars, is in my opinion worthy of a boastful post ! It's a simple yet effective idea, remove the labels from the jars and place over the seedling. That's it no more to write. Except don't forget to water of course.



These jars are covering some parsnip seedlings I recently transplanted, the mouth of the jar is sufficient to fit over the toilet roll insert that I used to grow them in. Obviously the bigger the jar the longer you can leave them over the seedling. Normal hardening off rules apply, don't just remove the jars, the shock may very well be fatal.



How's your Dolmio day ?

The egg shell mulch.

" If dere's wan ting worse than the black and tans, " tis slugs ! There's something about those slimy horrid little creatures that brings out the serial killer in me. A proud gardener can spend weeks nurturing their seedlings along, even abandoning ones own children to lovingly coax to life a future crop of tender lettuce. Only to have it wiped out in one nocturnal orgy of destruction by our foe the snail. Somehow this seems to gall us more than having a full plate of lettuce rejected amid upturned noses and pushed away plates, why is this ?

So I've been collecting egg shells with quite a while, the quizzical wonderment of my long suffering wife will hopefully be rewarded with a plate of lettuce or maybe a parsnip or two. You see the crushed egg shells if applied around the young seedlings will go some way towards discouraging the hordes of snails looking for easy pickings, by lacerating their soft squishy bellies. Yes, lacerating, a fine word when applied to a slug. So I look forward to following the trail of slime and at the end of it instead of finding a missing row of seedlings, I hope to find a writhing, twisted, but still alive slug. There will be an interrogation, something Jack Bauer would be proud of ! And if he gives up his friends, I'll see to it he gets a fair trial and a quick death.

Anyway, egg shells, crushed, around plants, slug deterrent. That's all I meant to say !