A pain in the back…..

Well, I guess it had to happen eventually.

Just over a week ago, sciatica ‘kicked-in’. Not sure what the cause was, though likely to be a 3 hour session of digging/weeding/soil preparation. Quite nasty pain down the whole of the left leg seemingly made worse by sitting down, or lying in bed. Pain killers didn’t really touch the pain either, so I endured a week of work being very careful not to over do things. Checking out Wikipedia for information on sciatica was never going to be a smart move; but all sorts of back issues can contribute to what is known as sciatica. Doesn’t make for pretty reading :-0

Strangely, as quick as it arrived the sciatica seems to have left. Just about a week after it happened I was doing some hedge/shrub trimming with my powered hedge trimmer and with all the stretching and flexing whilst holding the trimmer (weighs about 5.7kilos fully fuelled) the pain literally disappeared! Very relieved !

The car accident saga continues into another phase with a scheduled medical check next week to assess damage (my physical and mental state!) in order to assess for the personal injury claim. Things do seem to take their time.

As Richard and I are well into watching the Tour de France, I thought I would enter the world of Twitter so that I can keep up with various strands of conversation from commentators and some cyclists themselves. So I have a Twitter account now – not really sure what I’m going to do with it. It’s unlikely to conjure up much interest if my daily entry reads: doing gardening… ;-) Mind you, I did experience a first today [holds breath..] a very large bee swarm very close and not that high above me while gardening at Snowshill. I heard the commotion which was quite loud and characteristic and was thankful the prevailing wind seemed to influence the direction the bees took away from me!

A bit of seasonal guidance

July - and another month starts:

Yes I know it’s been said before, but crikey! where is the time going? This year is just flying by. Though largely due to being particularly active I suspect.

Now I’ve got time to reflect on the past 4 months I’m seeing a few classic or common gardening ‘mistakes’ if you like. So if you are thinking about making some plant purchases in the future here are some things to think about.

In no particular order:

• Many plants; more likely the shrub varieties – typically the forsythia, kerria, roses, deutzia, weigela, hardy fuchsia, winter flowering jasmine, etc suffer from incorrect pruning techniques. The typical result being lots of whippy top/side growth and little flowering wood lower down; also, lots of dead material deep within the core of the plants. So, if you are thinking about buying a shrub in the future, make sure you have plenty of room for it to grow, and you learn how to prune it correctly – you’ll definitely be rewarded for your efforts.
• A common mistake I see quite often is planting shrubs too close to bordering fences/walls and other established plants. Plants need space all round them to grow, mature and to get the best results. Also, planting away from a fence or wall will enable easier maintenance in the future (for both plant and fence).
• Leaving weeds or self-sown plants to establish. I’m seeing instances of self sown holly, elder, sycamore, hawthorn and others, that if caught early enough when very young, plants should easily be removed (pulling out or small amount of digging). Some specimens I’ve had to deal with have been substantial saplings and take a disproportionate amount of effort to remove. In some cases, the ‘sapling’ had been cut to ground level by some well meaning individual, only for the sapling to grow back twice as vigorously! So, my advice is keep your eyes peeled and pull out any invader in your garden before it is established.
• Plants in wrong places; similar in many ways to putting plants too close to fences, but examples also include not considering eventual height or spread of shrubs or trees. The typical result is large shade areas where other plants cannot thrive, or light deprivation impacting on house windows and access to driveways / pathways. Also, plants with potential invasive natures such as Ivy need careful thought before planting. I’ve seen various damage done to old Cotswold stone houses (crumbling stone/bricks), garden walls that are bulging or have collapsed due to expanding roots/stems.

The 'experiment' continues successfully. The tomatoes appear to be gaining benefit from the screening and don't appear to be suffering from any reduction in light levels created by the screen.

We have enjoyed some lovely strawberries. I grew 4 varieties and the best/sweetest is Sonata.

I've noted that some 2nd early potatoes are looking really sick - not sure whether I've imported some bad 'manure' left at the allotments. Last year in the gardening press it was widely reported that weed killer used on grazing land had traversed horses/cows and had appeared in stable manure; this weed killer had survived and was present in the resultant manure. Consequently if used on gardens it had devastating effects. Advice at the time seemed to be to compost reasonably new manure for at least a year to allow the weedkiller potency to diminish. Not sure whether I've got this - but I'm going to leave the area uncultivated for the rest of the season once I've removed the potatoes. There's always something...

Experiment – 2011

With all the work commitments I’m a bit behind on the allotment, so my stock of tomatoes, squash, purple sprouting broccoli, sprouts and some cabbage at home have been waiting to be planted out.

Finally managed to get all of the plants out today. I spent quite a time erecting an experimental wind break for the tomatoes. I bought the material for this last year but didn’t get round to doing the work in time. This year though, I was determined to experiment with this material as protection for the outdoor tomatoes. As the allotment site is completely open to the elements some crops could really benefit from some screening from cool / destructive winds.

So, the pictures below record the start of the experiment. I am hopeful that the results will be worth the effort. Getting inside the screened area today I was fairly well protected from the brisk wind that was blowing. The tomato plants weren’t moving at all, so the temperature in the enclosed area should help mature the plants and eventual fruit.

Tomatoes in - waiting to be 'enclosed''

Let the experiment begin!

Strawberries are still fully productive as are the blackcurrants. The rhubarb plants have been really hit with the dry/hot weather and I don’t expect to pick any more this year.

On the cycling front I managed to join the leisure ride with the club on Saturday morning; managing to keep up until we stopped for drinks/cakes at the Tewkesbury garden centre. At that point, we had averaged 16.7 miles per hour which was a bit brisk given my lack of Saturday rides recently. It was good to get out though, and I was encouraged that I had the energy and enthusiasm to do this after a fairly busy and tiring week of work. I decided to cycle home from the café at my own pace – I wanted to have some energy left during the afternoon to do some jobs…

So the week ahead is busy, basically a full 4 days of work. Pretty varied set of jobs including border tidying, weeding, pruning (shrubs and trees), lawn cutting. My weight is down a bit but I think now stable at 10st 13lb. So since starting the business and being really physically active I’ve lost 8lbs in weight. I had to buy two pairs of work jeans last week with a waist size 2” less than what I’d been used to, as some of my clothes are now getting too baggy to wear!

Umm, fresh strawberries..

Yes, the fleece covering appears to have worked at keeping the birds at bay and we have tasted the first fresh strawberries of the season – lovely..

Paid a visit to the allotment today (my day off!) and caught up with a number of routine tasks, such as weeding and strimming long grass…. Also managed to light a fire to get rid of some old dry material that’s been hanging around too long. I’m always conscious of when I light fires and try to avoid lighting them when there are other allotment holders around. It can be very unpleasant being down wind of another plot holder’s fire.

Overall, due to lack of water the vegetables are growing slowly this year. I just haven’t the time to keeping visiting and watering everything. Hopefully the recent showers will help.

Lynne and I spent a lovely afternoon yesterday visiting gardens in the village of Ashley near Tetbury; a rare open gardens event in aid of charity and the local church. The gardens were superb, with some very inspiring planting combinations and vistas and gave me some food for thought, especially with regard to replacing our old, dying hebe hedge.

With some late donations appearing in support of my local bike ride, the total raised to date for the British Heart Foundation stands at £206.79.

2 hours, 58 minutes…

Yes, I successfully completed the BHF Cotswolds Bike Ride today. Distance covered in 2 hours 58 minutes was 40.65 miles.

The amount of sponsorship raised was pretty incredible and stands at £165.00 – so again, many thanks to all of you who supported me.

Copy of certificate:

There was a huge number of riders out today and upon arrival there must have been in the region of 100 people queuing up to register on the day, and somewhere in the region of 300+ people all waiting to leave to start the bike ride (the organisers allow groups of 30 or so riders to leave at any one time for safety reasons). I passed one rider with number 1114 so if this was an indication of numbers participating, the BHF will be pleased with sponsorship raised I should imagine.

The weather was fairly kind – a bit chilly to start with, and some spots of rain (got back home in time to miss the afternoon showers). Again, I was amazed at the various bikes and clothing (or lack of) that people were using. With my three layers of top body clothing on and leg warmers I was comfortable, but could still feel the chill on the top of the Cotswolds. One young man had long casual shorts with a vest top. No jacket or arm covering at all – he must have been freezing at times.

A promised day off tomorrow, trying to catch up with some paperwork and shopping; and a visit to the allotment to see what state my strawberries and gooseberries are in. Hopefully the birds and slugs will not have been too busy and it will still be worthwhile covering the fruit with fleece.

May Day .. May Day ..

No, not a call for emergency assistance, though it could well have been at the Woodmancote May Day event.

All best laid plans etc… A small group of us gathered together to erect the brand new marquee, especially purchased for the Woodmancote Church plant sales and information stand. The marquee frame went up really quickly, but with the marquee roof on, we had created an effective sail. The wind was picking up, with some very strong gusts, but we thought we would be ok as I had also purchased 8 ratchet ties (each one having a 300 pound breaking strain!). But, with the wind gaining strength, the roofing material started to rip and some of the guy fixings on the roof ripped out completely. We abandoned the marquee, and packed it all away. I may be able to re-use the metal frame parts for a fruit cage! grrrrr

With some quick thinking by a few of the team, some wind breaks were erected, tables put out and the plants presented ready for sale.

The weather did hold out dry for us, and total plant sales were in excess of £300.00. This amount will be equally shared between Tearfund and MAF. Everyone enjoyed the day, and I was especially pleased how everyone just got stuck in to the jobs at hand, and enthusiastically engaged with visitors to the stand.

Pictures are viewable from the Woodmancote Church Facebook page.

Work-wise, I’m getting really busy now – to the point of declaring a couple of days off during the coming weeks as my working diary is just about full for each week ahead. I’m getting physically stronger and losing weight, but it hasn’t been easy to go from what was a relatively sedentary job to being self-employed and very physically active.

I now have a van (blue is the colour); so no jokes about white van man…

It’s really easy to drive and much easier to move tools and materials around.

Insurance has declared the Focus to be a write-off; I await settlement.

Personal injury/loss of earnings compensation claim is now underway too.

Made a rush visit to the allotment tonight to sow carrots and this year I’m trying some enviromesh material in an effort to thwart the dreaded carrot fly. The soil was in really good condition for sowing given the recent rain, so I’m hopeful for some good germination. Looking around the plot there are some varied results:

Early potatoes just showing through and early earthing-up has started, but need more rain. Parsnips are pathetic – really bad germination (I always seem to suffer from this). Onions and shallots are doing well. Strawberries are well advanced this year and will shortly need protecting from slugs and birds. The apple trees are also showing early signs of a large crop – I’ll need to thin these out if I’m to avoid over burdening the trees.

Thanks to everyone who has sponsored me for the BHF bike ride this coming Sunday. With £155.00 raised I have exceeded the target set, so many thanks again.

Fitting it all in

Such a lot seems to have happened since the last entry on the 18^th.

Got back into working and I have 2 new customers and also started at the National Trust. My week is just about full now with paying clients and such a varied set of gardens and challenges – it certainly makes for an interesting working week!

Driving is a little cautious still, very much aware of people waiting at junctions and also having an increased awareness of just how fast some people drive, especially in built up areas.

Have yet to hear from the insurance company about my old Focus, but the assumption has to be it is salvage only. It better had be, because I’ve decided to make a long term investment (if such a thing exists) in new transport – yes, a van; a VW Caddy, all nicely lined out in the back with interior bulk head (to stop stuff crashing through to the driver and passenger areas). The test drive was pretty impressive as it was a very comfortable ride with plenty of pulling power which I’ll need for full loads and a trailer should I get one in the future. I take delivery this coming week. An image below just to show what it's like:

Preparations are just about complete now for the Woodmancote Mayday event on the village playing fields. I did a test run of putting up the marquee that will be used (it took three of us to figure it out). Loads of people in the church have been busily producing plants for the stall and I’ve also just got a huge stock of plants from Gotherington Nurseries. Church literature will also be available, covering Tearfund, Mission Aviation Fellowship, and also information about the church community. Hopefully the resident photographer (Lynne) will capture some pictures of the event I can publish later.

Sponsorship for the BHF bike ride is also doing very well with some very generous donations; very humbling (and now no excuse to not do the event!). I’m looking forward to the bike ride as it’s always good fun to be out with loads of people all doing the same thing, and fun to watch those brave souls who haven’t been out on a bike for a while.

Finally got to plant out the main crop potatoes on the allotment and loads of red onion sets, which fortunately was followed by a few hours steady rain – the timing couldn’t have been better. At home I managed to sow broadbeans, two varieties of squash and courgettes (I’m definitely only going to grow 2 plants this year as there is only so much courgette a man and his family can eat!). In the next week or so I’ll sow some runner beans in pots at home and carrots at the allotment and I think that’ll just about be it in terms of seed sowing. Parsnips have not germinated well so a repeat sowing will be needed. I’ll put out a later sowing of carrots in June – these will be for lifting in September/October time for storing.

So, Spring has definitely sprung, everything in everyone’s gardens is growing and there’s plenty to do!!