This one was waiting outside the back door yesterday. They often seem to want get in and we've even had one in the living room when we left the patio doors open.
While clearing some rubbish this afternoon I met this one. The difference in colour between the two is quite striking.
Thankfully I've seen plenty of young ones this year so the population seems secure for the time being.
But, back to gardening. The onion crop is now drying nicely in the greenhouse.
Most of it is. I still have a block to lift but I have to say that, for all the good weather this summer, the onions are a little disappointing. Perhaps it's the lack of rain.....I never thought I'd say that, living in Cumbria!
The peas and broad beans are now finished but the french beans are in full production. No runners this year as I'm growing climbing french beans to see how they compare. Although runners are much more prolific the french beans seem more forgiving in that they don't go stringy quite so easily.
It looks like being a reasonable year for apples. After the June drop (in July) there are still too many fruit on a couple of the trees so I've been up the ladder thinning them out a bit. From the James Grieve I took at least a hundred small apples in order to end up with a crop of decent sized fruit. I suppose I'll now have to clean out the demijohn's and fermenting barrels in order to turn those glossy globes into alcohol....what a chore!
Nice to see your 'froggy friends' none of mine have been out and about although I have seen some about 1" long (just hope they didn't get mown down when the lawns were cut)!
ReplyDeleteMy onions haven't done bad this year - size-wise. Can't believe you're not growing runners - do you reckon french beans will be as prolific?
Good year for apples - thank goodness - my James Grieve seems to have thinned out all the small apples - not far off from being ready - a lot of juicing ahead methinks.