It's a beautiful night out there :-)

[Toddy]

I've just been out for a short wander, and it's beautiful out there
It's a cold (-3.7 degC here), crisp, clear night, and the moon and stars are sharp like good steel.

It would be a cracker of a night for a fire and a hammock

M

 

[British Red]

The moon is really bright here too - not a cloud in the sky - lovely. I noticed today that a hard frost had started to kill off the Oca - so I'll be harvesting our last crop in a couple of weeks

The stove is lit so I have the fire

 

[HillBill]

Its a little hazy here. Shame.

Comet Ison may be visible in the hour before dawn to the south east, low on the horizon, should you be up at that time guys its only small atm but the tail should be visible through bino's/ telescope. It will become much more visible between now and February though, providing it doesnt burn up by getting too close to the sun

 

[HillBill]

Our plants are going weird... buds bursting on our Gojis. Nasturtiums, clematis and sage in full flower... rasps flowering again.... leaves still green and full on the apples, peach and kiwis... few other abnormalities too..... anything weird like that going on with you guys?

The moon is really bright here too - not a cloud in the sky - lovely. I noticed today that a hard frost had started to kill off the Oca - so I'll be harvesting our last crop in a couple of weeks

The stove is lit so I have the fire

 

[British Red]

Apple leaves are still on but cherries have fallen - still got geraniums in flower but we are getting ground frosts so things will normalise soon I think

 

[HillBill]

We don't have cherries so can't compare. Its almost seems like autumn started earlyish, then stopped. The trees, (sycamore mainly) are only just starting to show signs of autumn. Everything was done by early october last year... its just strange how things seem to be having another go at it atm

Apple leaves are still on but cherries have fallen - still got geraniums in flower but we are getting ground frosts so things will normalise soon I think

 

[Toddy]

Nothing weird here; just a slow start into Winter, with lots of fruits hanging on and ripening instead of being the also rans.
I had fresh raspberries this morning but I'm pretty sure the frost tonight will make them the last I'll get this year.

Even if it's clear I'll not see that comet from here. Maybe in the new year though ?

atb,
M

 

[RonW]

Same here! Although everything is bare. Not a leafe to be found, but the lakes are starting to ice over.
We should've had a virtual get-to-gether!

 

[cave_dweller]

We still have a few apples falling from our trees. Winter seems to be setting in rather late around these parts!

 

[feralpig]

Our plants are going weird... buds bursting on our Gojis. Nasturtiums, clematis and sage in full flower... rasps flowering again.... leaves still green and full on the apples, peach and kiwis... few other abnormalities too..... anything weird like that going on with you guys?

Yeah, it's odd. I work in gardens. The grass is still growing although quite slowly. The Dead Nettle is in flower, and in one garden, they have a few Primroses flowering.
Very little has died back yet, it's all green still.
Good for me, means I will have more work in Jan/Feb.
We've had our first frost now, and a few more forecast for the next few days, so that should stop the strangeness.
A strange, but good Autumn, we could have had a few weeks of proper winter by now.

 

[woodstock]

Clear blue sky today not a chemtrail in sight, got snow on the hills surrounding the valley, looks like winter is on its way.

 

[HillBill]

Same here today.... lots of aircraft as dusk set in, no chemtrails... its quite a nice sight to see standard contrails on 7 different aircraft simultaneously

Been a few evenings like that lately. Not so bad i guess with winter setting in.... not as much call to cool the planet down.

 

[British Red]

I used a freebie leaf blower today. Brilliant bit of kit - sucked up all the leaves on a gravel drive without sucking up the stones - genius! Got it for beekeeping - but its a handy bit of kit!

 

[Toddy]

I gave one away a couple of years ago.....cleaning up the garden yesterday I started to wonder if it really was a heavy a brute as I remembered

Took me ages to clear up....we have a new, hover, lawnmower the mess was unbelievable.

M

 

[British Red]

The one I got (well, weirdly I got two - don't ask) isn't heavy till it fills up - it is with a sack full of leaves on it though. It came with a cheapo shoulder sling that is rubbish, but hung from a proper harness for the brush cutter its okay. Until BB decided to trim the lavender hedge - with the Husqy petrol brush cutter :yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes:

Okay - she was clever - it worked an absolute treat - really level and neat and took about five minutes.

I confess I couldn't watch. Its funny because she got the idea from my nurseryman mate who prunes beautiful and very expensive rare tea roses with a petrol lawnmower:Wow:. This also works madly well

I had to go and plant some pignuts to ensure they get frozen as they are a stratifying seed - planted some sugar maple seeds too - no good reason - I have never seen a sugar maple though so thought I would give them a go (they also need to freeze before germination)

 

[Toddy]

I watched in appalled horror as my then late 80's aged Uncle attacked my lavender with the garden shears until it was only about four inches high. It bloomed absolutely brilliantly the next year
Maybe BB's onto something

You don't know about sowing and germinating lingon berries, do you ? I've scattered a handful in amongst some gravel on top of a pot, but it'd be nice to know if there's any hope of any of them sprouting.

cheers,
M

 

[British Red]

Just the common stuff - they need to stratify (freeze) and need acid (ph 5.0) sandy soil. I know people say on the soil surface but I give a light cover of sandy soil.

 

[Toddy]

We're on heavy clay.....acidic though, lot of leaf litter and worm worked soil in the top layers.
I'll throw some sand on top of them and hope the gravel's a decent base for germination. They'll certainly get stratified this Winter

cheers,
M

 

[British Red]

They do like a light sandy soil with good organic matter so who knows how they will do on clay? I can't keep em alive - but that's to do with alkaline soil so I have stopped trying

 

[Toddy]

Even keeping them in pots wouldn't keep the soil 'light'; the worms really do work our soil, and the clay ends up through everything, eventually.
I've never had a garden that was alkaline.....that would be very different

cheers,
M