Monthly Archives: February 2007

Gardening

Manda’s post from the end of January says she’s starting her chillies off already. I didn’t realise you could get going so quickly!

I didn’t do too well with chillies last year: I germinated some in about February, and then completely failed to repot them during the year.  I put them in the lean to, where they seemed to like the summer heat.  They got very leggy, and wilted on hot days, but I managed to keep them watered.

Not that that did much good by the end of the year when they were still in seed trays and they needed 8″ pots.

Come October, the Scotch bonnet plant made a valliant attempt at setting fruit, in some desperate, Darwinian bid for posterity (it didn’t know I had more or less a full packet of its  sibling seeds waiting to be sown in subsequent years.) It grew a wrinkled little green fruit about the size of a thumbnail.

I think the cold weather in the lean to has seen for the plants, and they certainly haven’t been watered in 2007.

Not good.  My track record on growing food is awful.  I quite like the idea, and I often put seeds in, but I don’t think I’ve ever really seen anything through and eaten something I’ve grown.

I plan to be better this year (have I heard that before?)

A colleague has a big square garden with two old apple trees in. His approach to gardening is to clear the neck-high brambles every fifteen years.  He’s just done it, and I was vaguely thinking of cultivating the bare earth he’s left behind.

Obviously, yerakshual gardening before the elections in May is a bit of a no-no. But nothing stopping me getting some seeds going of an evening all ready for a grand plant out in May.

Any suggestions for seeds, and post May planting?

Dratted internet

Although I was again up at the crack of 7am this morning, I have squandered my early time advantage by allowing the internet to distract me from laying up Focus bright and early and then hopping in the car to work.

First, Liberal England asked me what famous cat I was.  Rather amazingly, the quiz suggests Tigger.  Unlikely, on the whole.

Then I got sidetracked by Neil H, who wanted to know if I’d ever considered ten dimensional space.

I hadn’t.  But apparently, if only I’d paid more attention, I might be able to fold through the 5th dimension and still get to work at a reasonable time.

Then again, I’m going to be in the office late tonight anyway.

Early morning leaflets

I was out before nine am this morning delivering leaflets I should have delivered earlier on the way in to the office, when I stumbled across this propped up against a fence, on Nottingham’s ring road, Western Boulevard.

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I wasn’t sure what it was at first – something industrial looking and a heap of electronics. A fish tank hood, maybe? When I got closer it became clear it was a traffic light. You know, a red, amber, green type traffic light head, or in this case, red, amber and No Right Turn. Its bulbs were still attached, and some of its workings spilled on the ground.

So, I called it in to the Council, telling them two things were worrying me: one, that there was tipped rubbish on the pavement, and that two, probably somewhere nearby, a traffic light was missing…

It was surprisingly light, when I tried picking it up. All made of heavyweight plastic, not the metal it looks like it ought to be.