Bits and Bobs

After a cold snap a couple of days ago. Ice from the dog’s water bowl.

…and from the water bucket outside the shed!

Another raised bed made last week. This one is quite small but I didn’t have more wood on hand for anything larger.  I’ve fertilised it with waste from the koi pond and mulched it with lavender cuttings. Seems to work okay. The chickens have not shown it any attention so far.

It’s empty at the moment while the soil sorts itself out a bit. I’m leaning toward planting ginger in a few weeks when the weather warms up. I’ve never tried to grow ginger before so it might be worth having a go. We’ll see.

‘Chitting’ (sprouting) a few potatoes in the shed.

Rooting a sweet potato. Hadn’t seen this type before so I bought one on our last trip to the Fruit and Veg market.

Carrot tops sprouting. You can’t get new carrots from the tops but these will (hopefully) flower and produce seed.

We’ll see!

Growing a rose from a cutting. A fair amount of roses are used in cake decorations so …

Had a go at this last season and failed dismally.

I saw a slightly different technique on YouTube this week and decided to give it a go.

I didn’t have any rooting powder but a chap I follow called Jack suggested using a few things that are natural anti- fungicides and should help accelerate the growing process and protect the stem.

In the glass is some diluted honey. I also planted a stem using ground cinnamon.  Saliva is also an option, apparently.

All the ”ingredients” are ready to go ….

If all goes well there should be roots in a few weeks.

Watch this space.

Perfect winter morning. Blue sky, 16c and quiet.

Ella, this morning on walkies.

One of the wife’s ”outside ” orchids.

A king chicken scratching among some of my chilli plants. We are not impressed!

”Who’s been sleeping on my bed?”

Busted! Ella gets caught napping.

I am reliably informed by La Décorateur de gâteaux that, those of you who are familiar with the writings of a certain JK Rowling,( I know the stories but have never read one of the books) will understand this cake perfectly.

As for moi; I walked in this morning just as Ems was finishing it off and my first thought was along the lines of:

”Geez Louise, what happened!!”

The client was absolutely delighted, so what do I know, right?

Benji in the Olive tree.