Did I participate in ‘No Mow May?’ Did my lawnmower stay in the garden shed, gathering dust and spider webs? Did I heed the environmentalists plea to leave my grass uncut for an entire month, for the benefit of the wildlife?
Of course not! Good grief, with the weather as it was - sunshine, showers, warmth, more rain, more sun - if I had left the grass untouched for a whole month, by now we’d be thigh deep in the stuff. I’d be drowning in the moisture every day as I went about other gardening business AND treading in goodness’ knows how much poo debris left behind by the furry ginger noblet. If she was a Burmese Mountain dog, I might stand a chance of spotting her deposits but she isn’t - she is a small(ish) 9 kg depositor of poos relative to her size which are easily hidden from view in grass over an inch high. I am very good at deploying the poo scoop as soon as I see an offending turd.
The grass, therefore, was mowed three times in May and I’ve just done it again today. Even though it is, apparently, ‘Let It Bloom June’ which is supposed to encourage you to continue allowing your grass to grow into meadow-style proportions. Whatever next? ‘Grow It High July?’ Besides, we are surrounded by fields here, and if the wildlife can’t find enough grass and blooms in those, well, I am lost for words. Here’s a bloom they can have - one of the papaver poppies that springs up all over the place chez moi.
Aside from grass mowing this morning I’ve also been potting on the flowers I sowed six weeks ago which are taking over the greenhouse. I’ve created a new flower bed feature using a selection of old breeze blocks and gravel (recycle, reuse, repurpose - see, I can be environmentally friendly if I want to) and filled several decorative pots ready to go in the courtyard. I’ve left them in the greenhouse for the moment because I swear I can hear slugs gathering forces ready to reduce my baby plants to green spit balls. Evil little ninja slime monsters.
I’ve planted out the runner beans because I think they are big enough and ugly enough to look after themselves. But I may go on slug patrol this evening, just in case. And in doing all this I have created enough space to pot on the baby sages (which will live in the greenhouse for the rest of this year and be planted out next Spring) and the baby tarragons.
Every time I see tarragon, I think of the brilliant TV series ‘The Herbs’ which I loved watching as a child. It was created in 1968 and there were 13 episodes. It was still around in the ‘70s when I watched it.
That’s Tarragon the Dragon, on the right, between to Parsley the Lion and Lord Basil. Also in the picture are Mrs Onion and a baby Chive, and Dill the Dog. I seem to remember there was Lady Rosemary, Constable Knapweed, Bayleaf the Gardener and Sage the Owl, too, along with other characters. Great stuff! Makes me want to watch it all over again.
It’s been good to have a dry and sunny day in the garden. I’m hoping there will be more as we start Summer. I’m going to need my garden distraction to escape from the overload of sporting shizzle on the TV - the UEFA Euro Football Tournament, Wimbledon Tennis, the Olympic Games…
…and don’t even get me started on the General Election.
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