Carrotastrophe!

Its official. I am never growing carrots again. I dont remember if I have mentioned it before but I dont actually like carrots much. If I have a choice of vegetables its definitley at the bottom end of my list. 

My carrot year has been pretty well documented. There was the first flush of excitement when they sprouted. 

Then the realisation that they were soon to come under attack and the efforts I took to make sure that didn't happen. 

Then the disappointment as I dug my first carrot.

Bu unknown to you , I had another row!! hidden away under enviromesh, ready a bit later than my first effort, so now it was time to dig them. 

The tunnel was a little bit weedy but I had high hopes. 

So out came the first. It was a lovely size and looked OK. 

Then I had a closer look. The air turned blue. Hope the neighbours weren't spying on me as usual.. It had a very neat hole in the top where it had been invaded by something.. 

So out came another

Same Problem. 

So I give up.  I refuse to waste any more precious space, growing something I don't like that much anyway, and is always going to be a target for those that do like them. 

Elsewhere in the garden things are looking great. Its going to be very Windy here over the winter. The sprouts are forming nicely.

And my Savoy Cabbage looks great. 

I planted a row of late Broad Beans a while back and they are growing well 

But despite being protected, my Purple Sprouting Broccoli has been devoured. I must have trapped something under the mesh, when I covered the plants and it has had a fine feast. 

And the last of my Kos, that we haven't managed to eat,have had got a bit out of control, so it was time for them to go in the compost. 

So thats it for the plants. 

This morning I wandered into the greenhouse, "Phew whats that awful smell." I thought something must have got in and hidden itself away to die. It was revolting. I searched everywhere, moved everything that was on the floor but couldn't find the source of the pungent aroma. It was very odd. During my search I had picked up a few bits of rubbish so I flicked open my greenhouse bin and the smell hit me full in the face.. I was gagging. And then suddenly it came to me. Three days ago I had dropped one of the chickens eggs on the floor in the greenhouse. I wiped up the mess with a bit of kitchen roll and dropped it all in the bin, meaning to take the bin bag with me when I left. My memory being what it is these days, I obviously didn't remove the bag and was now suffering the consequences. Oh well that has taught me two things. 

1. Be more careful with the newly laid eggs and

2. Dont forget to empty the bin. 

Gibson has had his usual fun week. He came and sat with us when we were taking some sun on the grass. 

And then he snuck off with my new gardening gloves when I wasn't looking, and had an afternoon snack.. 

Out and about this week we went on a group walk with a friend around Brockenhurst. We visited St Nicholas Church. What an amazing place. It has lots of interesting things in the Churchyard. The first thing you see in a huge Yew Tree.  The website for the church describes it as follows:-

Adjoining the church to the south-west is the Great Yew-Tree. Its girth, which was 15 feet in 1793 and over 18 feet in 1930, is now (at 5 feet from the ground) more than 20 feet. As the trunk is hollow the increase may be partly due to the spreading of the split sides of the trunk. Some of the branches reach out to a distance of 30 feet. Various reasons have been suggested for the planting of yew-trees in church-yards; to screen the church from the violence of the wind; to provide wood for long-bows, to shelter the assembling congregation; and to serve, by their funereal appearance, as an emblem of mortality.

The Yew was carbon dated in the mid 1980’s and a certificate stating that it is over 1,000 years old will be found on the wall by the font.

It was worth visiting just to see the tree, but as we walked deeper into the Churchyard we saw a very ornate gravestone dedicated to a man named Harry Brusher Mills, who apparently was a snake catcher. Click on his Name to find out more. 

Picture from http://www.southernlife.org.uk/brusher_mills.htm

And then finally most unexpectedly we rounded a corner and walked into a Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery.

The church website describes it as follows:-

On the east side of the central level of the cemetery are the graves of more than a hundred New Zealand, Indian and other soldiers who died in the field hospitals at Brockenhurst during and after the first World War.  By order of the Imperial War Graves Commission the original white wooden crosses were replaced in 1924 by engraved head-stones, and the impressive memorial cross was erected in 1927.

A very interesting walk rounded off with a very pleasant pub dinner.. 

Hope you all have a great week