Friday Five!

Nah, don't give up!  A lot depends on the summer, sunshine, and heat levels. I had success, finally, with an early and hearty sweetcorn last year and it was my first time ever after 5 years of trying!  And it was a rubbish summer, but it was a good type of sweetcorn.

I think my problem might also have to do with how I plant them when I move them outside. I might be putting too many into a planter. I don't put them into the ground either, they go in planter pots, so maybe they aren't getting big enough and I'm trying to do too much in too small of a space? The soil might also be rubbish.

There's this old Native American thing - you plant squash, beans, and corn together. I ~think~ it was called the three sisters.  You get more produce at the end than using formal rows, so it's good for a small space garden. The corn shades the squash, a bit, and the squash shades the soil to keep it from getting baked and dry. The beans go up the cornstalks.

Of course, that's in a hot, dry, baking-sun kind of climate, so maybe it wouldn't work here?

Edit: I think that some tribes used to plant a small fish below the seeds when planting them. Of course, being squeamish, I think I'd just use a commercial plant food....

There's this old Native American thing - you plant squash, beans, and corn together. I ~think~ it was called the three sisters.  You get more produce at the end than using formal rows, so it's good for a small space garden. The corn shades the squash, a bit, and the squash shades the soil to keep it from getting baked and dry. The beans go up the cornstalks.

Of course, that's in a hot, dry, baking-sun kind of climate, so maybe it wouldn't work here?

Genius! 

There's this old Native American thing - you plant squash, beans, and corn together. I ~think~ it was called the three sisters.  You get more produce at the end than using formal rows, so it's good for a small space garden. The corn shades the squash, a bit, and the squash shades the soil to keep it from getting baked and dry. The beans go up the cornstalks.

Of course, that's in a hot, dry, baking-sun kind of climate, so maybe it wouldn't work here?

I swear I'd find a way to inadvertently kill them all without even knowing until it was too late. Seriously, I'm bad. I just want a gardener to come around ours for an hour or two and clean everything up to get it into a nice shape for me to maintain but my husband thinks I'm just being lazy.

I swear I'd find a way to inadvertently kill them all without even knowing until it was too late. Seriously, I'm bad. I just want a gardener to come around ours for an hour or two and clean everything up to get it into a nice shape for me to maintain but my husband thinks I'm just being lazy.

Nothing wrong with that.  I bet it wouldn't cost more than £30 either.

Nothing wrong with that.  I bet it wouldn't cost more than £30 either.

Yeah we don't need them to mow the lawn or anything like that, I just want somebody to do the boring/arduous task of removing the weeds (I can't tell which are/aren't weeds LOL) and just getting it to a standard where I can then take it back over and maintain. We inherited a large garden with lots of things planted but I've not a clue what is meant to be there and what's just a very very pretty weed haha

We inherited a large garden with lots of things planted but I've not a clue what is meant to be there and what's just a very very pretty weed haha

If you like it, keep it, if you don't, then pull it up. 

If you like it, keep it, if you don't, then pull it up. 

I just want it to be manageable and pretty but I am a rubbish gardener and I get bored very easily with tasks that I don't want to do (like gardening...I just don't enjoy it and I'm always paranoid a massive spider will pop out at me).

They've got adders in the UK, don't they?

 

They've got adders in the UK, don't they?

 

We do actually have adders down here! No thank you!

Doubtful you would find an adder in your garden. They prefer a wide variety of habitats, but seclusion. 

3 Sisters is definitely a thing in the UK too.  Your squashes will be very hungry for nutrients, regular watering and sun and your sweetcorn needs good soil, full sun (a sunny wall?) and a lot of water.  If you only have a few plants,you need to try and take the top of the plant (the grassy looking bit) and rub it in contact with the silks. 

1.  The baby is ONE today!      He is the sweetest little boy in the world. 

2.  Chester Draws arrived.  It's the best thing I've ever received in the mail (well, it's tied with the Hidden Valley Ranch I received once).  The packaging was better than advertised!

3.  Family pictures tomorrow.  Hoping for a break in the weather to get some nice shots.  I really need to figure out what we are all wearing.   

4.  Inlaws are annoying me.  They were invited over tonight for cake.  They are coming Sunday.  Ummm... didn't realise that was an option.  There won't be cake!  Oh and they told us last night they want us to "pick up something for the baby" as a gift.  I really don't know why they can't be bothered with their grandkids.

5.  I have a problem tire on my car.  Been limping on it for a few days.  Taking it in this weekend and suspect they'll say I need new tires.  They aren't pretty OR cheap.   

Happy Birthday wee man!!

1.) Uggh, work.  Sorry this will be a recurring theme unless I get a new job or things change.     

2.) Playing a gig tonight in aid of a charity that gets developmentally disabled people together to sing. Should be fun. 

3.) Gardening, gardening, gardening. Tis the season.   

4.) I need to do a bit of clothes shopping. I don't wanna.  I HATE clothes shopping.

5.) I need more coffee, I'm tired and worn out this morning. 

2.) Playing a gig tonight in aid of a charity that gets developmentally disabled people together to sing. Should be fun. 

Can you repost the link to your fundraising page, if I'm not too late?

Fingers crossed for you with work.  I've been there (miserable in a job) and it's a horrible thing.  We spend too much time at work for it to be awful!

KF, I bet he got a lot sweeter once you were allowed cheese again!  Happy birthday to your baby boy!

Eeeeee!  Chester Draws is in its new home!  Yay!  I was hoping you'd let me know when it arrived safely.  Not bent or creased, or anything, then?  I sent it exactly as advertised: sandwiched between two layers of heavy duty cardboard.  It did go first class, rather than my planned second class, though.  Bonus! 

PB, don't worry about recurring posts... I did it regarding my husband's commute.  I completely empathize! Man... and I hate clothes shopping, too. 

My five:

1. The novelty hasn't worn off... my husband is home every day!  EEEeeeee!

2. Our neighbours behind us turned up at the door early this week... we don't really like said neighbours because nobody does, really.  They are Sir and Lady (real ones... he's the 14th something of something), but they act like they could be guests on Jeremy Kyle.  But don't forget to call them Sir and Lady!  I had to make nice with them because they were here offering to do something "for us" (repair a gate to our would-be compost heap).  I told them not to feel obliged, as it doesn't affect us one way or the other, but if the broken gate is a problem to them, they are welcome to repair it.  I didn't want them to do it, but they do have easement to cross our property to get to theirs, and I wasn't sure if the gate's condition was impeding them, so I said, basically, they could do what they want.  I wish they'd just go away. 

3. I learned yesterday that mushrooms can go moldy if you leave them in the 'fridge wrapped in plastic for a couple of weeks beyond their use-by date*.  Fungus on fungus!  Fortunately, we also had not-moldy mushrooms, so our pork medallions in mushroom sauce stayed on the menu... just with fewer mushrooms.  I calculated it afterward and determined that I fed us a rather nice meal for about £5.  If I can do that, why is my weekly grocery bill averaging £75 for two people?  Oh, yeah... wine and Coke.  (* I keep a tidy fridge, but the mushrooms were on the top shelf, and I couldn't see their condition.  I check most foods--especially dairy products--regularly!)

4. I really really can't wait for my ILR appointment to be over with.  But at the same time, I need this remaining week-and-a-few-days to think of ideas for my post-appointment photo. 

5. Backgammon is on tonight!  While I won last year, my husband has been dominating this year.  But my luck with the dice have turned lately.  I might salvage the year, yet.  Naturally, Domo is in his own league of awesomeness. 

(We established rules for matches so we can't just arbitrarily say "That's it, bedtime!" while one of us is ahead, as a way to lock in the match win.  So to win a match, you must have at least 20 points, and be at least 10 points ahead of the opponent.  Once both of those conditions are met, the match is concluded, and the winner gets a point.  Then we tally how many games we've each won, and how many points we each earned, and it all goes into the spreadsheet.)