5 Gardening Dairy: Happy gardening and happy snapping ..

[alp]

I hope to start a new thread on a happy note! Ah, no chance

'Cancer-causing' weed killer is found in Honey Nut Cheerios, Quaker Oats and 24 more cereals

• The Environmental Working Group tested 28 cereals, oatmeals and snack bars
• It found that all of them had glyphosate, but 26 had levels deemed 'unsafe'
• Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the most commonly used herbicide in agriculture
• None of the products had levels above what is allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency
• The World Health Organization and California have listed the chemical as carcinogenic
  
  Source :https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/...ing-weed-killer-DOZENS-breakfast-cereals.html
  
  Roundup's maker, Monsanto, says glyphosate is safe and that its product has undergone stringent testing.
  
  However, in August, a California jury ordered the company to pay $289 million to a groundsman who claimed the weed killer is responsible for giving him cancer.
  
  A judge upheld the verdict on Monday but reduced Monsanto's payout to Dewayne Johnson to $78million.
  
  'The report shows that breakfast cereals are not a place for pesticides linked to cancer,' said Dr Temkin.
  
  'What we show here is that there are detectable levels in common foods that children exposed to every day. Over a long period of time, that can be dangerous.'
  
  Remember the furore over GM foods .. This is more dangerous than that. Imagine feeding our children with carcinogenic traces whilst all the time you, as a parent, are thinking that you are giving them a good send-off for the day!

 

[DirtMechanic]

I heard this primarily comes from using the chemical as an end stage dissicant to dry the plant for harvest and a methodology change could drastically improve the situation. Perhaps as we learn we can improve.

 

[alp]

I heard this primarily comes from using the chemical as an end stage dissicant to dry the plant for harvest and a methodology change could drastically improve the situation. Perhaps as we learn we can improve.

Yes, exactly. That's why the chemical stays with the end product and on the supermarket shelves .. Have they thought of any new methodology though? What a dreadful way to dry the plants.

Incidentally, bed time now. Don't want your retinas to fall. I'm off to tidy up the house and have a cuppa! Have a nice day, @DirtMechanic !

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Morning, the link on the closed thread doesn't work ( maybe its just me) but the new thread was easy to find

Good luck with the new estate agents today @alp, bet you can't wait to get this move done and dusted

A lot cooler today, down to 12C but still have sunshine peeking through.....that's fine by me

Will carry on preparing the garden for winter

Have a great day everyone

 

[alp]

@Upsy Daisy The photographer was supposed to come 2 to 4. 9am, he rang my bell. Then we agreed that he should come at 2 to 4pm. He turned up 12 noon. Oh dear! I didn't even know what I was doing. Just asked him to snap one half of the living room and one quarter of the lean to. He then said I could go back to bed and would sleep very well tonight. You bet. Woke up 4.30am. Any way, one good thing is that it is OVER! Half of the content of the lean to was in the alley between the workshop and the side of the house. I wonder if he snapped my legs when I was clearing the lean to. Because of the hurried work, I didn't feel the cold at all. In fact, I was sweating at one point. Had a roasted chicken and son really enjoyed it. He's going to do some temp work in Royal Mail. First job ever. Shame he has to drive to Grays.

Yesterday, I asked him to write down an address, which he did. I had a look and was really gobsmacked. He wrote down the address but not the addressee! LOL! Or

He's OK! A lovely boy really! But apparently, more training needed. I am so happy that he's around to help me. Without him, I can't do a lot of things. Last time, he was removing the swing, the ladder gave way and my heart nearly stopped. Thank you for all the hard work, son!

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Oh dear @alp , never mind at least it's all done with now. Hopefully you will now get lots of viewings . Just keep thinking...new year...new house......NEW GARDEN!!!!

Your son is definitely a real treasure, good news about the job

 

[alp]

Good morning to all! A quiet and dark day. Will need to mow the lawns soon as on the clock changes to winter time on Sunday. I wish I had your E7 hours, so much more humane and flexible. After Saturday, I will have to do my laundry in the dark.

Selling and buying a house is a nightmare. Hope I don't jump from a hot pan to a deep sea! Full of worries.

Yesterday, because of the predicted cold weather, I took some photos

Salvia Hotlips and Mirage Deep Purple. They are all in pots

A lot of double osteospermum. A lot of "mulching" materials. This area is very, very dry!

Black and Blue Salvia

Petunia Surfinia! Will take it again today.

Helenium Short and Sassy!

I really have tons of salvia amistads

Tons of this dahlias which I don't even like. I have about 3 of these at least. I don't even remember buying this. Will leave them at the front lawn. They are so happy in the garden and really jazzes the colour palette up.

 

[alp]

Going to be raining today! Love it!

Forgot to say that after turning the seed box, the fridge, the computer table, I finally found the GREEN TWISTER echinacea in a glass receipt holder!

I'm so messy! Need to gather some self seeded wallflowers for next year. They must be somewhere in the gardening already. Every year, I have some yellow ones springing me zesty surprises. Are you sowing any seeds, @Upsy Daisy ? Like the way you have shingle at the bottom of the greenhouse. There was a free aluminium greenhouse on Freegle, but now is really not the time to add more to the house. I have so much of everything.

By the way, Monty has his Around the world in 80 gardens. There are some gems there. Villa d'Este is one of them. Watched The Cry. She's lucky to have been freed. All very sad that the child cries non-stop and post natal depression can be very nasty. I only watched a bit of first episode, 2nd and the whole of the finale. Too much flashbacks and too contrited. Life can change at the split of a second!

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Morning @alp, your garden has a lot of stunning colours!!

Sad to say it but I really want stuff to stop blooming now, still have one big and one small border to clear up and plant up with winter bedding...but the bloomers keep on blooming!!

House selling and buying is very traumatizing, wouldn't want to go through that again!! For my sis and I it was made worse because we were answerable to spending someone else's money.....never again!

I've got about 5 milk containers on the go so far, one has been potted on. Forget what they are but they are easy seeders, I just wanted to be in control of where they germinated

Down to 10C today and 0C tonight, probably a bit of rain this morning too. We are off to do a couple of hours at my Dad's, will fit it in around the rain!!

E7 has it's hidden benefits

Have a good day

 

[alp]

Sad to say it but I really want stuff to stop blooming now, still have one big and one small border to clear up and plant up with winter bedding...but the bloomers keep on blooming!!

LOL! That really makes me giggle. I will let them grow and won't tidy them too much as birds need to feed and the dead materials act as insulation to keep the plants alive. I remember this lady in B&Q telling me not to trim the astilbes as the dead leaves kept the plant warm during winter snow. In fact, I had very few flowers in summer and now they are actually blooming.

Was out scarifying the lawn and right on cue 8am, it drizzled and is raining now. I need to dig up more hellebores and replant them. They won't flower this year. But needs must be as they are too congested.

Sadly, no more gardening programmes and I looked at Love your Home and Garden and didn't really want to watch the home bit. AT is plugging everything, including senior products.. Need to re-take some of the photos.

@Upsy Daisy Try not to be too tidy - leave some seedheads for the birds .. If the flowers are happy, let them be! I'm so happy that I have tons of dahlias. I need to stake them next year and label them this year as they are planted next to each other. Have a good day!

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Oh no worries for the birds @alp ,they've not only got their own area but all the surrounding fields, woodlands, allotments and our own bird feeders too, they won't go hungry in our area that's for sure

 

[alp]

Oh no worries for the birds @alp ,they've not only got their own area but all the surrounding fields, woodlands, allotments and our own bird feeders too, they won't go hungry in our area that's for sure

Do you really have to expose my laziness, huh!? LOL! That's an excuse for me not to do anything!

Joking apart, I have so many plants there, especially dahlias from Mexico, I need them well covered and mulched, so as long as the materials don't rot, they will stay. I never bother digging them up or storing them. They all come back this year even after the several Beasts from the East. After watching the pumpkins episodes, feel like buying a reduced pumpkin for growing the seeds next year. Very good episode in which Anderson shows us how to keep grapes. Need to grow the two seeds collected. Gee, how am I going to curb my greed for more plants and reducing the pots covering the surface area.

Sun has come out! And I have done the work on the computer, off to dig and dig and dig ..

 

[alp]

Been out digging up more hellebores. They were huge and were difficult to lift up. It's like there was a magnetic pull to earth. Repotted about 30 pots. My toes were frozen. In Beechgrove Garden, George Anderson said that their pumpkins grew on a compost heap! Great idea. I have had several avocado seedling, and I kept on in the lean to. It grew so fast that I was horrified. In the end, I had to kill it. Will keep one for fun. Been buying them from Aldi.

77p for a pumpkin. Might buy one tomorrow to see what it tastes like.

No more gardening programmes!

 

[Upsy Daisy]

No more gardening programmes makes winter even more dismal
Had a good morning at my Dad's, hubs did lots of cutting back of some very overgrown shrubs and removed lots of dead wood, he cleared all the leaves from in and around the big pond and measured the big greenhouse for repairing. I finish off digging up plants that require over wintering and potted them up and placed them in the smaller greenhouse. Dug out the borders surrounding the smaller pond and removed a ton of ground elder then dug out the border surrounding the smaller Acer. It's a daunting sight seeing all the ground elder absolutely everywhere.....we won't eliminate it I know but I am determined to keep on top of it .....eventually

Had midday dinner with my Dad then came back to continue on our borders. Fleeced up everything in the coldframe and have closed up the inner bubble wrap lining inside the greenhouse. The few plants that I didn't get round to potting up I have cut back and covered with large flowerpots . Temps are down to 0C tonight but hopefully I have got all tender plants covered.

We didn't come in from the garden until it got too dark to see, feel a bit tired now that I've actually sat down

Have a good evening everyone

 

[Perki]

Hello , Your dahlias still going strong @alp, I need to dig up the salvia's thinking about it they cost to much to leave them out over winter, might leave one Amistad in the hot border and see if it lives, I do have cutting of Amistad and phyllis fancy but for Black / blue got the pots mixed up and didn't put it in the propagator.

I hope all goes well with the house sale , as I said on the last thread house for sale down the road you'll have to get used to windy and rain though and you would have to dig all them dahlia's up.

Nice to see your getting stuck in at your dad garden upsy are you going to weedkill the ground elder ? How well did the gardeners take it that their services wouldn't be needed anymore ?

It been raining this morning but brightened up this afternoon quite a nice day really. supposed to freeze tonight but I don't think its cold enough outside yet. I brought my pelargoniums in the house anyway. Going getting measured up or something tomorrow for a suit for my friend wedding in a 4 weeks time, I really could do to do some work in the garden but oh well maybe Sunday for the garden after I've been to the GC hoovering bargains up left right and centre

I've still got 3 Gardeners World and 1or 2 beechgroove to watch