Corona Cavern

[Snoop Puss]

^We own a slice of a relatively steep valley from tree-line down and back up to the tree-line on the other side. The house is down towards the bottom of the south-facing side. Our section of the floor of the valley is about 3/4 of an acre I think, divided into four terraces. We have patches of workable land on the south-facing side, but the floor is the flattest bit and the best soil.

Bit hard to know what to do with the floor of the valley. Fruit and nut trees don't do well because of the flooding, which is now becoming more frequent. Used to be once in a hundred years apparently, now it's once every five or six and it takes a long time for the soil to recover after being under water for months on end.

Any ideas would be gratefully received in fact, bearing in mind that the years we don't get flooding it's most likely to be drought conditions.

[Containergardener]

Morning
The sun is shining..for now.

I've no idea how you would deal with it snoop, you need some garden show experts to take you round the country/ other countries and to show you how others have over come it. Although not at the moment

So far I have brushed the dogs , youngest is a shedder unlike the older one, I have put it out for the birds .
Todays task today is to find some compost for sale.

Some friends have been receiving their 2nd letters re isolation .
Have a good day

[rary]

^We own a slice of a relatively steep valley from tree-line down and back up to the tree-line on the other side. The house is down towards the bottom of the south-facing side. Our section of the floor of the valley is about 3/4 of an acre I think, divided into four terraces. We have patches of workable land on the south-facing side, but the floor is the flattest bit and the best soil.

Bit hard to know what to do with the floor of the valley. Fruit and nut trees don't do well because of the flooding, which is now becoming more frequent. Used to be once in a hundred years apparently, now it's once every five or six and it takes a long time for the soil to recover after being under water for months on end.

Any ideas would be gratefully received in fact, bearing in mind that the years we don't get flooding it's most likely to be drought conditions.

Would it be possible to create a terrace with the damaged pine trees just above the waterline to give you a usable area, or use them to make raised beds

[nickdub]

Pear trees grafted on quince stock will stand a fair amount of winter flooding - of other fruits perhaps some which seem to grow on boggy ground in nature - blueberries or cranberries ?

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks for the ideas. Our pear and quince trees have survived, though I wouldn't say they're thriving. Maybe I should just plant more of those. At least the blossom is pretty.

The soil tends towards alkaline, so anything I've tried that likes acidic conditions hasn't done well.

The raised beds is a good idea, Rary, and my latest thinking is along those lines, but a bit different. Instead of raising beds, I'm thinking of by getting a JCB down and lowering the edges of the terraces so that water will run off towards the sides. Can't do this till the land is dry, though.

[rary]

Thanks for the ideas. Our pear and quince trees have survived, though I wouldn't say they're thriving. Maybe I should just plant more of those. At least the blossom is pretty.

The soil tends towards alkaline, so anything I've tried that likes acidic conditions hasn't done well.

The raised beds is a good idea, Rary, and my latest thinking is along those lines, but a bit different. Instead of raising beds, I'm thinking of by getting a JCB down and lowering the edges of the terraces so that water will run off towards the sides. Can't do this till the land is dry, though.

A JCB, what's wrong with getting a spade out and digging a trench that would give you something to do

[Snoop Puss]

I've got plenty to do already.

A JCB will take an hour to do what would take me days. Remember, I'd have to go round the edges of four patches. I've worked out it would be about 720 m of trenches, all a tractor's width wide. The JCB man will only charge me 35 euros. A bargain, frankly.

[rary]

The JCB man will only charge me 35 euros. A bargain, frankly.

35 euros, I will dig it for free, all you need to provide is a pick and a spade, oh and somewhere for OH and myself to stay for a month or two, and I suppose my son and his family would want to come, along with my daughter and her family as well, but it would save you 35 euros

[rary]

Couldn't resist putting that down Snoop not that I would wind you up

[Snoop Puss]

Also, the JCB man brings his own packed lunch and doesn't charge for his time spent getting here. I still reckon he'd be a lot cheaper than the Rary tribe!

[Containergardener]

Morning

Bright sunshine and a blue sky, forecast for rain but you wouldn't think it .
Just been watching a great tit taking nesting material (too large) into the whole of an unused water feature.
I was hoping to do some pricking out and potting on today, we shall see what the weather does though.
Have a good day .

[Florence Fennel]

My granddaughter works on a Neonatal ward. She volunteered for a covid test and is negative. Just had to share

[Containergardener]

Morning
Not sure whether to bother posting here as nobody seems to be around now. Maybe just let this one disappear.

Been sat watching the great tit building its nest in the water feature again. Apparantly it's the female that builds. She seems to have her partner watching on, although I don't know where he went. A sparrow has just tried to have a look and she wasnt happy. I ended up shooing sparrow away. Cheeky thing.
Better walk these dogs, knee has been a bit sore lately so not walked the morning one. See how I get on.
Have a morrisons delivery today. Quite a few things not available , oh well.
Have a good day.

[Snoop Puss]

Morning, Containergardener. I'd have dropped in but was having trouble opening the page. If you're feeling lonely here, try the Chatback thread. That's still going strong.

All good here. Did a bit of tidying of shelves yesterday. But it's a fact that tidying is a bit like taking an engine or motorbike apart: there are always bits leftover at the end. Mr Snoop has simply piled them on top of my neatly arranged stuff.

Bit of gardening first this morning. Then the dry fridge being re-repurposed back to its original purpose as a fridge needs cleaning out and filling. And then paid work for me.

[JanieB]

In a way I'm quite enjoying lockdown. Apart from the dogs I have no real responsibilities. Our Town Council Meetings started up again on Tuesday which means I have to read the paperwork first. The meetings are done through "Teams" so I have to make, at least the top half of me, an effort.

What is beginning to get me down is the online shopping and not getting what I've ordered. I can't plan meals ahead as I don't know what will actually be delivered. I can't just nip out to get anything I need. Last week it was the wrong tree, today it's pot saucers. I have 4 very large greek style clay pots that I need to fill fairly urgently now. I bought 4 pot stands on wheels so that I can move them around as when full I won't be able to lift them, and they arrived 3 days later. At the same time I ordered 4 pot saucers. It took a week before I received an email telling me they'd been dispatched and 2 weeks for them to arrive. It's been difficult to find the right size as the biggest one is usually 28cms. This is the size of the base of the pots so I ordered 30cm saucers. They arrived today and they are 29cms and that includes the rims. The actual saucery bit is only 27cms.

The usual blah,blah, not answering phone/emails due to unexpected demand. I can't go out and just post the damn things back and their returns procedure requires them to order the courier collection. Oh, and they WILL be returned as they were fairly overpriced for plastic discs.

Not the end of the world but makes me feel frustrated.