Our
gardening expert writes:
Confession
time, folks. I don't like lettuce. Not in the garden, not on my plate
and certainly not wandering around on the plate. Call me a fussy
eater if you like, but as a general rule I prefer mine to be the
first mouth entered by any food that I consume. The folds and
crevices of your average lettuce leaf can conceal whole populations
of unsavoury wildlife.
If you're
on a health fad and must eat lettuce, much safer to stick with that
white stuff from the supermarket that's been nuked since birth. Or go
for a small tin of vegetable salad. That's the simple way to get your
Five A Day.
Freeing up
a good part of your vegetable patch means cutting down on tiresome
chores like digging and hoeing. Ground thus recovered can then be
paved or permanently gravelled to provide a good base for a shed or
even two. It's surprising just how many sheds you need in gardening.
This
month's jobs: time to
power-wash the patio, not forgetting adjacent walls, barbecue area
and parking strip. Use an electrically powered weedbrush to get
between the cracks of masonry slabs and remove all signs of algae,
moss and unwanted greenery. Water-cannon garden furniture and
ornamental figures. Remove targeted bird excrement from wind-chimes.
Apply a double dose of strong disinfectant to inhibit the spread of
unsightly lichens on solar-powered lamps. Scoop dead fish from pond.
Summer is
always a hectic time for being outside and taking on Mother Nature.
Enjoy!
Damn good sense as always, Ken. Interestingly, I note that in recent years, thanks to technical advances in the manufacturing process, plastic flowers are making a welcome comeback. There's a UK company on the net called "Plastibloom" which produces a whole range of very realistic plastic flowers. They claim that at three feet, 80% of meths drinkers couldn't tell them from the real thing. They also do plastic thripps.
ReplyDeleteYours sincerely,
Doreen Nobbing [Mrs., 54]