Just the one eggsample

Posted on May 12, 2026 by james

I found this lying on a path when I was weeding in the veggie plot today. I suspect it’s from either a wood pigeon or collared dove. Not sure how it came to be there though. Perhaps it was pinched and then lost by a corvid?

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No dig diary, 6th May 2026

Posted on May 12, 2026 by james

Somewhere under here there are strawberries, honest. This is what happens when health issues don’t allow you to keep up with the weeding 🙁

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Wonky asparagus

Posted on May 12, 2026 by james

They’re sprouting very early this year. No idea what these two are up to though.

Fortunately they’re the only two. The rest are looking suitably straight.

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No dig diary, 4th April 2026

Posted on May 12, 2026 by james

As I’ve mentioned before, I kept many of the potatoes from last year’s harvest that had been uncovered by blackbirds and gone green. Today I collected them from the sack in the shed where they’ve been tucked away since last July and planted out about eighty of them. I still had plenty left so they were donated to a friend. Hopefully he’ll get them planted out soon as I feel I’m a little late and they’re desperate to be growing already.

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Beetroot tarte tatin

Posted on May 12, 2026 by james

A bit more baking for dinner this evening. Sadly not with my own beetroot, which are nowhere near ready yet.

I’ll certainly be trying it again when I do have some ready to harvest.

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“Correct” blood pressure for once

Posted on May 12, 2026 by james

When I measured my blood pressure this morning these are the figures I got.

Sadly I can’t imagine I’ll be repeating that in a hurry.

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Raising baby ladybirds

Posted on May 12, 2026 by james

Sadly I’m not sure if these will survive now. Whilst I was picking lettuce today I turned over one of the leaves I’d picked and discovered these.

I suspect they’re ladybird eggs. I tucked them out of the way close to where I’d picked the leaf. Let’s hope they do survive.

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No dig diary, 30th March 2026

Posted on May 12, 2026 by james

I’ve been out collecting lettuce from the polytunnel for a salad.

It appears the cat has been indulging in a little pest control for me:

I’m surprised he’s not eaten it. Perhaps he was saving it until later. It’s buried in the compost heap now though.

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My mushroom logs are sprouting!

Posted on May 12, 2026 by james

Not with mushrooms though 🙁

I wasn’t expecting that. Hopefully it means there’s sufficient moisture in the logs for the fungus to spread through them nicely.

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A return to the workshop, part 4

Posted on May 11, 2026 by james

I didn’t have quite so much time at the weekend because I also had things to catch up on in the veggie plot and suchlike and therefore progress was not as great as I’d hoped. I managed to make two sets of drawers however, using only the table saw (and probably abusing it in ways that it wasn’t really intended to be used, to be fair).

But they do the job. I may make “proper” fronts for them with handles at some point, but right now just having permanent homes for tools is a big step forward.

That freed up enough space that I could make room for the next unit (or two).

I’ll get those built as soon as I can.

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