Life, the Universe and Everything

I've been on the train through Bristol Temple Meads recently and finally managed to snap this just outside the station on the way to Bedminster. Lovely row of painted houses and the one nearest the track has a rural scene complete with sheep. Lovely idea!

The trouble with flowering plants is that they spend a lot of time not flowering so for the decorative bit of my garden, I decided to go for some specimens that show off in different ways. This first one is Chenopodium giganteum 'Magentaspreen' that achieves bright purple patches on the stem-end of each leaf. This one is only young but they grow to 1.5m by the end of the summer. The common name of this plant is "Tree Spinach" and you can eat the leaves. It's very easy to grow from seed as it does have flowers but these are "insignificant" Next, we have red veined Sorrel. I've grow ordinary Sorrel from seed but this pretty version came from a garden centre. It's edible stuff too. You make up a bland potato soup, let it go slightly off the boil and then blend in a handful of these leaves and it's stunning. Finally, something that looks rather like a weed. I first read about it on the Plants for a Future site where they say "The leaves ha...

Some plants really love some heavy rain. Within 24 hours of our surprise deluge, the Tomatillo (Physalis ixocarpa) has grown about 50%. (Same applies to the weeds: Those that had already germinated have doubled in size overnight.) My watering during the last couple of very dry months was much less effective. The Physalis genus deserves to be better known by gardeners. They're part of the Solanaceae family, like tomatoes and if you can grow tomatoes outdoors you can probably grow Physalis outdoors too. (I'm told you can grow them in a greenhouse but they enjoy it too much and take up space you might have wanted for other things) I've grown Tomatillo before (see pic) but this year I'm trying a purple-fruited variety instead of the greeny-yellow. Like all the Physalis, the fruit comes wrapped in a paper lantern formed from the flower calyx. You'll want to know what it tastes like and it's bit like a Granny Smith apple but in the kitchen, you're best off usin...

...before they are hatched. The "Ashmead's Kernal" is plastered with blossom and a small team of hard-working bees are in attendance. If all the flowers were to turn into fruit, there would be over 1000 apples and I think something would break! Of course, some won't get pollinated and quite a few will be lost naturally in the "June Drop" There will still be far too many so I'll have to thin out the crop ruthlessly.  The tree suffers from "biennial bearing" and this is its "on" year. Thinning out the crop this year should help production next year. It's also a bit prone to "bitter pit" a physiological disorder that results in small dead areas mainly near the surface of the fruit. The cause of this is not fully understood although it's believed to be due to the distribution of calcium in the tree. Preventative measures include: An even supply of water - so with our current drought, I'm irrigating already A good mul...

Spotted this in Gloucester Docks while waiting for my MOT to be done. It wasn't attached to a ship but perhaps they were waiting for one that deserved it?

Warning: This is a minority-interest geeky post! A Fortic Tank is not military item with tracks and a few bangy accessories. It's a sort of hot water tank and fits in an ordinary airing cupboard. Indeed, that's where I first met one. I'm sorry to disappoint those hoping for a story of romance in a plumber's merchant. It's still an interesting story though and as in the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, someone ends up with a bruised arm. In keeping with the tradition and to maintain the suspense, the leftness or rightness of the arm will not be disclosed until later. Anyway, every now and again, the immersion heater fails. The first time this happened was a learning experience. I turned off the cold water and opened the hot taps to drain the thing. Next I applied a huge spanner to the heater element and after a lot of banging and cursing got it to rotate. As I did this a few drops of water oozed out. I turned it some more and as there seemed to be a growing tric...

I don't like what I hear of the man but I think he's going to win. Unlike some of the recently departed leaders of nearby states, he's kept his nerve and doesn't worry too much about his image. The rhetoric from the EU and NATO is all mouth and he knows it. The chances of any effective intervention is remote: Effective intervention is pretty difficult A strong and nasty leader of Libya provides stability and certainty that our governments prefer to the uncertain alternatives. Telling him to stand down is simply playing to the gallery. He's got very good reasons to fight to the last man. There is no safe bolt-hole for him and his sizable family. To stand down is suicidal - or at the very least a route to a jail cell for the rest of his life. It may take some time but he's going to mop up this rebellion and kill a lot of people. He has no reason to do otherwise and it's unlikely anyone will give him one.