Thursday 4 June 2020

Grab 'em quick

Munstead Wood - a David Austin rose - in our garden after the rain
If we were not ‘shielding’, I think we would be heading for David Austin Roses in Shropshire. It is not too far from here and, by coincidence, right next door to RAF Cosford, that we mentioned yesterday. The roses there will be stunning at the moment and so beautifully set out in the David Austin garden 'rooms'. But I have just checked and find that the centre is still closed, although open for online sales. When open, there is no charge for admittance – they must bank on visitors not resisting a purchase

Under normal circumstances there is are also excellent eating facilities. That apart the range and quality of roses is something wonderful to behold. Well, roses apart, we manged to sort out our 'plants for sale' in yesterday's welcome rain and here is the roll call

Lettuce
We have both Little Gem and Barcelona. Little Gem is familiar as a supermarket favourite. Barcelona is an iceberg type. We only have a few of each so it is first come, first served







Cucumber / gherkins
I think these are always worth a try. You can put one in the flower border and let it ramble around. The flowers are nice and then you get a surprise when fruit form. In the UK we have pretty fixed notion of what a cucumber should look like. Not so in other countries, especially where the gherkin is venerated and honoured by pickling to enjoy through the winter. Codger has never tried the Vert petit de Paris before but, apparently, it is a famed and classic variety. Join me - be adventurous and join our Gallic cousins! (We need to demonstrate there's no hard feeling. Remember the B word - came before C. I wonder if 2021 will be D?)


Courgettes
Again, I tend to think France when I hear the word. But Italy seems to be the place. So, we can offer you the choice of Tuscany and Zuchinni. What with travel restrictions and quarantine there's little chance of going there - so, bring some Italian sunshine into your garden by growing Tuscany this summer!

Speaking of Italy, no doubt you are wondering about our beloved tomatoes. Our Cerise, our Money Maker and so forth. They can wait until tomorrow. Before we finish today's roll call I wish to switch to ornamental plants ...


Hydrangeas
Our friends and readers, Bobbie and Ernie Schipper, have kindly donated half-a-dozen hydrangeas to the Codger Nursery. These are excellent plants just waiting to grow away in your garden. If you are quick you have a choice of colours. Get in touch to find out more.  And, of course, first come, first served

A word about that word
Yesterday, I said a bit about the target being raised to £1500. Today, I would like to add a corrective. I am not that keen about the idea of a target in what we are doing. If we had only raised £100 and someone in need had been helped then the effort is justified

So why do we have a target? Simply because the give.net is structured in that way. Old Codger thinks it worth stressing that his main concern here is one of accountability. You put money in a bucket - where does it go? Give.net helps me be accountable. Not perfectly, because some folk prefer to hand me cash (this is declared on the site, in aggregate). You can see it here

You will observe that the page focuses on the target - so I have to put one in. I could, of course, put in a zero but I think that would be even more misleading! Our emphasis is on helping and not achieving. As I have mentioned several times, people have been generous - some sending a donation just to encourage and support what we are doing. On the other hand, some folk only have a little and can give little

Enough from me ...

... best wishes from the old Garden Codger


Don't forget 
- we also have some nice hanging baskets available

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