No brainer...

Just add lard..., a photo by Craig Richardson on Flickr.

Let me see -

• £2.50 for a half coconut filled with bird seed and fat from the garden centre (seems to be about the going rate...)

      Or 

• 59p for a block of lard to make several refills and a few pence worth of bird seed 

Just call me Scrooge, but I think I'll be refilling the old one thanks!

[About the photo: Macro shot obviously, but I'm playing around with my manual remote flashguns. One flash positioned behind the black background pointing at the ceiling to provide the bounced fill light, and a second one on low power coming in from the left to add just a little illumination to the lard as I pour it.]

Seeds of optimism...

Seeds of optimism..., a photo by Craig Richardson on Flickr.

November... Possibly not the best time to be planting things (my garlic aside...). But these were described as winter lettuces, suitable for unheated greenhouses or cold frames, so I thought I'd give them a go. They're currently in seedling trays on our window ledge, but I'll try some of them outside once they're a bit bigger. I suspect the hole in roof of the greenhouse might mean its a bit chilly for them - I really need to get it repaired!

But at least the lettuces are doing better than the carrots. Again, meant to be planted out in October / November and harvested in spring. Have planted some in the raised bed, some in a pot in the greenhouse, and some on the window ledge - no signs of life yet...

[About the photo - a macro shot (the seedlings are only a couple of cm tall at the moment!) lit by a remote flash off to one side, with a baffle to stop the flash lighting the black background. Not completely happy with it - feels a little dark and the depth of field isn't quite enough. Might re-shoot when they get a bit bigger.]

Grass... Never where you want it...

The grass is always greener..., a photo by Craig Richardson on Flickr.

So I've paid out heaven knows how much to turf over parts of the lawn that had been overgrown by moss, or killed by the expanding borders... But you drop some bird seed down some cracks in your pavement, and look what happens!

Next time I'm letting William help me re-fill the bird feeders I'll have to be more careful. Still, its an interesting lesson for him as he can actually see the seed, the roots and the plant...

[About the photo: another 105mm macro shot. Hardest part was getting the depth of field I wanted so all the seeds were in focus - my shutter speed was dropping and I ended up getting the tripod out. Luckily the Manfrotto tripod I use can get down really low!]

Leylandii - Before and After

Leylandii - before and after...

Okay, I've learned something this morning... We had our Leylandii conifers trimmed this weekend - trying to get them back into some sort of shape after a couple of years neglect (see before and after shots).  

Aside from the more commonly known legal aspects (they grow up to a metre a year, and in 2005 were allegedly responsible for a large proportion of over 17,000 people being at loggerheads over high hedges), the history of the plant is fascinating and did you know it has a vague link back to Crystal Palace?

In the 1840s, the Leyland family rebuilt and redesigned the gardens at Leighton Hall in Wales. The gardener planted two trees close together that would normally be found hundreds of miles apart -Monterey Cypress from California and Alaskan Cypress.  In 1888 hybrid cross was discovered - the female cones of Nootka Cypress were fertilised by pollen from Monterey Cypress.  The result was the Leylandii Cyprus. There are several varieties, but as they're all infertile, all of the trees are a result of cuttings that can be traced back to those original plants. 

The link to Crystal Palace? The gardener that laid out the gardens at Leighton Hall was Edward Kemp - a student of Sir Joseph Paxton.  Paxton was of course the creator of the Crystal Palace, originally built in Hyde Park in 1851 but later moved to the area of South London that is still known as Crystal Palace. 

Okay, I accept its a bit or a tenuous link!