Getting jungly!

image from Clipart Library

The Big Job I mentioned previously is still ongoing and to be frank, my lovelies, I'm feeling pretty knackered 😴 On Tuesday, Orkney Aggregates rather unexpectedly delivered the other three bags of stone chippings we were waiting for, or to be more accurate, they had them delivered by a haulage company so I presume they are still having issues with their crane lorry.

We finished laying them in the "utility" area later that day, and then yesterday got them down along the path behind the craft/store room.  It was a tad tricky along there as the wheelbarrow wouldn't fit past the drainpipe, and Adrian just didn't have the heart to dismantle it.  So he shovelled the chippings into a very sturdy old galvanised metal bucket (we've had it for years ~ I found it one day when I was walking the dogs!), wheeled said bucket round to the back garden, then walked along the path to tip them out!  It was a bit time-consuming, the midges were biting, and every so often we were "treated" to a little rain shower, but we got there in the end.  Plus we got the task finished just as it started to rain somewhat more seriously!

That's the more difficult areas done, thank goodness.  We're now having a little break from stone chippings to build some flat-packed wardrobes for our bedroom ~ oh what joy 😒  

In other garden-related news, I thought it was about time I showed you what was happening in the greenhouse.

I know that you wouldn't expect anything else from me, but I'm a teensy wee bit behind with these photos as per usual 😉  I'm not sure exactly when I took the previous greenhouse photos I shared with you, but I believe these were taken early in July.

All the greenhouse crops were very slow to get going, although they were all very much happier once I'd repotted them...

...and the cucumbers soon started to flower and develop cute little fruit.

Fast forward a few more weeks and I think the greenhouse could very aptly be described as decidedly "jungly"!

So much so that the tomatoes are making a bid for freedom 😄  The plants have lots of flowers and fruit are finally starting to appear. 

It's taken quite some time but flowers are starting to appear on the sweet pepper plants.

The cucumbers are also doing well, and are a fair bit bigger now than they were when I took this photo.

I try to remember to bend leaves down to rest the lower-growing cucumbers on, so that they don't touch the compost.

I find this helps to keep the fruit dry and stops it from rotting.

And just to prove that I am indeed behind with my photos, here are the first of this year's cucumber harvest that I picked yesterday 😊