Product review - Ratchet secateurs and Tool Tidy from Qwerkity

I was recently sent some garden items to review, which was actually great timing as I spent the day outside finally doing some pruning and tidying up!

First up are these very useful rachet secateurs. I found them comfortable and easy to use, switching between rachet and single cut mode at the flick of a switch.  They were easier to use in rachet mode and certainly I felt my dodgy wrists benefited from the rachet action

The only very small quibble I had was that they did seem to open rather more than any of my other secateurs - I had to really stretch my fingers to hold them and reach the handle (see above) 

However this wasn't uncomfortable, just different. 

Qwerkity's website has this to say 

Make light work of pruning with these 2-in-1 Ratchet Secateurs. Lightweight and easy to use, they are perfect for cutting back and dead-heading roses, clematis and all types of plants and shrubs.Designed in the UK and expertly crafted by hand, the secateurs can be changed from single cut to ratchet mode at the flick of a switch. Beautifully crafted with super-sharp non-stick carbon steel blades, and soft grip handles, they are ideal for anyone with limited hand mobility or who suffers from arthritis.
In single cut mode the secateurs snip with ease through stems up to 18mm thick. In ratchet mode, the scissor action cuts through thicker stems up to 22mm with virtually no effort at all. There’s a safety lock to prevent accidents when not in use and an oil sponge for keeping the blades in perfect condition.
20cm long. 18+ 5 year guarantee £14.99

The other item I was sent was this rather nice William Morris Tool Tidy . I love the pattern and it's a good size to put hand tools in, with useful pockets on the outside for seed packets etc.  I did at first think that, with all the things I have to do here at Compost Mansions, it  would be a bit small to take all the stuff I use  - I tend to need a wheelbarrow to cart around all the tools, seeds, etc I  need when working in the garden!

But I have actually found it very useful, particularly for times when I am pottering around weeding the patio containers or herb beds or for taking a load of seed packets out to the polytunnel..

So, if you wanted to buy a present for a gardener, I think it would be a thoughtful and welcome gift.

There are other items in this William Morris pattern on the website also.

Qwerkity's website has this to say 

Take your tools with you as you work your way round the garden. A beautifully elegant accessory for any lady gardener, this sophisticated tool tidy is printed with William Morris's ever popular Strawberry Thief. Crafted in strong cotton canvas with faux leather carry handles, it has plenty of space for all your garden essentials. Four pockets in the front of the bag offer a handy home for secateurs, dibbers, trowels and more.26 x 12 x 25.5cm. £14.99

You can find these items and many more useful gardening gifts and items on Qwerkity's website. Go and have a look!



Disclaimer. I was sent these items to review. All opinions are my own and I was not paid to write this post.

RHS Great British Village Show - review

So, thanks to the lovely Viv at DK Books, I got a beautiful hamper through the post today :)

Bunting! Jam! Chutney! Seeds! And a lovely book written by Thane Prince and Matthew Biggs :)

The jam and chutney were hand made by Thane Prince (you may remember her from the Big Allotment Challenge?) and are delicious :)

The book is beautiful, lovely illustrations, and a good solid volume with a sturdy hardback cover.

And although I have not read every single word (yet) what I have read is great and very informative.

The book is well laid out and very clearly written ( as one would expect from DK!) 

From DK's website ;-

Enter a world of tents, tea, and terrifically good jam with RHS Great British Village Show. Written by Thane Prince and Matthew Biggs, and with a foreword by Alan Titchmarsh, this is the only guide to a unique British tradition.
Every year, hundreds of country shows and fairs take place across the UK. Celebrate this tradition and step behind the scenes of the British country show with insider facts and beautiful photographs that show you every aspect of preparing, presenting, and prize-winning on the big day.
Discover how judges reach their nail-biting decisions by using official RHS guidelines for over 100 fruit, vegetable, and flower categories, and learn how to prepare show-quality preserves and bakes with tips from the experts. RHS Great British Village Show tells you exactly what the judges are looking for - and what to avoid.
Packed with staging tips, expert guides, photo diaries, and prize-winning recipes, RHS Great British Village Show is a unique insider's look behind the scenes of a wonderful British tradition.

So, if you were wanting to have a go at entering a village show this summer  ( with fruit, veg, flowers baking, preserves or other goodies)  or even just wanted a useful guide to growing and making stuff from what you grow - this is a great book to add to your bookshelves.


RHS Great British Village Show, published 3rd April 2017 by DK books price £20

ISBN:

9780241255612

Thanks, Viv!

Disclaimer. I was sent a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own and I was not paid to write this post.

Plants in the post

I was excited to receive some plants to review in the post today - Unwins sent me three Salvia Katy Glen plants  which arrived in a small cardboard box


Salvia ‘Kate Glen’ is exclusive to Unwins and the  pink flowers are held on tall, dense spikes that will bloom all summer long, gradually deepening to a glowing violet, providing an ever changing display of colour. 

It’s drought tolerant and frost hardy so is perfect for a garden in full sun with free draining soil. As well as the colour changing flowers it also has deliciously scented , so an added bonus!

 

 

I am looking forward to seeing how these grow in my newly planted up south facing summer perennial bed by the patio. The scented leaves should add to the overall perfumed effect I hope!

You can find out more information about these plants, along with ordering details on the Unwins website   here

The small but healthy looking plants have been potted on into individual posts and I will plant them out in a few weeks when they have grown a little larger.

Oregon Scientific Weather Station review

Before Christmas I was sent one of these weather stations  to try out and review.

Weather at home 



The Wireless Weather Station with Weather Alert allows you to monitor local weather conditions on your smart phone as well at the station itself, using Bluetooth. This wireless weather station brings you all the vital weather information you need to plan your day. The Weather Alert feature also shows you at a glance what to expect; heat, fog, frost, rain and wind /storm, displaying both indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity, and a 12-24 hour Weather Forecast.

I am very impressed with this device. We have a display with a sensor inside and a sensor outside under the garage eves.

This means I can be in the sitting room in the warm but see if it has gone cold outside and go and shut the Seramas in their house, or cover up Juniper the Guinea Pig or cover up tender plants.

I have also had endless fun using the app on my mobile phone and tablet to look at weather statistics and trends for here. (yes I know, I am a geek :) )


The one I was sent retails at £59.99 and at the moment there is an offer on the website of a free sensor if you buy a Weather Station from Oregon Scientific.




Disclaimer. I was sent a Weather Station to review. All opinions are my own and I was not paid to write this post.

The problem with squirrels

 @JacobiJayne  #feedthebirds


As well the Woodpecker "problem"  I talked about in my last post, we also have a real problem with squirrels. Our wood is home to a number of grey squirrels and, as long as that is where they stay, we adopt a "live and let live" attitude to them. Indeed we are amused and entertained by their antics. One year, though,  the numbers multiplied and suddenly they were eating all the apples, all the growing crops and even chewed into the polytunnel. That year we had to resort to live trapping and shooting some to restore the balance, but usually we all get along together. The squirrels do however love to eat the bird peanuts and seed and will chew up any vulnerable feeder to get to the food. I use squirrel proof metal Droll Yankee nut feeders which work well but have not, so far, come across any squirrel proof seed feeders. I have been resigned to just regularly buying complete new feeders to replace the damaged ones.

So when I was contacted by conservation products company Jacobi Jayne & Co to see if I would like to try out some of their products I immediately said yes.  I had a lovely chat on the 'phone with Graham from Jacobi Jayne about squirrels, gardening, birds and wildlife in general and I outlined my problem with squirrel damaged feeders. As a result I was offered two different seed feeders to try;  one of which says it is 100%  squirrel proof and the other a general purpose easy to clean feeder but in which all the parts can be replaced.

When the parcel arrived I realised I had also been sent a couple of big feeder hanging hooks and a 12.5 kg bag of Special Mix bird food, so thanks Graham!

The One feeder is a standard looking bird feeder but is very easy to take apart for cleaning ( it is a very good design) and I can see it would be easy to just replace any chewed or damaged parts so I was impressed even before I hung it out.

The Squirrel Buster was easy to assemble and I could immediately see how hard it would be for a squirrel to get at the seed!

 Fill up the inner hopper

 Add the outer mesh cover - here it is open for birds to eat the seed

but if a squirrel tries to get to the food  (Compostman's hand pretending to be the squirrel, here)  the extra weight of the squirrel makes the cover slide down and blocks the feed. What a brilliant idea.

These two new feeders went out on to the bird table along with the Droll Yankee nut feeder - the birds immediately began to use the new feeders, and as usual the hens hung around waiting for the dropped seed (sigh)

 

You can buy Jacobi Jayne conservation products in shops or online at their website Living with birds
There is a wealth of useful information on the site and they sell lots of other products for wildlife. The Squirrel Buster retails at £24.95, The One feeder will be launched in mid June and the medium sized one (above, lhs of the pole) I am using would sell for £11.49.

I haven't seen a squirrel try the Squirrel Buster yet but I bet it will find it hard to get at the feed. I will keep you posted and try to get a photo if I can!


Disclaimer. I was sent the feeders, a couple of hanging hooks and a bag of seed to review. All opinions are my own.

Two useful garden items

@AldiUK @Easywatering #busyinthegarden

 I have a huge polytunnel so you would think I had lots of space for plants wouldn't you? Well actually at this time of year no I don't :) I need all the space in there for the tomatoes and pepper plants so am gradually planting out all the other stuff. Some of the plants are a bit tender to go outside just yet so it is really handy to have cold frames and cloches but they are all full of vegetable plants at this time of year. Also to save my back something which means I don't have to bend down would be very handy. 

Some of you may remember that back in March I was sent some items to review by Aldi. I was sent a small greenhouse and some covers; a pair of secateurs and some plant pots. The pots are now filled with perennials waiting to go outside into the new flower bed, the secateurs are used for cutting flowers to bring into the house and the Greenhouse? It is full to bursting with all sorts of plants at the moment, mostly  perennials grown from cuttings - I must have saved 100's of pounds by doing this considering the cost of good sized  perennials to buy in garden centres!

It was far too windy here in March to put the Greenhouse outside so I left it in the box for a bit but when I  finally got around to erecting it I found it was very easy as the instructions were pretty clear.









Top tip - put together one side of each shelf like this,

before slotting the tubes into the other side fixture bar. Then add the four vertical tubes and repeat three more times.

Add the top two arched bars...

Drape the cover over the top...

And fill with plants. It took me about 10 minutes to put together with no help from anyone else.

I am very impressed with this little greenhouse :) The four tier greenhouse cost £19.99 from Aldi and  replacement covers are £4.99. Aldi also do some good offers on plants so keep an eye open for them in store.

Another useful garden related item I was sent recently was a small drip feed irrigation system from Easy Watering. Easy Watering was formed in 2005 and was based on a very simple principle. The owners of the business moved to a new house and found it took hours to water the garden. They decided to try to set up a watering system but found it difficult to get all the parts they needed then found it difficult to find someone who also had the knowledge on how to install an irrigation system. As a result they decided to start up Easy Watering, a business dedicated to Watering and Irrigation Systems. The business is based in Newent, not very far away from Compost Mansions.

I was sent a 7.5 Metre Micro Drip Line Kit to try. Included in the kit was 7.5 metres of Micro Drip Line, 4 x Elbow connectors, 4 x Tee Connectors, 5 x stop ends and a tap connector.

By using the elbows, tees and stop ends you can make up a drip watering system shaped to your design which takes water from a tap and delivers it where you need water. It was easy to set up and I have mine arranged around the pots which are hardening off on the tables near to the polytunnel. Later in the year I will move the system and rearrange it so that it adds to the other drip watering hoses I use inside the polytunnel

Easy Watering. 7.5 Metre Micro Drip Line Kit  price: £10.69



Disclaimer. I was sent these items to review. All opinions are my own :)

Gardening and tea bags

#teabagplants   @BandQ   ‪#‎lotsdoneinthegardentoday‬

I spent the whole day doing lots of veg and flower garden stuff. We did loads of digging and weeding (the very heavy stuff done by lovely Compostman) and planting of plants and I planted up two new flower beds with perennials I have grown from cuttings and overwintered in the polytunnel.

I also took the opportunity to review a few of the items I have been sent recently.

 

First up were some bedding plants from B&Q, the DIY store.  I was sent a press release about this because B&Q have removed polystyrene packaging from a range of bedding plants, replacing it with a 100% recyclable alternative called easyGrow. 

 This is what the B&Q press release has to say...( I have quoted only some of it!)

From April 2014, B&Q will replace all polystyrene packaging across its range of bedding plants with an innovative new concept. Harnessing Teabag Technology™, easyGrow™ is 100% recyclable and up to 95% peat-free, removing peat from commercial plant production. The new concept will be incorporated into 20 varieties of bedding plants.

As the largest garden retailer in the UK, over 80 million bedding plants will be sold at B&Q stores across the UK between March and June. Historically, these plants would be packaged in non-recyclable polystyrene trays, resulting in 22,500 cubic metres of polystyrene, enough to fill over 87,200 wheelie bins, ending up as non-degradable waste in UK landfills. Placed end to end, the trays would stretch from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

The move by B&Q is supported by the RSPB, long time campaigners for peat-free gardening. With easyGrow™ with Teabag Technology™, each bedding plant is rooted in up to 95% peat free compost.

 easyGrow™ with Teabag Technology™, consists of a self-contained biodegradable ‘teabag’ made from corn starch, a renewable resource that is fully compostable. Each bag is filled with coir, a natural fibre extracted from coconut husks.

 As part of B&Q’s commitment to working with British suppliers, easyGrow™ with Teabag Technology™ has been developed in partnership with British growers, including Coletta & Tyson, a family business based in Hull.

  

That statistic about the polystyrene packaging caught my eye when I was first reading through the email they sent me - what a huge waste of resources! So when I was asked to try some plants grown in this way I jumped at the chance - I am always keen to promote a reduction in both packaging and peat!

The plants are grown in coir inside a "tea bag" so are very easy to plant - simply lift the plant out of the (recyclable!) tray, and then pop the whole thing into a pot and cover the tea bag with growing medium. The bags allow the roots to grow through and also will slowly biodegrade
 

 
The plants I chose were very healthy looking and strong and I now have a couple of colourful pots to add to the patio collection. You can buy these bedding plants now from your local B&Q store.

To find out more about this new packaging have a look here for a load more information.

I also spotted this in the poly tunnel :) Wonder if I will be eating tomatoes before June 12th this year? 


More from the garden, next post :) 



I was sent a voucher by B&Q to buy some plants to review. All opinions are my own.

Hardworking gardeners hands need...

After all the gardening and composting and woodcraft I have been doing in the last few weeks my hands are in a terrible state. Fortunately I had a surprise delivery last week in the post - addressed to The Compost Bin ( I love it when that happens!) This time there was a postcode but sometimes I have had stuff get to me with just Compostwoman and Ledbury as the address :)

The parcel rather fortuitously contained some Gardeners Hand Treats to review,  from Heathcote and Ivory.

 This is what they say on their website.

Gardeners

Hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature

English green-fingered gardeners, vitamin-rich vegetable patches and dependable potting sheds have inspired our own home-grown Gardeners produce of creams to nourish and protect dry hard-working hands with a blend of nutritious ingredients, specifically designed for post–gardening, using essential oils and vitamins to tend nail beds after a therapeutic day spent digging, planting and reading the newspaper at the allotment.

For a garden scent, breathe in the juicy notes of red tomatoes and red currants combined with the green freshness of basil and mint on a base of cedarwood and earthy musk.
Free from parabens & sulphates

I really like the packaging, all recycleable card and I would love wrapping paper or even a framed poster with this design on! So very pretty,

 

According to the website the kit contains

Shea Butter Hand Cream 50ml
Enriched with Shea Butter and Vitamin E to nourish hands and Panthenol to help strengthen nails. Blended with essential oils to leave hands feeling soft and moisturised.

Cleansing Hand Scrub 50ml
Dig deep and lift dirt from hands and nails with this cleansing and exfoliating scrub. Combining essential oils with Shea Butter, Glycerin, Vitamin E and Pro-vitamin B5 to help refine, smooth and soften hands.

Plant Markers (10 pieces) and Crayon
Weather resistant markers ideal for labelling seed trays and plant pots.

  

I gave the product a hard test - to tidy up my hands after a hard day gardening!

They were very grimy with ingrained dirt and plant juices ( mainly dandilion) and with some very rough skin. I used the scrub which got off the ingrained compost and soil and left my hands clean and soft and then I used the hand cream which left my hands moisturised and sweet smelling. Full marks!

I was a bit less impressed when I tried the crayon and black markers, which look very stylish but don’t work that well as the crayon wipes off the marker rather easily. A minor issue though as I don't think they are the main reason anyone would buy the kit :)

I was intending to email Heathcote and Ivory to thank them and congratulate them about the scrub and hand cream, so I decided to mention my views about the markers. I suggested maybe some wooden markers and a wrapped pencil would work better, be not fossil fuel based and could be composted after use.

I got a positive response back that day, thanking me for my comments and saying my suggestions had been passed on to the develpment team.

So, a nice gift set, and would make a very nice gift for a keen gardener but maybe buy them some other plant markers as well.





I was sent this kit to review. All opinions are my own.

Cars and compost and stuff

So we managed to decide on a new (to us) car for Compostman - it is lovely, Compostman went and collected it yesterday afternoon and I have been ordered on pain of serious marital disharmony NOT to fill it with straw, compost bins etc... how long do you think it will stay pristine?

We have been married for 29 years so I am banking on a bit of mess not instigating Divorce papers.

We shall see.

New (ish) to us car is a BMW touring - lovely rear wheel drive again at last - both Compostman and I do not like front wheel drive cars - must be all those years of driving performance and racing cars! RWD does handle so much better :)

New car has very good fuel efficiency and low RFL as a result, nice interior with various luxuries such as mp3 etc - you can tell our cars are a bit old as we find this luxurious! Also it has lots and lots and lots of lovely space inside,  for  

 straw bales, tarpaulins, FS tool bags, compost bins, chicken food etc  

 bags of shopping and lots of really nice clean stuff. LOL.

 I had a surprise delivery today in the post - addressed to The Compost Bin ( I love it when that happens!) This time there was a postcode but sometimes I have had stuff get to me with just Compostwoman and Ledbury as the address :)
 
Anyway the parcel contained some Gardeners Hand Treats to review,  from Heathcote and Ivory.  A proper review will follow later in the week, but the products smell divine :) Lets just say my hands are lovely and soft and clean and sweet smelling, now ;)

Finally here is the view from the Study window for early April - blue sky  ( at last! ) as the pollution has finally gone away for now. The yellow is oil seed rape so more pollen loaded misery will come soon for me  :( Personally I loathe OSR - the pollen and then the horrible smell when it goes over, before harvesting . Ah well.

Aldi gardening products

Yesterday I was sent some items to review from the Aldi UK  gardening products line which are in their shops now.  I was amused as, despite knowing my real name, Aldi sent the parcel to "The Compost Woman"  lol .

There are a range of products available which should appeal to anyone looking to give their garden a kick start this spring.

I was sent a selection of items; some plant pots - which are, well, plant pots. Not much really I can add to that except to say they are sturdy and not flimsy pots.

Also some bypass pruners - these look robust and cut well and I was impressed with their action. I will probably keep them for cutting flowers and shrubs to bring indoors as decorations as I prefer to keep flowers and edible plant pruners seperate.

I was also sent a Greenhouse - and several spare covers. When I opened the box the contents were sturdy and easy to put together, but it has been so windy here I did not dare to put the errected greenhouse outside. When I do, I will post a photo and let you all know what I think. For now, I can see it will be a handy place to harden off plants before planting them out in the veg patch or garden and also as a useful sheltered space to house the surplus of plants I always end up with! I have already thought of a place I can site it, along the back of the barn near to the polytunnel for ease of access.

The Greenhouse is £19.99 and the spare covers are £4.99 so not overly expensive;  also the covers say they fit most 4 tier greenhouses so not just those from Aldi I guess.

As far as I know the gardening offers are in store until the end of March so get along to Aldi and have a look - there are lots of other items available and they look to be a good price.




I was sent these items to review by Aldi UK.

Scotch tape

As you know I get sent all sorts of things to try and  I was recently sent a Scotch Pop-Up Tape Handband Dispenser.
 
This has neat pre-cut sticky strips held in a case, which is mounted on an elastic band which can be slipped over the wrist so both hands are left free to fold, dispense and stick. Scotch say it will save you time while also making Christmas gift-wrapping a hassle-free task.
 
The idea here is that you have both hands free while wrapping parcels and indeed it is very useful for doing just that. No more bits of tape stuck to the edges of tables or on my clothes!

So, I wrapped some presents using the tape and indeed it did make the task a little easier.

But it is also VERY VERY useful when laying out pieces of fabric whilst quilting :)

And when laying out cut out papers for a craft project.

So thumbs up to Scotch (both of them, not stuck together!) for a useful idea.

Leaf mould bins build

It's that time of year again, when the leaves are ( finally!) falling and are there to be gathered up and used to make leaf mould - that wonderful, rich, dark, crumbly soil enhancer :)

I have been sent a new ( to me ) sort of leaf mould bin by The Recycle Works - normally I use their wooden compost bins and excellent leaf mould they make too  - you can read how I do it in this post 

The new leaf mould bin I was sent to try out is a variation on their usual compost bin modules - this model fits on the end of an existing bin or you can get a stand alone version with a few more boards and parts.

This leaf mould bin is The Recycle Works usual easy to put together wooden posts and boards, but instead of each side being five boards high there are only two of the boards which are then held apart by vertically placed plastic strips

The bottom board ( the thicker one above)  is slotted into the post as usual then the plastic strip is slid down the post until it sits on top of the bottom board

then the top board is added - held in place at the top of the post by the plastic strip, as in the photo below. Chickens are not supplied with the kit!

A roll of plastic wire mesh (also supplied) is added inside, to hold the leaves in place. The leaves will compost down as the air and rain can get to them easily

 This is not fixed into place yet by the (provided) tiewraps, but you get the general idea.

I think this is a good product, it is a good idea and easy to assemble and as usual from The Recycle Works is of good quality.
 
I am, however going to disassemble it from where we put it today in the row of compost bins and re errect it as a stand alone leaf mould bin. I am doing this so I can compare this new bin with my usual method of making leaf mould - you all know how I love doing composting experiments :) I have enough spare parts to create a stand alone module.

You can buy these leaf mould bins from The Recycle Works as single, stand alone modules ( four posts, 8 boards, 8 plastic spacers and extra tiewraps) or to add on to an existing one of their compost bins.

Building some new compost and leaf mould bins part 1

It's time to make more compost! So I took delivery of some more modular compost bins from The Recycle Works

This is my composting area, the yellow builders bags are full of finished compost and leaf mould, dug out from the compost bins

 

There were six wooden compost bins in this empty space before, but some of the wooden planks had rotted away ( well, they had been buried in decomposing material for more than eight years!) and the ground had become uneven due to tree roots and needed levelling.

So we dismantled the old bins and dug out the base. Quite a lot of the older posts and planks can be reused but the inner posts and planks will be replaced by new ones, as they are the ones which get the most contact with decompostition :) The bricks are there to put the compost bin posts on.

Because we have a bindweed problem everywhere we always put down geotextile under the bins - it does NOT affect the compost process at all

First couple of new The Recycle Works wooden compost bins in place, they simply add on to the old ones :)

Look what I have been sent to review :)






Scotch 3M has just introduced Ralph the Dog, the new fun Scotch Magic Tape Dispenser Dog.

They say Ralph is the perfect accessory to brighten any creative space,  and I must admit I rather have to agree :) He certainly brought a smile to m face :)

I intended to keep Ralph for myself but there is no chance of that as, as soon as I unwrapped the parcel he has disappeared into Compostgirl's bedroom, never to reappear :)

He sits obediently on Compostgirl's desk keeping her Scotch Brand Tape close to hand – and is also rather cute.

Scotch Magic Tape is a matte-finish tape, which becomes invisible on paper and, as it can be written on with pen, pencil or a marker, I like to use it for identifying documents I want to keep.

It is pretty good as sticky tape as well, for wrapping presents etc.

 
He is easy to refill 

and looks very cute :)


 

I was also recently sent a load of other Scotch items to try, which I will be using and posting about in the near future.

Thank you to Escapade who sent me the Scotch 3M stuff  - I know it will get lots of use here, if not by me then very definitely by Compostgirl, who loves sticky tape!


The Scotch Magic Tape Dispenser Dog comes with a 19mm x 8.89m roll of Scotch Magic tape. It is available from Tesco and Staples. RRP of £8.99