Long-Tailed Tits
It’s 9.00 am. I have answered comments and caught up on reading some posts (though there is still more to be done).
We have a trough in the back garden. Julia refers to it as a raised bed, but it isn’t. A raised bed is a bed that has had sides added and the soil level has been raised.
A trough is a box of soil on legs.
Anybody else have an opinion? If you agree with me, I will tell her. If you agree with her I will ignore you.
Crow
Anyway, at the back of the rough is a trellis. We grew beans on it last year and it was quite successful. A few days ago, as I washed up after breakfast a Long Tailed it perched on it and looked a me through he kitchen window. They are exquisite birds, and very small. The tail, I think, accentuates the smallness of the body. We looked at each other for what seemed like ages before it flew off to stare at something more interesting.
Later, as I walked to the doctor (from the car, not from the house) I saw two crows on the grass. One seemed to be preening the head of he other. I suspected it was some sort of courtship behavior, but hve never really taken much notice of crows before. According to the internet, crows do participate in preening behaviour as part of their courtship. I’m 67 and now ashamed of myself that I’d never known this about crows before.
Then a squirrel surprised me by walking across from the feeders and onto the patio. Standing up, it began to nibble at the potted samphire plant. We aren’t sure whether it liked the seeds or the salt but it stayed a while and also came back later.
Pied Wagtail
Finally, on yesterday’s viit to the doctor, I was sitting in the cat when a couple of pied wagtails whizzed past. I was very windy and with the following wind they were unusually speedy and, with their long tails, looked a bit like rockets on stick.
Anything on stilts that you can fill with soil to grow plants is a raised bed. There – a true politicians answer, otherwise known as a cop out
Your definition seems to cut out beds where the soil level has been raised by building sides to contain more soil. Typical politician . . .
Yep
🙂
Needless to say, you are quite right on the matter of raised beds, but I do point out that it is needless to say. A woman can call a trough by any name that she wishes.
You will be getting a job as a nature presenter on TV if you go on like this.
You are correct in all respects. I just wanted to be told that others agree. I had been married about a year when we had an argument about me “never” doing anything and her “always” doing it, so I kept records and proved conclusively that I was actually more likely to do it (though far from perfect). Was she grateful for the clarification? Did she thank me for illuminating the way forward. No. She has never forgiven me for (a) being right and (b) proving it. So I stopped being right and learned to do as I was told. A woman who can be that bitter about who leaves the empty toilet roll tubes, is not to be crossed on matters of importance.
I could catalogue a number of my habits which have much the same effect on Mrs T.
Adaptability and the ability to stay silent have helped me in my marriage far more than flowers and chocolates have ever done. 🙂
I’m not really sure about the raised bed/trough thing so I will just stay right out of that argument. 😉
🙂 It is getting out of hand as she is now looking at a bulk delivery of half a ton of top soil. Ambition is all very well but we don’t have a wheel barrow and it will all need moving from the front drive.
Perhaps a wheel barrow is in your future?
It might be in hers, but it’s not in mine. 🙂
Tee-hee!
🙂
Yup, a raised bed is built on soil, whereas a trough is sealed at the bottom, making transportable, ideal for patios and decking. I checked the distance and Julia is 130 miles away, so I feel quite safe. 😂
Love to see birds in my garden, they do a lot of bathing which is quite humorous, squirrel? mmm, I kinda like them, but they invaded a neighbour’s loft last year and did untold damage, so I’m cautious.
I have a conditional love for our squirrels.
And a great admiration for a man with a grasp of the raised bed/trough question.
It sounds like you are getting out more and observing life around your new home. A new year can bring new possibilities.
I have one wooden what you call a trough here, other troughs I have made from straw bales in some years. The current price of a straw bale here is not cost effective to doing that anymore. Open plots that are mulched heavily with whatever I can scrounge up – leaves, wood chips, etc. are what we do now.
We used straw bales in a polytunnel. We also used old tyres to amke a keyhole bed, but the overall effect was not pleasant.
Hello! IMHO, a raised bed is a raised bed and can come in any of many styles. I’m surprised you didn’t know that about raised beds. XOXO
I know about raised beds. I have built raised beds. They are full of soil, built on soil and raised to a convenient working height. Troughs with soil in are just big plant pots and they dry out quickly. You might just as well stand a plant pot on bricks, as it would satisfy the definition of “raised” and be a bed by your definition. The world has gone mad!
I quite like Julia’s raised garden bed.
Looks like I’m going to be outvoted on this one. 🙂
Yep.
🙂