Greenhouse Hit Again, Sheep Troubles

After Storm Darragh the Deadly had ripped the doors off the big greenhouse and smashed a side pane to fragments, we repaired everything. Happily, I’d enough panes of glass the right size to sort it, so it cost nothing but the time and effort.

Another storm, another repair job.

The big greenhouse could not be in a more sheltered spot in our garden but 90 mph plus gusts from the wrong direction had overcome my extra strengthening. Still, I suspect that without the extra stringers etc. we’d have lost it completely.

So one week later I’m awakened at 6am by rain or hail bouncing off the windows and howling winds. Being as there is nothing I can do in the storm, I toss and turn until it starts to get light. I really can’t believe it, broken glass on the path and one of the doors is starting to come off. Again.

Worse still, the door frame is coming apart at the corner. We’ve lost one 2ft square pane but surprisingly the other panes in the door survived intact. Gary came over and cleaned up the glass and repaired the door, whilst I went over to a glazier and bought another sheet of glass. £7.00 isn’t so bad in the scheme of things, it’s the time spent that gets me.

We’ve got high winds coming for the weekend, predicting 63 mph gusts. Hopefully we’ll be OK this time.

Sheep Worse than Slugs!

Damaged leeks in front, empty bed where the cabbages were behind. (Ignore the weeds!)

We’ve a local ‘farmer’ in very inverted commas who just lets his sheep roam any and everywhere. Totally irresponsible. He’s quite happy to let them get onto other farmers’ fields or into peoples’ gardens. If they get hit by a car, well someone will do something about it. Just so long as it’s not him.

Some areas are set for roaming sheep, rights to grazing land that goes back generations. Usually these areas are fenced with cattle grids across roads so they’re kept where they should be. Not this guy, he’s been said to open a gate and drop his sheep on someone else’s field.

This creates all sorts of biosecurity problems so the decent local farmers don’t like it. When they get into a garden, sheep cause a lot of damage. Most people think sheep just eat grass but the truth is they’ll eat anything in preference to grass, given the option.

Anyway, this pair of ewes has got into our vegetable growing areas. A 4×1 metre bed of spring cabbages gone and another bed of leeks hit. They don’t like onions or the blanched part of the leek but they’re happy to eat the leaves down to the blanch.

I’d be quite happy to see them portioned up in the freezer! I doubt the owner would even notice them missing.. or care.