I haven't been to Houghton for a week and it was lovely to be back for the peace and quiet! I was asked to divide Irises today from what is to be developed as a new herb bed. So the technical term for my work is Vegetative Propagation by Rhizomatous Division, ahem. The Irises need to be lifted from the ground, divided into single Rhizomes and the dead leaves cut off, and the existing green leaf cut into a fan shape to encourage fan shaped growth. I then washed them all to clean the old soil off, then took them off to the potting shed. Each Rhizome had about 4 or 5 "nodules" each one depicting a years growth. These nodules can be cut and each one planted to create a new plant. I think I potted about 100 and some were put for sale outside the tearooms. They are funny looking alien things that look like a little creature with roots for legs. That or pieces of root ginger with tentacles!
A lovely quiet, satisfying job with the wind rustling in the trees. I love being outdoors at work! It is so relaxing even if the job is a heavy one.
I then did some pricking out of our sadly largely unsuccessful seed sowing of Forget-me-nots (a misunderstanding with the mist unit drowning the seeds) and it was time for Mole School.
Andrew has been to Mole School (He is a registered Traditional Mole Catcher) and so off we went down to the river to put traps out near the molehills. The fun of countryside pursuits! First one needs to determine where the Mole has been tunnelling and then lift a clod of soil to carefully (!) place the trap in and then cover it over. We shall see what tomorrow brings..........
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