MY COMPOST HEAP

 I thought I'd show you my compost heap(s) as they are looking particularly nice this year; the snow seems to have worked wonders on them. My main shed is on the left, anything on the right belongs to my nice next door neighbour. Gillian and I mean to cut down this ankle damping greenery but invariably time runs out before we get very far. There are forgetmenots on the left, a lovely tall bunch of grass on the right and the foliage beyond the grass seems to be  a weed, sorry, wildflower, called avens which is related to the cultivated geum. It's time some nettles turned up here, as well.

The honesty has done its own thing from plants which were pulled up and thrown on the compost. Aren't they nice? And all without any effort on our part! There used to be a sycamore tree here, just in front of the honesty, and a hawthorn which was sheltering in its shadow has made giant strides,too. The fence at the back is 'mine', put up to enclose the dark tree, a hawthorn, which I wanted to keep when the developer was tidying the field and cutting down everything. I 'stole' 18" of his field...he told another neighbour on the 'other' side of me. This compost heap is the second heap I made but it's now out of commission.

 This is the currently used compost container, built by the people who lived in this house before I arrived. I tried to take it apart many years ago but now I'm glad it's there!

Another lovely weed crop, this time of Goosegrass or Cleavers. It cleaves to you if you try to detach it from your clothes or fingers!
 My Book of the British Countryside by the AA also gives Sticky Billy and Hug Me Close as alternative names. It was formerly fed to newly hatched goslings, it seems.

 Here's something else which has done well this year - Garlic Mustard or Jack in the Hedge. It's everywhere! These plants are on the site of Compost Heap No.1, or rather the site of three wooden compost containers which worked well, making very good compost, but it was too compacted for us to be able to turn. I gave up watching gardening programmes which assumed everyone was male, young to middleaged and in good health!

Here's another view of the honesty  and next door's shed.

Clambering across on this piece of parcel string is a self sown honeysuckle which used to twine round the sycamore. After that was cut down I had to find another support for it and this idea worked out all right last year. Hopefully it will end up covering the shed roof. I bought a roll of this string more than 20 years ago at Wycombe Car Boot and it's still going strong - there's a fair amount left. It's a soft, fluffy string which is strong - and blue tits like it for pulling apart as nest building material. Tugging on an end the little bird  will stand on tiptoe as it leans backwards, trying to detach a piece of soft lining. Not one has fallen over yet!!