July 2025 ~ Crafty Cabbage

View from the Rear Window - April 2025

July 11, 2025 by Crafty Cabbage

The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, and the young know everything - Oscar Wilde

Three photos for April 2025 since this is the month of change in the garden. Photo 1 was taken on the first day of the month; the cherry blossom is still out and the deciduous trees are beginning to leaf up.

Photo 1: Back Garden Scene (1st April 2025)

Photo 2, taken on the 10th of the month, is apple blossom time with the Reverend W Wilks eater/cooker in flower (behind the bench).

Photo 2: Back Garden Scene (10th April 2025)

And finally, in Photo 3, it is time for the red acer to dominate the foreground and the wisteria blossom to draw one's eye to the rear of the garden.

Photo 3: Back Garden Scene (28th April 2025)

Daily garden photos in April are collated in Video 1.

Video 1: Daily Photos of the Rear Garden

Overall, April 2025 was warm, dry and sunny. Great for getting out and about in the garden though a little more rain would have been appreciated. The average Central England Temperature (CET) for April is approximately 8 ℃ so the mean daily temperature of 12 ℃ recorded by my garden-based Davis Weather Station is certainly on the warm side! [Note: the CET area does not cover Herefordshire though the county is close to the south-eastern edge of the CET monitoring zone; as such we should expect Hereford to be warmer, albeit not 4 ℃ warmer]. Summary weather statistics for April 2025 are listed in the table below.

April 2025
Weather Parameter	Value	Dates
Average Monthly Temperature	12 oC
Maximum Monthly Temperature	28 oC	30th
Minimum Monthly Temperature	1 oC	8th & 17th
Number of Air Frost Days	0
Number of Hot Days (> 25 oC)	3
Monthly Precipitation	20.4 mm
Greatest 24 h Precipitation	9.8 mm	18th - 19th
Number of Dry Days	22
Monthly Sunshine Hours (estimated)	180
Highest Wind Speed	40 km/h	2nd & 16th
Heating Degree Days	206.9
Cooling Degree Days	10.2

The warm dry settled conditions at the end of March continued into April (Figure 1 & Figure 2). Around the middle of the month the weather turned cooler and wetter before finishing on a high note (i.e. warm & dry again).

Figure 1: Min/Max Daily Temperatures for April 2025

All the rain came within a 10-day period starting from the middle of the month (Figure 2) - but there was not a lot of it!

Figure 2: Daily Rainfall & Sunshine Data for April 2025

As is customary, we will now compare how April 2025 with its previous incarnations since we started collecting weather data from our Davis Weather Station in December 2019. Figure 3 confirms April 2025 was the joint warmest (mean temperature) with 2020 and noticeably warmer than the intervening years. The highest temperature of this month (28 ℃) was considerably higher than previous years with the exception of 2020 (30 ℃). For the last two years (2024 & 2025) there were no air frosts which would be great for gardeners if we could rely on this trend continuing.

Figure 3: April Temperature Data (2020 - 2025)

Rainfall is highly variable in April with this April's precipitation well below average (Figure 4). Kitchen gardeners can handle such variations but it is much harder for farmers who may need to irrigate their crops. April sunshine hours in Hereford have been above average in 50% of the last 6 years including 2025 but below average in the other 3 years. So not particularly reliable! It seems you can get all sorts of weather in April: it can be wet & sunny (2020), dry & sunny (2021 & 2025), dry & cloudy (2022) or wet & cloudy (2023 & 2024).

Figure 4: April Rain, Wind and Sunshine (2020 - 2025)

The next three figures are taken from the UK Met Office's monthly report for April 2025 and provide UK-wide mean temperature (Figure 5), precipitation (Figure 6) and sunshine hour (Figure 7) data for April 2025. The County of Hereford is marked on the maps. From Figure 5, the mean monthly temperature for Herefordshire was somewhere between 0.5 ℃ and 2.5 ℃ above the 1991-2020 long-term climate average. Based on the nearby weather station at Credenhill where this long-term average (1991 - 2020) is about 9 ℃, the expected mean temperature for April in Herefordshire would be between 9.5 ℃ and 11.5 ℃ depending on location. My Davis Weather Station gave a rounded value of 12 ℃ (see table above) for April 2025; my reported (slightly) higher value may include an Urban Heat Island effect.

Figure 5: UK Mean Temperature Anomalies for April 2025

In Figure 6, we can see that Herefordshire received between 50% and 75% of its expected rainfall with a few places seeing only a third of the normal monthly rainfall. My Weather Station recorded only 20 mm of rain during April 2025 (see table), about 40% of the long-term average (50 mm) for Credenhill Weather Station. There was no filling of the water butts in preparation for the summer growing & irrigation season.

Figure 6: UK Rainfall (relative) for April 2025

Sunshine levels were high throughout the United Kingdom (UK) and, according to Figure 7, between 100% and 130% of the long-term (1991 - 2020) average. Credenhill Weather Station does not report sunshine hours but the long-term average for the Midlands (April) is 156 hours. I recorded 180 hours (see table) for my garden in Hereford, or 115% of the long-term Midlands average.

Figure 7: UK Sunshine Hours (relative) for April 2025

Jobs in the Garden

Continue tidying the garden including rearranging the compost bins and installing the Mattis Rotary Sieve.
Indoor sowing of French Beans, Sweetcorn, Cauliflower, Calabrese, Red Cabbage, Celery, Celeriac, Swiss chard & Spinach Beet.
Potting up newly delivered strawberries
Cleaning & sterilizing Quadgrows and Veg/Salad Planters in Polytunnel

Photo 4: Clean/Sterilized Quadgrows/Planter (7th April 2025)

Start harvesting asparagus (13 spears)

Flora & Fauna in the Garden

Blackbird (x2, male & female)
Blue Tit (x2)
Collared Dove (x1)
Great Tit (x2)
House Sparrow (x8)
Jackdaw (x1)
Magpie (x1)
Robin (x1)
Starling (x20)
Wood Pigeon (x5)
Peacock Butterfly (3/4/25)

Photo 5: Peacock Butterfly (3rd April 2025)

Orange-tip Butterfly (10/4/25)
Holly Blue Butterfly (10/4/25)

Photo 6: Holly Blue Butterfly (10th April 2025)

Speckled Wood Butterfly

Photo 7: Speckled Wood Butterfly (28th April 2025)

And, finally, some photos from the garden ...

Photo 8: Apple Blossom About to Burst (3rd April 2025)

Photo 9: Sun through Cherry Blossom (10th April 2025)

Photo 10: Crab Apple Blossom (16th April 2025)

Photo 11: Bluebells (16th April 2025)

Photo 12: Secret Garden (16th April 2025)

Photo 13: Tulip (17th April 2025)

Photo 14: Front Garden (22nd April 2025)

Photo 15: Iceland Poppy (24th April 2025)

Photo 16: Paradise Garden (24th April 2025)

Photo 17: Alpine Garden with Flowering Saxifrage (24th April 2025)

Photo 18: Leopard's Bane (24th April 2025)

Is It worth Sieving Your Homemade Compost - Update (Part II)

July 10, 2025 by Crafty Cabbage

It has taken a good deal longer than I planned but here, finally, is the promised review of the Mattis Soil/Compost Sieve. See here and here for earlier posts on the pros and cons of sieving homemade compost. Just a reminder of what this bit of kit looks like when in pristine condition.

Photo 1: Mattis Rotary Soil/Compost Sieve

It is a bit awkward and unwieldy to manoeuvre so you might want to assemble the rotary sieve where you intend to use it.

I was keen to see how it handled my homemade compost but first had to relocate the assembled sieve to the outside patio area ...

Photo 2: Raw Homemade Compost (9th April 2024)

I added a trugful of raw compost (Photo 2) to the sieve ...

Photo 3: First Load of Raw Compost (9th April 2024)

... and turned the handle. The raw compost was smeared over the internals of the sieve (Photo 4) and very little, if any, sieved compost fell into the expectant yellow trug below.

Photo 4: Wet Compost Clogging Up the Sieve (9th April 2024)

A failure although the reason seemed fairly obvious. The raw compost was too wet and sticky (as any good compost should be!) and therefore prone to clumping. It also highlighted a potential flaw in the mechanism; the gap between the blades on the rotary arm and the mesh (Photo 3) was quite large which restricted the ability of the blades to force the compost through the mesh. I should point out that this rotary sieve was designed primarily for removing stones, etc from garden soil and I would expect it to perform that task efficiently. Wet homemade compost, however, is a different kettle of fish.

I covered the rotary sieve with a tarpaulin and let the compost dry out for a couple of weeks so I could scrape out the residual compost before re-siting the Mattis to its final position in June 2024.

Photo 5: Mattis Soil/Compost Sieve in its Final Position (June 2024)

I made a short video at the time showing the rotary sieve in action (Video 1). I added small amounts of drier (but still damp) homemade compost to the hopper while alternating the direction of the handle (clockwise then anti-clockwise).

Video 1: Mattis Soil/Compost Rotary Sieve in Action (June 2024)

I was happy with the quality of the sieved compost/soil conditioner though not so happy with the quantities achieved for the effort put in ...

Photo 6: Sieved Compost from the Mattis (June 2024)

... due to the large amount of sievable material remaining in the hopper due to the clumping of the raw compost (Photo 7) ...

Photo 7: Clumped Raw Compost (Non-Sievable)

In the video below (Video 2) where the hopper is emptied, you can see this material still contains a high proportion of good compost along with the woody residue.

Video 2: Emptying the Mattis Hopper of Unsieved RawCompost (June 2024)

Unfortunately, further assessment of the Mattis Rotary Sieve had to wait until 2025 as a number of other projects took precedence.

We have had a prolonged dry spell in 2025 that provided the opportunity to dry out some of my homemade compost. I emptied one of my maturation bins (where the product from the hot composters is allowed to mature for 6-12 months) onto one of my vegetable plots (Photo 8) and left it for 3-4 days to dry out. The worms in the compost were enjoyed by the local bird population, especially the blackbird family who were nesting nearby.

Photo 8: Homemade compost Drying Out (June 2025)

The dry compost was easily processed through the Mattis Rotary Sieve (Video 3) ...

Video 3: The Final Experiment: Sieving Raw Compost with the Mattis Rotary Sieve

... leaving the twigs and any uncomposted material behind in the hopper ...

Video 4: Residual Uncomposted Material Left in the Hopper

... which can be recovered by unhooking the back flap on the hopper and turning the handle to push the material out (Video 5) ...

Video 5: Emptying the Hopper of Residual Unsieved Material

This twiggy wood residue (Photo 9) was free of soil conditioner and was bagged up so it could be added to future hot composting runs as a bulking agent instead of buying bark. Apart from woody sticks and twigs, this product also contained a few bits of wire, plastic labels, and the occasional plastic flower (from the church flowers?). Also present were supposedly compostable bags that appeared to have gone through the composting process completely untouched. The main culprit in this department was the fully biodegradable magazine wrappers used, for example, by the National Trust. Other compostable bags had disappeared without a trace! In any case, these extraneous materials are easily removed during the sieving process

Photo 9: Clean Twiggy Residue after Sieving Dry Raw Compost

The sieved soil conditioner still contains some woody material but is perfectly suitable for mulching and enriching your garden soil. Further sieving stages, using finer sieves, could be employed if necessary but this product (Photo 10) was fine for my purposes.

Photo 10: Sieved Soil Conditioner

Within 30 minutes, and without any great exertion, I produced 150 litres of sieved soil enhancer for one of my vegetable plots ...

Photo 11: Sieved Soil Enhancer Put to Immediate Use

It is worth noting that the raw compost contains lots of small tiger worms that successfully negotiate the sieving process and end up in the final sieved soil conditioner. I cannot, however, guarantee they all made it into the finished product; and some were eaten by the blackbirds during the drying out process.

Summary

The Mattis Soil/Compost Rotary Sieve is a well-constructed piece of kit that takes about half an hour for one person to assemble. I managed to manhandle the finished product to its final resting place (50 metres to the bottom of the garden) but this would be much easier with two people.
When the hopper is full of compost, there is some lateral movement and flexing when turning the handle but this is relatively minor. This is due, in part, to the supporting legs being quite long and it can make the machine top-heavy when the hopper is loaded up with material. I recommend placing some weights (e.g. bricks) on the feet to stabilise the machine when in use. A small amount of black paint has come off the inside of the hopper which will increase the chance of corrosion. I store the rotary sieve outside under a tarpaulin - it is too cumbersome and awkward to keep moving under cover when not in use.
In operation, the machine works smoothly though the blades can jam up if there is too much material in the hopper or, in the case of compost, if it is too wet with a tendency to clog.
With the proviso that the compost should be dry and friable, the sieving process is trouble-free. Do not overload the hopper and regularly clear the woody residue via the back hatch. The recovered woody residue can be added back into whichever composting system you use.
The sieved compost still contains some woody material because this is a fairly coarse sieve. The sieved compost is perfectly fine as a mulch/soil conditioner but you might want to use a second, and finer, sieve if preparing your own sowing/potting composts.
It is important to stress that this rotary sieve will not work efficiently if the compost is wet and sticky (as all good compost should be!!). But, if you have somewhere that you can leave the compost to dry out, you will be rewarded with a simple and easy method for producing top quality soil conditioner and mulch.

The Blackbird and the Cherry Tree

July 04, 2025 by Crafty Cabbage

There is a fable called 'The Blackbird and the Cherry Tree' in which a blackbird helps itself to the ripe cherries. That blackbird seems to live in our garden!

We have a small cherry tree (Stella) bought many years ago. It has remained small because it was planted in a root bag and, possibly, has a dwarf rootstock. It is a slightly odd shape which is down to me and my pruning skills (or lack of!).

Photo 1: Stella Cherry Tree in Bloom (8th April 2025)

Every year we share the fruit with the local bird population who consume at least half the crop. The main culprits appears to be blackbirds who have an inordinate fondness for red fruit; last year they had most of the redcurrant crop as well. I still remember vividly the occasion I walked past the cherry tree, only a metre away from a male blackbird with a red beak holding the remains of a fully ripe cherry.

This year, Mary was out with the fleece and plastic bags to cover up the fruit as it ripened ...

Photo 2: Protective Measures

... and although we probably lost 20% of the crop, we managed to pick 1.4 kg of delicious cherries ...

Photo 3: Cherries Galore

It was easy enough to track the avian 'thief' by following the remains of its ill-gotten booty along the paths (Photo 4 & Photo 5) ...

Photo 4: A Trail of Cherry Stones ...

Photo 5: ... And Half-Eaten Fruit

... to their favourite spot near the compost bins at the bottom of the garden; the blackbird nest is close by as is the redcurrant bush!

Photo 6: Compost Bin

Blackbirds are still one of my favourite garden birds, despite their affinity for my cherry and redcurrant fruit, because of their wonderful tuneful song. I don't mind sharing provided we could come to some agreement on how to divide the spoils. They have eaten the lot in some years!

View from the Rear Window - March 2025

July 02, 2025 by Crafty Cabbage

I can resist everything except temptation - Oscar Wilde

This month's garden photo was taken towards the end of the month as we start to see the change in season from Winter to Spring. Pink cherry blossom and spring bulbs (daffodils, hyacinths and tulips) make their long-awaited appearance. Also on show are the bags of coir-based seed and potting compost ready for the flower and vegetable growing season.

Photo 1: Back Garden Scene (29th March 2025)

March 2025 daily photos are collated in Video 1.

Video 1: Daily Photos of the Rear Garden in March 2025

March 2025 was dry, very dry. Only 6.4 mm precipitation during the thirty-one days of the month. As we saw with February 2025, dry does not always mean sunny. However, we were blessed with plenty of clear skies during March which had the downside of an abundance frosty nights (10 out of 31). Wind speeds were moderate and there were no storms to speak of. Weather stats from our Davis Weather Station are collated in the table below.

March 2025
Weather Parameter	Value	Dates
Average Monthly Temperature	8 oC
Maximum Monthly Temperature	21 oC	20th
Minimum Monthly Temperature	-3 oC	1st, 2nd, 3rd, 16th
Number of Air Frost Days	10
Number of Hot Days (> 25 oC)	0
Monthly Precipitation	6.4 mm
Greatest 24 h Precipitation	2.6 mm	22nd - 23rd
Number of Dry Days	28
Monthly Sunshine Hours (estimated)	129
Highest Wind Speed	35 km/h	30th
Heating Degree Days	307.4
Cooling Degree Days	0.7

Apart from a week of cold temperatures in the middle of the month, daytime temperatures were on the warmish side especially when the sun was shining (Figure 1). There were, however, quite a few frosts in the first twenty days which limited outside gardening. The last twelve days of March were frost-free and I was able to get the polytunnel ready, pot up some newly-bought strawberry plants, get the garlic cloves started in the greenhouse, and plant out the potatoes & onions.

Figure 1: Min/Max Daily Temperatures for March 2025

The main issue with outdoor planting was the lack of rain; only three days during the month (Figure 2). Apart from watering in the potatoes and onions when planting out, no additional irrigation was used.

Figure 2: Daily Rainfall & Sunshine Data for March 2025

Looking back over the past six March months (2020 - 2025), the temperature data has been remarkably consistent. While we should never take the weather for granted, all three temperature parameters (mean, maximum & minimum) have only varied over a narrow range. This year has seen more than double the usual number of frosts but at least we know to expect frosts and avoid planting out tender plants.

Figure 3: March Temperature Data (2020 - 2025)

March rainfall is highly variable with this year's precipitation only about 6% of last year's. Wind speeds are generally moderate, suggesting relatively few storms in Herefordshire, and there is usually a decent amount of sunshine (Figure 4).

Figure 4: March Rain, Wind & Sunshine Data (2020 - 2025)

The following three figures are taken from the March 2025 Monthly Report by the UK Met Office. Scotland was much warmer (+1.7 ℃) than the long-term average (1991 - 2020) whereas England, Wales and Herefordshire (marked) were about 1 ℃ warmer than the 1991 - 2020 average (Figure 5).

Figure 5: UK Mean Temperature Anomalies for March 2025

We can see from Figure 6 that March 2025 rainfall was only 20% of the normal March rainfall and, for Herefordshire, probably one of the driest March's on record.