You have to admit a vast expanse of well-maintained lawn in middle of summer with the fresh cut aroma invoking some kind of childhood memory where you would roll down hills, do handstands and lie on your back looking for shapes in the clouds, is a pretty cool thing. Our lawn journey is more of a boom and bust thing. We don’t have immaculate single … Continue reading Making the Cut
A friend of mine recently shared his lemon harvest with me, to which I was extremely grateful. Citrus has been my Achilles heel. I love to use the fragrant fruit in my kitchen in a multitude of ways, but over the last decade of being here a flourishing citrus grove has been elusive. It turns out they don’t like wet feet and so many poor … Continue reading Collecting Lemons
Ok, so I spent ages planning my garden and working out where everything will go based on it’s ultimate size and spacing requirements. I often tell people, once you have planned your garden then that’s pretty much it – if you want extras, don’t squeeze them in, extend your garden or pop them in containers. And that still pretty much applies. But, when Yates, my … Continue reading I need more Broad Beans!
Who said winter was the quiet season? I feel like I’ve got a list a mile long to get things done before the seasons change into the busyness of spring. I’ve worked hard already this winter to try and keep on top of the beds to stop the weeds from truly taking over and I have the sector systems to thank for having a winter … Continue reading Mixing things up
The soft fruit in my garden have been on a bit of a journey. One that began in a place of unfamiliarity and good intentions and a bit of a learning curve. Now they are on the straight and narrow and are being cared for in a way that clearly pleases them as they are bearing much fruit and of course that pleases me. As … Continue reading Taking a hard line with my soft fruit
Arbor Day is a long held tradition in this country. People have been planting trees to mark the occasion since 1890! There was even a time when people were given the day off school and work to go off and plant trees. These days it often slips by unnoticed except by a few intrepid gardeners determined to restore habitats and biodiversity. Arbor Day on June … Continue reading The best time to plant a tree is now.
The sun feels so warm against my face as I work in the garden and it feels so lovely. But the sharp breeze and the chill in the shade quickly reminds me winter isn’t all that far way. Normally I fight this seasonal change kicking and screaming from a state of denial. Not this year. I just want to put this whole sorry affair behind … Continue reading Butternutty
When you have a garden as large as mine, ensuring it is all properly irrigated can be a little overwhelming. To be fair, over the years I did my best with what I could to set up systems and deliver water to my garden. I came up with many systems that were dodgy, bodgy and completely jerry-rigged, and my garden was watered. It probably wasn’t … Continue reading Irrigating the Garden
I’m starting to get the hang of this flower garden thing. Especially with my fabulous organisational sector system. Instead of being rather low on the priority list – because they are only flowers, they now get seen to every Friday. Having said that, the poor plants in the old Friday sector do suffer a little from end-of-week-itis as opposed to those in the Monday sector … Continue reading Off with their heads
I’m not moaning, but this summer has really not been what you imagine summer to be. It has been cold and miserable and I have done nothing but complain about it for weeks. And then we had the storm. But the thing is, while I was busy being busy with the festive season and all of the holiday stuff, it changed… by stealth. Not being … Continue reading Rain on a summers day
