Garden Diary – Grateful for good health & a tidy greenhouse

Last week marked the twelve month anniversary of a rather nasty fall I had, involving me cracking my vertebra. I felt extremely lucky at the time that no long term damage had been done and a year on I still feel grateful.

Without good health, nothing that people think of as important actually matters, but sadly most of the time we take it for granted.

The ‘under gardener’ got his promotion this time last year, up from ‘garden apprentice’ with having to take on many more gardening jobs than he’d done before. Some of which he’d not actually been allowed to do before! Lol.

Anyway he’s now having a steady supply of mini cucumbers to keep him happy, and to have with the many tomatoes ripening daily.

The courgette plants have finally got going, mostly due I suspect to the cooler temperatures and the reasonable amount of rainfall we’ve now had.

I made my first cake with them on Tuesday night, combined with the blueberries that we are now harvesting every few days.

By Friday there were plenty more to be picked and quite a few raspberries too.

There are still many bees in the garden, particularly loving the Dahlias, the freshly blooming Asters and my newish Coreopsis plant that I am trying to dead-head daily, as it makes such a difference.

As August dawned, I am more convinced than ever that time has been speeded up! The year is whizzing by at an alarming rate.

Even the chillies, which are doing well after last year’s disastrous harvest, are starting to change colour which does make the greenhouse look lovely, but signifies late summer…

Talking of making the greenhouse look good. I finally had time at the weekend to give it a thorough clean and tidy. I’m ashamed to say it hasn’t been done for a couple of years and it was really starting to get on my nerves!

Cue the fan dance with my giant rhubarb leaves to welcome you to my neat and tidy, happy place.

Monday 28th July 2025

Double Bumble🐝🐝🌺🌿Dahlia ‘Purple Haze’ 💕🌿

#MagentaMonday #pinkflowers #dahlia

Tuesday 29th July 2025

It’s that Aster’s time of year 💜💛💜

Horticulturally blue 💙 #Tuesdayblue

Does anyone else feel like time is being stolen? I’m sure it’s been speeded up! 🏃‍♀️‍➡️🏃‍♀️‍➡️🏃‍♀️‍➡️🏃‍♀️‍➡️ #timeisprecious

Wednesday 30th July 2025

A greyish start here in North Wales, but ‘Gabriel Oak’ is happily brightening up the patio #RoseWednesday #roses #pinkflowers #bloomscrolling

And this is what homegrown courgette & blueberry cake looks like 🍰🥒🫐

I make cake specifically for breakfast, low in sugar & with nuts for protein. Makes me want to get out of bed.

A link to my cherry & courgette cake recipe. Just swap the cherries for blueberries.

#Homegrown #recipe

12 months ago today, I fell & broke my back. Luckily it was the best kind of break (apparently) & I made a full recovery.

It did however make me realise how in a split second your life can be turned upside down!

Make the most of everyday, you never know what’s around the corner.

Thursday 31st July 2025

Dead heading does make a big difference to prolonging flowering, unfortunately I’m not always that good at it! This year though my sister-in-law has been encouraging me to deadhead more, especially this Coreopsis plant.

The bees are very grateful to her 🌿💛🐝🌼

#InsectThursday #family #bees #deadheading

The tomatoes have settled into a steady flow at the moment 🍅🌿

The under gardener is happily pickling his mini cucumbers 🥒

#tomatoes #Cucumber #homegrown #kitchengarden

Friday 1st August 2025

Welcome to August!

Considering that Crocosmia are native to southern & eastern Africa, for some reason they always make me think of South America 🌿🧡❤️🧡❤️🧡🌿 #FlowerOnFriday #bloomscrolling #crocosmia

I feel a baking day coming on 🌿❤️🫐❤️🫐❤️🌿

I’m imagining a lemon tart filled with these, but as I have no oven at the moment it’s going to have to be air-fryer or microwave. Suggestions?

#baking #homegrown #homemade #kitchengarden

Saturday 2nd August 2025

After a decent amount of rain this week the garden is looking much fresher. Let’s hope the late flowers last a bit longer than the others this season 🌿💜🧡💕💛💜🌿

#sixonsaturday #bloom #bloomscrolling #flowers