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Lady bricklayer ?
Garden transformation Part 4 – How I started brick laying When we moved to our first house it had an ancient wall that was leaning at a very precarious angle. It had to come down before it fell down! My husband and I had both been brought up by very practical parents, prepared to get stuck in and have a go. I had been a big Lego fan as a child and really fancied having a go at brick laying. That Christmas my husband bought me a trowel and spirit level, together with a book – no internet then – and we got stuck in. We knocked the old wall…
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Snow in April!
Well that was the most extraordinary Easter weather weekend I’ve ever known! Talk about extremes. Hot sunshine, then only the third time I ever remember snow in April! Good Friday, was a beautiful sunny day, you certainly needed sun screen on. There was a little chill in the air, but good gardening weather for the time of year. Easter Saturday, it got so hot in the afternoon I resorted to shorts and bare arms. It was so hot in the greenhouse that I had to move my potting tray outside to work. Easter Sunday, another lovely sunny day quite hot again, but only if you were sheltered from the cool…
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Building the raised vegetable beds
Garden transformation Part 3 – 2013-2014 In September 2013 a month after moving in, I started my garden plan. We’d already decided to build a 160ft long south facing wall (the Great Wall), which was going to set the tone for a walled kitchen garden. The centre piece was to be six brick built raised vegetable beds. I’ve never really understood why people put their veg patch as far away from the house as possible. I suppose the idea goes back to the days when you had staff to grow your vegetables and retrieve them for you. But back here in the 21st century! When you get home at night,…
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The bees are back in abundance
Luckily the weather hasn’t been as bad as they predicted. We didn’t have the hailstones I was worrying about this time last week. The bees are back, with abundance! The garden is buzzing already. I saw the first hardy few, back in February. We try and have something flowering all year long for insects. These milder winters mean we pretty much manage it. The late flowerers last year were the Leycesteria formosa (Himalayan honeysuckle), Erysimum (perennial wallflower), the white penstemon ‘snowstorm’, Japanese anemones and most surprisingly was my white fuchsia ‘Hawkshead’ which went on & on into December. Just a small gap before the snowdrops came out in mid-January. Followed…
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New garden, new cat!
Garden Transformation Part 2 – Story of an orphaned cat When we came to view the property, eight years ago. We knew the minute we saw the garden, that this was the one for us! A blank canvas, big enough for what we had planned. With a long south facing boundary, that I could already imagine fruit growing along. Whilst we were exploring the garden, we saw a cat fast asleep in one of the borders. As it was the next door neighbour showing us around, so we asked who the cat belonged to. The neighbour told us, that sadly the occupant of the house had died, leaving her cat…
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Out with the Brussels, in with the beetroot
I’ve finally picked the last few Brussels sprouts of the season. With such lovely weather I enjoyed sitting outside peeling them. Later I took them inside and shredded them ready for a stir fry. Accept for Christmas dinner we do prefer them fried rather than boiled, you get much more flavour and a nicer texture. But then homegrown veg tastes better whatever you do with it. This has been our most successful harvest to date, mainly because we have a proper brassica cover now. We managed to get some specific butterfly netting to cover it with, to keep those pesky cabbage whites out. With the last of the Brussels and…
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Let’s get stuck into the garden makeover!
Garden transformation Part 1 – 2013 the first few months We moved to our new garden in August 2013. Chop, chop and yet more chopping. As it was summer we were outside very early every morning. It was hard to know where to start at times on our garden makeover, as there was so much to chop back and take out. We would fill the back of the pick-up until it was nearly toppling over, strap it down then put a second load on top, this did make it a bit slower at the recycling centre, but it was much more efficient. It was truly incredible how much we took…
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Springtime. The gardens bursting into colour!
What a beautiful sunny day. I do think gardeners get a bit over excited at this time of the year – or is that just me? Springtime is my favourite time of the year, as everything’s starting off again. Seeds being sown, seedlings popping up, bulbs coming out, trees budding up, it’s all too much! In between sowing more seeds and watering the little seedlings that are already up. I just can’t stop taking photos of every flower that blooms. I’m sure it’s because of what we’ve been through this last twelve months, as every flower feels more welcome than they’ve ever been! Without a shadow of a doubt though,…
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My Gardening Story
I’m Polly and you are so welcome to my gardening blog. I had a happy privileged childhood, the privilege was nothing to do with money and everything to do with the people that surrounded me. I started gardening as a toddler following my dad around his vegetable patch, helping him – well at least I thought I was helping. I just loved getting my hands dirty. I grew up in an idyllic Cheshire village, where people knew each other and looked out for one another. This made it a safe place to go off exploring and pond dipping. As a teenager I decided that gardening was the most boring activity…
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Welcome to my gardening blog
Welcome gardening fans to my first ever blog – how exciting! I’ve posted an intro to our garden and my gardening story. I intend to share a new post every Sunday, describing the seven and a half year transformation of our garden, from lawn to a productive kitchen garden. There will also be posts of what’s going on currently in the garden and no doubt a few demonstrations of how I do certain gardening jobs, but I’m no expert just a very, very enthusiastic amateur gardener. Watch out for a few recipes too, as I do like my food! Please join us on our journey of hard work, pain and…
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From lawn to kitchen garden & beyond…..
