Garden 2013 no 9

Garden 2013 no 9

The harvest is completely finished and I seem to have spent the last month or so re-painting my blue gates, fences, doors and garden edging. 

I’ve not done the outside painting for a couple of years and the blue was looking quite worn. I figured if I do it this year and give every thing a couple of coats, maybe it will last another two, or at a push, even three years.

I painted the fence my daughter made a couple of years ago and I painted the new gate that her partner made earlier this year. The old one blew away one stormy day. 

This one has gaps between the wood so the wind blows right through it instead of blowing it off its hinges. It also has a wide strip of rubber nailed to the bottom that touches the ground; this stops the rabbits from coming under the gate into my garden.

I still have all the white walls to paint and retouch, but I’m having a bit of a break from garden painting for a while, I’ll go back and repaint the white later. This hansom couple were loitering in the fence, I didn't see them at first. Glad I noticed them before painting them. They even posed or a photo before diving for cover.
 

I’ve been so busy since retirement I’ve realised I have to prioritise on my activities. The two things I really want to spend my time doing is travel and painting, and I don’t mean painting garden fences either, I mean painting canvases. Therefore the plan is to cut down on the gardening for the next year or so. I want to dig the little vegetable garden and turn the whole thing back into lawn. Actually I’m quite looking forward to it. My lawn never was the pristine golf course sort of lawn, it always was a bit lumpy and bumpy and then I dug up most of it and turned it into a vegetable plot.

So if I carefully dig and level the whole thing and seed it, sometime next summer I should have a pristine lawn that needs a gentle mow every couple of weeks. Or at least that’s the plan. I’ve even bought this little machine to help me.

Before starting the painting I cut back the Tayberries.

I read up on this and found out that you have to cut back in the autumn after the fruit has finished.  All old wood has to go and the strong new canes have to be tied up and trained ready for the fruit they will produce the following year. I know I’ve done mine a bit early but I’ve already had quite a lot of fruit from it. There was some fruit left but it had something wrong with it. The fruit that was left was small, green and hard, and instead of ripening it was going moldy and rotting on the cane. I’m not sure  why this happened, maybe because I didn’t cut it back as I was supposed to last year; but I hope by cutting it back and training it along the fence, the same thing will not happen again next year.  Anyway………..if I had left it until all those little green fruits had gone mouldy and fallen off, I wouldn’t have been able to paint that bit of the fence. I’ve also been dead heading the buddleia, I know this has to be pruned back in the spring not the autumn, but I hate all the old, dead, brown flowers so I cut them off as they appear. I think this actually makes the flowers last longer, as soon as I cut the dead ones off, new ones appear. But, I’m sure I’ve seen the last of them for this year. I’ve cut the bush back a little, just enough to get rid of all the dead flowers and next year, I’m going to prune it quite hard to make sure it doesn’t grow too big and get too out of control.

The other thing I’ve been doing is using the harvest in the kitchen.

I have made loads and loads of rhubarb chutney ( with added red wine),

more jars of pickled onions than I can possibly eat and a whole batch of carrot and coriander soup for the freezer.

I’ve also made more herb oil. The herbs, onions and garlic all came from my garden and the red chillies came from my daughters greenhouse. I can’t grow chillies because I don’t have a greenhouse.

I tried to grow them in the windows last year but even that didn’t work, they really need the warmth of a greenhouse to grow properly here. I have a freezer full of fruit and only half a pot of jam left which means the next big kitchen venture is going to be a mammoth jam making session.
So; that’s my garden almost ready for winter. I still have the white painting to do, and I would like to get the lawn sorted out before winter, but apart from that, the garden is definitely winding down for winter.

June 28 2011, Garden no 10

Garden 2011 no10

At last the hot humid and wet weather has gone and we have lovely warm sunshine. It’s not forecasted to last long so guess I better make the most of it while I can. Think I understand why the rainforest is so lush………we have had what seems like mini rainforest conditions here in Scotland and the effect on the garden is incredible. Every thing is fresh and green and blooming. My herbs are really thriving; I planted a lot of new ones earlier this year. Some herbs I started indoors and some I sowed from seed into the containers in the garden. I’ve almost lost track of what I have in the garden but I h've started to harvest them more this year. I try to take a few leaves from all the plants as often as I can. This year I’m freezing my herbs in little tubs. It’s like using fresh herbs and now that I’m used to doing it, I prefer this method to drying them. In my freezer I have rosemary, thyme, coriander, basil, oregano, dill, chives, lemon balm, mint, chocolate mint, peppermint, lovage, parsley and marjoram. I’m also harvesting the lavender as it blooms.
My one potato barrel is doing well, I wish I had planted more potatoes because the little new potatoes taste wonderful, so much better than shop bought ones. I’ve thought about harvesting what I have and then re seeding the potato barrel to get  at least two crops. I have onions and garlic in containers and from what I see, they are all coming on ok.  And at last my new vegetable plot, which is in the middle of what was my lawn, is ready to use. I know it’s very late in the season to plant root veg but this vegetable garden has taken me so long to do. The weather has held things up and the problems with the fence made it difficult to get on with other things in the garden. Anyway, this evening I planted two small rows of carrots, two rows of beetroot and two rows of parsnip. Maybe I’ll get a late harvest from them or maybe I could overwinter them and dig them in the spring. What ever happens, its good practice for next year, I can start planting in spring. Despite the high winds and the chaos building a fence I am getting a little fruit. The white currants are ready for picking and the gooseberries are ripening on the bush.
I think its going to be a very poor harvest, I’ll be lucky to get enough to make one pot of jam, but considering the rain/ wind/ frost  damage I’m surprised the fruit canes survived at all and with luck, they will be bigger and stronger next year and the harvest will be better. Even with out the awful conditions they are all young and not fully mature.When I look at my garden from the pavement I can’t help thinking other people must think it’s a very odd front garden. Most people have flower beds and neat lawns at the front of their house, my garden looks more like an allotment or some sort of urban farm. That’s because the only private garden I have is this little bit at the front, the land at the back is all communal garden, shared with neighbours. The fence still isn’t finished. More cement is needed in the post holes of the panel’s already in situ and there is one final panel to go in at the very end of the garden.

My latest garden purchase

As I have dug up most of my grass I no longer need my big electric hover mower. It’s a hassel getting it out, getting the extension cable sorted and then having to make a mad dash as soon as one little spot of rain comes down. AND it takes up far to much space in my small shed. It’s too big to fit around the tiny bit of grass I have.
So I bought an eco friendly, non electric, hand mower. I thought I could save on electric and get some exercise all at the same time.
Trouble is…… I HATE self assemble……………..but this one was quite easy.

Tags: garden, garden2011, plants, herbs, vegetables

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delete reply forelithe wrote on Jul 3, '11 Your garden is wonderful !

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 29, '11 brendainmad said Maybe your neighbours will copy your idea about the vegetable garden. Oh Brenda I wish................but not much chance of that, I get the impression my neighbours think I'm a bit excentric.........can't imagine why :-)

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 29, '11 greenwytch said great blog, my dear. and i love the mower. ; D Oh me too Deb.............I've used it and much prefer it to my bigger electric mower. I know if you have huge area of grass this little mower would not be enough, but for me its just perfect...............AND ..... doesn't it look so cute and pretty sitting in my garden ??

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 29, '11 veroniquemariquita said I have found a wonderful (free) container for freezing small bits of stuff. Thanks Vero, I love when its 'FREE'..........not just because you don't have to pay but also because there is far too much waste and its good to recycle things. If you look at the little plastic tubs on my table, they were originally full of ready made 'fillers' for baked potatoes or sandwiches. Using the containers sort of makes me feel better about buying ready made fillers and not making my own . I also have a collection of yogurt pots that I start seedlings off in..............

delete reply veroniquemariquita wrote on Jun 29, '11, edited on Jun 29, '11 You certainly are making great use of your gardening area. Love the idea of the herbs in pots. So much prettier than just sticking them in the ground. I have found a wonderful (free) container for freezing small bits of stuff. Plastic tubs that Gerber baby food comes in. Our "baby" is five now but she still loves eating the sweet potatoes and carrots so that Grandma can have the containers. lol

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Jun 29, '11 Your garden is looking splendiferous!! THe herbs are really doing well. Yes, all the rain we've had certainly makes a big difference,

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Jun 29, '11 great blog, my dear. and i love the mower. ; D

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Jun 29, '11 I always enjoy seeing what's new in your garden. Maybe your neighbours will copy your idea about the vegetable garden. I remember how good the food was from our garden when I was growing up.

delete reply djdx wrote on Jun 29, '11 I think it looks great. Why should there be a standard idea of what a front garden should look like? Go for the vegetables, although I don't know how short your season is, I think there is hope. You could maybe put a fleece on at the end to lengthen things out a bit. We ate some new potatoes last night. :-)

delete reply lrrpslady wrote on Jun 28, '11 Just lovely Loretta.

delete reply starfishred wrote on Jun 28, '11 wonderful :) we had 37C yesterday it was 24C all night today it is suppose to rain a bit hope so it is hot

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 28, '11 I love basil, my basil this year hasn't done as well as last year but its Ok and maybe it will pick up a bit now the weather is better. Sage.............thats one I forgot, I should find some seeds and plant it.

delete reply esoterika713 wrote on Jun 28, '11 Very nice. We have a co-op member do our lawns. Luckily, I don't have to worry about it. Although I have to weed around the gardens which means taking grass out here and there. Your plants look wonderful. Gardens provide such happiness. By the way, we planted a lot of herbs this year too. We planted Basil (tons of it), sage,rosemary, thyme, parsley,coriander, zucchini, cucumbers,raspberries and tarragon.