Garden 2012 no 19.

Garden  2012 no 19

I’ve missed being out in my garden but things are almost back to normal and I’ve spent a couple of days out there last week.
The seasons are changing and its time to start tidying up and sorting out ready for next year. All around here the fields are full of hay bales, the tractors are out in force, and once the hay is lifted the earth is ploughed. I like this time of year, it’s a good time to be in the garden. Already the Rowan berries are on the trees and the leaves begin to yellow.
The most noticeable thing in my garden at the moment is the geraniums. They are planted every year as a pest deterrent, and at the end of the year, once they have done their job, they bloom. Its ironic really, by the time they are blooming it’s almost time to lift them and bring them indoors. I don’t like having geraniums indoors because, although they bloom virtually all winter and are very pretty, they smell horrible. But if I left them outside they would all die and I would be buying new plants every year. If I ever get myself a greenhouse they would over winter out there, but until then, I have to put up with the smell indoors.
As I harvest the spinach, the lettuce and the last of the radishes, I sift the compost, add some chicken pellet fertiliser and organic feed and store it ready for spring. I’ve been doing this for so long now the soil I’ve salvaged together with the compost I’ll sift from the composter means I’ll not be buying big bags of compost in the spring. Being self sufficient in compost for the containers will make a huge difference to the finances, and as I’m retiring next year this is exactly the right time to reach this point.
I left the last container of rocket and mustard greens to go to seed and I think I have enough seeds to at least start growing in the spring.
I intended to grow two crops of potatoes this year but I didn’t lift the earlies in time to get another crop in, but rather than waste the space, I sowed a few carrots. These may be left to over winter until about February when I will need to prepare for next years potatoes.
The herbs picked up after all the rain and sunshine we had last month. I was surprised at the size of the herb harvest. I cut far more than I am ever going to need and now I have to think about what to do with it. I think I may well just freeze as much as I can because it keeps well if frozen and takes very little space in the freezer. I like to be prepared for every eventuality and I guess even the herb harvest could fail one year.
Rosemary had the haircut of her life. She was literally taking over, she looked more like a Christmas tree than a small rosemary shrub. I didn’t throw any of the cuttings away but I’m not at all sure what to do with it all, there is so much of it.
There is an awful lot of garden waste too. I was going to put it all in the garden waste bin to be taken away. At least that way it would eventually end up as good organic garden compost, But I decided to wait until I have taken this years compost out of the composter and see haw much I can compost down myself.
And so finally, yesterday evening, I ended up with a kitchen table full of assorted herbs, a few spring onions, a couple of packets of seeds and the biggest bag of rosemary I have ever seen. 

 

This morning my whole house smells of rosemary. I also picked all of the lavender and placed it head down in one of the grandchildrens sea side buckets, and sure enough, this morning most of the little flower heads have dropped off and are sitting in the bottom of the bucket. I usually pick some of the tansy flowers and keep them indoors over the winter but this year I was too late. They had all died off while I have been stuck indoors. But I gave the tansy bush a bit of a haircut too and I’m left with a big yellow bin full of tansy cutting which is supposed to be a natural insect deterrent for the house. I’m sure I will find a use for it somewhere. 
 

The question is..... what am I going to do with this???

Garden 2012 no18.

Garden 2012 no 18

Oh my poor garden. Hospital says I can now ‘resume normal activities’ (while taking care) and the eye is healing nicely. Therefore; this weekend is going to be a gardening weekend. I’m still getting fresh spinach leaves every couple of days and they are good either steamed as part of a hot meal or fresh as part of a salad.

 My lettuce is almost gone, I’ve another two or three and then that’s it. I am still picking spinach leaves, the last of the nasturtium leaves and the last of the spring onions to make up a bowl of salad every couple of days and I have the last of the shallots drying out ready to be spiced and pickled.
I’m a bit upset about the lavender and the tansy. I usually make up bowls of potpourri for the house with these. Unfortunately this year they flowered and died of in the couple of weeks I’ve been unable to get out there. I’m quite cross with myself for leaving them, they were ready to be cut a few days before I went into hospital but I decided to leave them until that weekend. Now I wish I had harvested them when I had the chance. But at least these will flower again next year and there is no real harm done. The more lasting damage is likely to be around the edge of the garden in amongst the wild flowers and hedgerow. I’ve always been very careful about removing deep rooting invasive weeds as they appeared. Particularly the thistles, dandelions, and those big tall dock leaves, they all have roots that quickly go deep and are a real problem to get out. I’ve taken a walk around the edge of the garden and there they all are, happily growing, spreading and depriving my plants of space and nutrition. This weekend it will be a war on those weeds. Its not even that I have any particular grudge against these plants, they are all part of the natural habitat and, in their own way are quite attractive, its just that left unchecked the garden would be full of these and little else. 

Another regret is the way my herb collection has gone to seed and is past its best for harvesting. But I still have quite a lot of frozen herbs collected last year and if I cut the herbs back now they should all grow again next year and I’ll be able to collect them then. I bought Mace for the first time this year and didn't even get to save a little. It smelt wondefull, harvesting my first Mace will be something to look forward to next year.

The dainty little purple flower growing in the midst of chaos is…….actually I don’t know what it is. I think it was part of the mixed wild flower seeds I sprinkled there. As you can see.....the wind was getting up and the little flowers were waving wildly in the wind.

This yellow flower is another attractive but unknown addition to the garden. It has grown tall and flowered in the couple of weeks I’ve been away from the garden, and now I’m busy looking up pictures of yellow flowers and trying to identify it. 

This is something I am pleased with. I brought back a whole load of Mullen seeds from my last visit to my sister and this is where I sprinkled them. At this point I’m not sure if these new plants are self seeded Digitalis (foxglove) or, if some of the Mullen seeds have started to grow.  To my non-expert eye, Mullen and Foxglove look too similar to decide, but which ever it is, I’m happy with it.

June 23 2012, Garden no 11

GARDEN 2012 N0 11

It’s Saturday 23 June, and still raining. Woke up this morning and the news said; ‘serious flooding throughout the country’, guess I’m lucky to be free from the floods but we have had serious rain over the last three days. The news went on to say, ‘this could be the worse summer on record’,  ‘COULD BE’?? I feel that’s a little optimistic, as far as I’m concerned it already IS the worse summer on record.

ABOVE, PRIMROSES MID MAY

But it’s not all bad, we have had the odd day or two, even the occasional week, where the weather has been lovely and I’ve been out in the garden.
The first photos were taken mid may, we had some bright sunny days, the skies were blue, the garden was warm and the flowers were in bloom. The primroses and bluebells covered more ground and flowered for longer than usual, the pond looked especially good last month; I had more blooms in the pond than I have ever had before and the London pride was better brighter and more prolific than last year.
And then a bit of a setback, some local kids were playing in the street and jumping over fences. What ever game it was they were playing involved jumping over fences, climbing on shed roofs and running in and out of gardens. They trampled a corner of my garden and some of my plants were ruined.
I was really upset but when I went out to see what I could salvage, the damage wasn’t as bad as I thought.  We had weeks of rain and I thought I would never get out in the garden again, but when I did eventually get there, I found the rain had stimulated growth and the garden looked like a jungle. I lost a lot of seedlings and small plants, they were washed away but those that were strong enough to withstand the wind and the rain actually benefited and had a growth spurt. I’m now picking a couple of strawberries every day to eat with my cereal in the mornings, the beans and onions are looking great and  I’m eating fresh lettuce, radish, nasturtium leaf and assorted herbs every evening.  

I’m also getting a regular supply of rhubarb every couple of days. The spinach took a long time to establish, I thought I had lost it several times but now its looking good. 

The potatoes will be ready to pull soon; I hope to get these ‘earlies’ up in time to put another lot of ‘lates’ in. I’ve replaced quite a few of my herbs this year, I bought new ones but I also cut back the old ones and took fresh cuttings. I have an established patch of Tansy and Curry Plant; they are doing very well this year, they look quite similar but are very different.
And I have flowers, in no particular order and not highly cultivated but flowers they are.
School finishes next week and (weather allowing) I’ll be out there more often and hopefully get the last little bit dug over ready for another small veg plot next year. I’ve already salvaged a whole load of bulbs from the last tiny area I dug over and I expect to get at least as many again. Oh...........and I decided I liked this so much, I bought another
But for today……………the weather is awful and even if it wasn’t I’m booked for babysitting. I’ve packed my bag, packed my paints and I’m going to try to get some serious painting done over the weekend. My granddaughter is 11 now and I'm hoping she will amuse herself while I get on with the serious business of painting.

Tags: garden, garden 2012, plants, herbs, pond, vegetables

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delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Jun 24 forgetmenot525 said The tadpoles are just fine Nemo, they are getting bigger but they are not developing legs yet. I think maybe that's because the weather has been too cold for them to develop. I'm hoping they will start to grow their legs soon and leave the pond. i remember following their progress in the local ponds as a kid i can not remember how long the cycle took they should help with bug control when they are grown :)

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 24 brendainmad said Your cloud looks like the Loch Ness Monster with its tail chopped off! LOl.............thanks ..I took that photo because I thought it looked like a galloping horse with its legs tucked up underneath its body.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 24 nemo4sun said what happened to the tadpoles? The tadpoles are just fine Nemo, they are getting bigger but they are not developing legs yet. I think maybe that's because the weather has been too cold for them to develop. I'm hoping they will start to grow their legs soon and leave the pond.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 24 esoterika713 said Your veg garden is awesome. I could learn a lot from you. Perhaps, you could let me know your veg plan so I could make better use of the space. My sister made some really cool bean structures and we got some interesting new plants like a blueberry bush for instance. I'd love to be of help if I can but I'm not an expert. I've had this garden for over 10 years now and its only in the last couple of years that I've really started thinking about growing crops and making the most of the space that I Ihave. I used to have my daughters and grandchildren here for family BBQ's but now they are all settled and if we have family time it tends to be in their gardens not mine. This used to be a family garden with grass for the children and space for their toys and a little pool. They have outgrown that now, they tend to go to the park or the beach if they are here and as I get nearer to retirement I've decided to 'reclaim' my garden for my own use. Thinking about space is very important. Maybe I'll draw out a little plan and show you how I cram so much in and what my ultimate plans are for the space.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 24 veryfrank said Heuchera is a wonderful addition to a garden, dependable, survive winters and are easy to care for, mine are now 20 years old. I'm not much of a fan of the flowers but the foliage is lovely. Everything looks just great. The strawberries and radishes are loving that rain. Thanks Frank, when I wrote this I couldn't remember the exact mane of the plant, but yes, I really like them too. I love the colours of the foliage and I think it deepens and becomes richer with age. I may even get a few more if I can find space for them

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 24 kathyinozarks said your garden looks great even with all the poor weather-we are the opposite-extreme heat and no rain Hi Kathy, I would happily send you some rain if I could, and I would love some of your sunshine, if only it were that simple :-)

delete reply esoterika713 wrote on Jun 24 Your veg garden is awesome. I could learn a lot from you. Perhaps, you could let me know your veg plan so I could make better use of the space. My sister made some really cool bean structures and we got some interesting new plants like a blueberry bush for instance. I bought a bunch of stuff but space is always an issue. Too bad about the kids but I'm glad to hear it wasn't as bad. We haven't had that much rain so I've had to water but tomorrow it's supposed to rain. I hope a good gardeners rain. :)

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Jun 23 Your garden is lovely and I'm glad the kids didn't do too much damage. Your cloud looks like the Loch Ness Monster with its tail chopped off!

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Jun 23 what happened to the tadpoles? everything looks very good all things considered the strawberry and rhubarb look delicious :)

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Jun 23 Heuchera is a wonderful addition to a garden, dependable, survive winters and are easy to care for, mine are now 20 years old. I'm not much of a fan of the flowers but the foliage is lovely. Everything looks just great. The strawberries and radishes are loving that rain.

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Jun 23 The garden is looking splendid!! The vegetables and herbs seem to be enjoying all the extra water!! The strawberries are doing nicely too :-))

delete reply kathyinozarks wrote on Jun 23 your garden looks great even with all the poor weather-we are the opposite-extreme heat and no rain

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 23 aaranaardvark said The garden is looking fabulous. I hear that this year is the wettest drought on record. You're doing a grand job Loretta with great results, nice one! Thanks Aaron................one of the things I really look forward to in retirement is spending more time in the garden. And congrats on winning your own battle with the authorities.:-)

delete reply aaranaardvark wrote on Jun 23 The garden is looking fabulous. I hear that this year is the wettest drought on record. You're doing a grand job Loretta with great results, nice one!