Whats going on in the garden?

After a week away in the sun I was a little bit apprehensive about what may have been going on in my garden.

We have invested in some new planting for this year moving the focus away from vegetables and moving towards a cottage garden style.  As we have already invested a lot of cash into the summer house I have been trying to pick up plants without paying too much for them.

I lost 4 Lupin plants to the slugs, I was in a dilemma as to weather of not I should buy some little blue pellets to kill the little blighters off but I know they are harmful to the eco system as they are taking food away from birds and hedgehogs so I decided to sacrifice the Lupins on this occasion but I will give it another go next year and I try to grow them in a pot and see if I get better results.

I have tried to select plants that will either come back again or will shed seeds.  There are some bedding plants that have added colour in the short term and they can be replenished next year or replaced with something different.

  I think that it will be at least 3 years before the garden will start to look something like my long term vision and as it is a garden it will continue to evolve.

I am a self confessed haphazard gardener and like Mother Nature to have a hand in my garden so I am looking forward to seeing what survives and what perishes along the way.

What have you been up to in your garden this Summer? and do you have any tips on dealing with the slugs?

Its January so lets tidy the pantry!

With the first "proper" week of January under my belt the festivities are well and truly over and the routine of work has settled us back down into our usual patterns.

The weather has been a bit on the chilly side and snuggling on the sofa in front of the log burner has been pretty much our favorite occupation.

My pre-Christmas to do list was never completed and anything relating to sending cards and wrapping presents has been confined to the bin but there was one job that still needed to be picked up.  Sorting out the pantry!  It is a convenient place to "tuck things away" so becomes something of a dumping ground.  After a few hours of taking everything out, throwing away a few odd bits that have gone out of date, wondering why we have so many packs of olives, knowing that there are several boxes of stuffing because I ran out last May and my family can't function without a regular input and I don't want that to happen again.  I finally got round to putting everything back and it all looks nice and organised.............. for now.

As you can see I have no loyalty to any one supermarket and Sainsburys Morrisons  Tesco Aldi and Lidl all get a look in.

We did see a bit of winter sun this morning and I was keen to capture the shadows it was casting as the bunting was blowing around

I was quite happy to see the snowdrops making an appearance, it is almost like they have waited until the new year to pop up and say hello

I haven't made anything this week, not even a cake which is not like me at all, maybe I just need a break after all my Christmas makes!

How was your return to work?  Have you had a cleaning splurge or are you happily tucked up in front of the fire?

........... a haphazard gardener

I enjoy pottering in my garden but I think I fall a long way short of taking the title of gardener, I prefer to think of myself a haphazard gardener. My gardening method is more a case of put it in and see if it grows rather than researching if it is suitable for the type of soil we have, does it need to be in the shade or the sun etc. So naturally I have mixed results.  We grow mostly food as nothing beats going into the garden to pick your own food, it tastes great (mostly) and has zero food miles.

Home grown veg

Hanging basket Tomatoes

Fat green tomatoes

Plenty of runner beans

Can you beat the taste of fresh poddy peas

2nd crop of rhubarb

We also have room in the garden for a few flowers

Red Geraniums

Cottage garden plants

Bees loving the lavender

Despite all this green loveliness growing away my gardening my obsession this year is getting my compost bin working well!! We had an ants nest in there and I was told it was too dry and that I wasn't incorporating enough "brown" items in my mix   I found this site from the master composters to be very helpful.

So in the words of the nursery rhyme "How does your garden grow?"

Spring Spring Spring

There was are was a hint of sunshine over the past couple of days and it really felt like Spring was beginning to put in an appearance, this song came to mind. In September I planted up a few pots with flowering bulbs and we have been reward with a lovely show of flowers

I really packed in the bulbs when I was planting up the pots and topped them off with some winter flowering pansies which have survived quite well in the mild winter.  A few bits of ivy from the bottom of the garden has provided a bit foliage interest and I will use them again when the pots get replanted with summer bedding plants.

I picked up this lidless sugar bowl in the charity shop a couple of weeks ago with a plan to put in crocus bulbs next year but on a trip to Morrisons I found a little pot full on the verge of flowering and they are bursting out after just a couple of days.

The nights are still very chilly and the sun was notably absent today when I had pencilled in a couple of outdoor jobs to do, they are now pencilled in for tomorrow!

How is your garden looking?  have you seen any sunshine or are you still in your thermals waiting for spring to put in an appearance?

Lavender and Bees

I thought I had mastered the art of setting this up to post while I was on holiday oops it didn't work! enjoy anyway :)

It was a glorious day on Sunday and I made the most of by getting plenty of washing done, there is nothing like the smell of line dried laundry, some how it brings the sunshine in doors. However, I was distracted from my chores by the number of bees that were buzzing round the lavender up on the patio, I just had to get my camera to try and capture it. 

Bee in flight

 Well if you ever have half an hour to spare on a sunny day try photographing bees, as soon as you line up the perfect shot the little beggars decide to fly off,  that half an hour soon became 45 minutes that ends up being closer to an hour oops and the perfect shot is still going to be the next one 

Elusive bees hiding from the camera

Bee searching for nectar

Bee and bunny eared lavender

Spot the Bee

White bottomed bee on lavender

As you can tell I was easily distracted and it was a lovely way to chill out in the sun.

So what distracts you on a sunny day?  Do you grow lavender in your garden?