to be in love with a garden? Well, I think I am with mine. After working from 10am till 9pm yesterday (don't feel too bad for me, I did have fifteen minutes break for lunch) I had the delightful prospect of an afternoon off and today is the last day of sunshine till the weekend so it was out in the garden to do some work. I know it's sad but I just love getting the garden ship-shape and of course, after visiting the garden centre's bargain basement and not paying full price for one thing I came back, ready to dig.
We've got some flowers indoors from the garden and even a bud or two can brighten up a room. However, if I can I like to leave my flowers outdoors and enjoy them for longer. One day maybe I'll have a 'picking garden' where I can grow enough to pick as well as watch them flourish outside.
Right now my washing line is full of the clothes I had washed but forgotten to put out because I was engrossed in gardening. Even when Linda next door came up her path with a basket of freshly washed clothes I still didn't twig till it was 6pm and I was heading in. Luckily for me the sun is still out and the wind has picked up so it's perfect drying weather.
As I type away on the laptop I can look out and see the bright amber of the Celosia, like glowing flames rising up from their leafy bases. They come in a variety of colours, from cream to the more vibrant pinks, yellows, scarlets and oranges - they look like neon candyfloss in the borders. To soften the effect of these punks I've underplanted with blue Brachycombe, little daisy type flowers with a lemon centre and plenty of wispy foliage. I also circled the newly planted standard weeping pear with similarly bleached out silver grey salvias to echo the leaves of the tree and give it some cohesion in the front garden. After planting up the Eryngium Blue Hobbit in the back garden I was ready to tackle the vegetable plot.
What joy to dig up the last of the spuds, the rich red of the enormous Desiree potatoes is a joy to behold, emerging from the soil with hopefully none speared with the fork. There were two rows left so we have two bucketfuls of these ready wrapped meals. I love jacket potato, rubbed in oil and salt and baked till ready then mashed with a fork and some butter. A twise of pepper, a sprinkle of salt and it's one of the best meals I can think of.
But I digress! The aim of digging these up was to make way for the long overdue to be planted courgettes. It'll be a bit of a gamble and very much dependent on the weather if these three small plants manage to turn into tubes of watery veg, sometimes growing almost overnight to marrow size if you don't keep an eye on them.
I also pushed in some bamboo canes to allow the dwarf beans to grow up them, three wigwams give some vertical interest as I glance out again. I've also sewn two rows of flat leaved parsley., sprinkled half an inch under the surface in a finely tilthed drill.Alongside I added one row of more ornamental cabbages. By rights they don't have a place in the veg patch but when the winter months come along there will be little interest to enjoy so the peacock colours of these frilly edged leaf chaps. I also used the last of the space to sew four rows of spinach, the chickens will love it, if we don't get to eat it all it will add nitrogen to the compost heap and we should have plenty of young leaves to steam gently as a side dish for a warming stew. I had to stake up the sunflowers whose heavy heads have proved too much with the wind we've had today and have flopped over. One is completely snapped but the others are salveagable. Likewise, one of the larger sweetcorn has also buckled under it's weight so that too has been staked up to support it.
The chickens had plenty of warnings when they would hop over the wooden edging to nip the feathery tops of the newly regrown carrots. Even though I have some chicken wire across them those girls still can't resist coming at them from the edges. Naughty girls. Once I'd finished the garden it was in to cook dinner before a chat with Nick next door whilst his small dog snuck into the garden to cock his leg on my delicate plant. Charming!
The sky is the palest shade of blue with a few wispy clouds skittering over it and we have just a few more hours before night falls. I'm done for today in the garden, the huge bunch of sunflowers and gladioli have had fresh water in their vase and now it's time to work on a book review before the ironing. A woman's work never seems to be done but what joy to get soil under my nails and colour in the garden. I'm a happy gal!
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