A joy to visit.

For three solid hours this morning I boiled and peeled chestnuts in order to make soup and stuffing. One kilo gram of chestnuts took from 10am till 1.00pm to peel and I ended up with prune fingers as they had been handling hot wet chestnuts for so long. Then of course, I had to make the soup and the stuffing. I'm sure that come Christmas I will be pleased to have the stuffing already made (if it lasts that long without me succumbing to cooking it as chestnut stuffing is a particular favourite of mine). We had some of the soup for lunch and then, joy of joys, we visited the garden centre for a quick wander around and I bought some new gardening gloves after Luke wore my last pair when he was putting a new roof on the shed and ended up with a hole in the finger. I also spent five pounds on a pretty orchid for the house. The one I really wanted was three times the price and I didn't want to pay any more so opted for the cheaper one. Sometimes these things are false economies but I love having flowers and plants around so I shan't regret that one and may even succumb to buying one I really wanted too.
The hens were allowed out as we were home most of the day and it was hilarious watching them all fly out of the runs. They have been cooped up since Wednesday afternoon so couldn't wait to fly the nest, so to speak. Each chicken came out with a ludicrous flight path and little Mrs. Bun ended up flying straight into the raspberry patch - no wonder Luke chopped them all down afterwards. It's time for their annual cut and it's been months since we had the last raspberry although I think the hens may have enjoyed a few more than we did.
The two new hens now have names that we agree on. I think we've turned into proper chicken owners now because I've stopped thinking about naming them. However, the old rule that if something has a name we don't eat it still stands for any animal we own. Once you find out their personalities (and believe me when I tell you that each chicken has it's own individual personality - yes, really), well, you just can't dispatch them.
So Buckster, Lunar, Poppy, Mrs Bun and.., Betty and Silvie are all safe.
Last night Luke had to retrieve an egg by hooking it with the garden rake. Silly Mrs Bun isn't like normal chickens and doesn't hide away in a dark and comfy nest to lay her eggs. Nope, she just seems to lay them where she is standing and then looks surprised to see the egg when she turns around. So her latest lay was just left in the run and out of reach, hence the rake. But that chicken can do no wrong in Luke's eyes and he just rolled it along the ground till we could pick it up and wash it off. Scrambled egg in the shell., no doubt.

Red hot!

So I'm obviously not talking about our temperatures this summer, having been the wettest one in one hundred years, but there have still been splashes of racy red in the garden. Not so many on the raspberry canes as the new chickens have developed their jumping skills to attain the giddy heights of the juiciest berries. I'll get a video clip of them jumping later this week for you.

1 week later.

Well, you didn't think I could keep away, did you? If my poor old plants can struggle on despite having their roots practically rotting whilst their buds whither from an almost continual bashing by heavy downpours - well, I can at least tell you about them, can't I?
Let's do all the bad news first.
The potatoes are nearly all suffering and I know when we dig them up each spud will have a coating of scab. The peas, who usually love the rain, are yellowing up because they are totally waterlogged. This year's crop of raspberries has been very poor - of course it doesn't stop the chickens hopping up and down in brave attempts to dislodge those red jewels from their settings. Many a time I've seen Mrs Bun pull half a raspberry from the stem and then hop up again to break off the remaining half and wolf it down. We've always shared the raspberries with the hens because I think it gives them some interest as well as a little exercise so the bottom few have been the property of the chickens whilst anything from 15 inches up has been human fodder. However, I'm finding that the few we have just don't want to ripen up very well and then they seem to get mould on them within a day. I've not had enough to make a summer pudding again but there are a couple each day ripe for the picking.
The alpine strawberries have not been touched by the chicks; not sure why but they have been allowed to come to fruition and are scarlet dots in amongst the lush green leaves of the plant. The red currants are taking forever to ripen although they are slowly getting there. The new cherry has withered and died but the apple, bought the same time but placed at the top of the garden, is doing well.The box edging around the herbs is filling out nicely and so far, touch wood, Luke's tomatoes have resisted the blight although I do not know how long they will hold out for - it seems inevitable.

The hens are enjoying being in the garden though, we've enjoyed a good few bird visits here as so many young birds use the peanut and seed feeders as a ready source of energy. How does this benefit our girls? Well, the wild birds are messy eaters so our four hang about underneath the feeders and have the crumbs from the feeders. Very canny. We've had three sightings this afternoon of an august russet breasted Bullfinch. What a very handsome visitor he is and I'm transfixed each time he makes an appearance, clinging to the rose stem or perching on a plant.

The roses continue to produce a mass of buds although many of the flowers have dropped off without being able to open - just a cushion of soggy petals bound tightly together before they fall.
This morning, before the latest downpour which had me running to collect the week's washing from the line before it was completely soaked, I planted up Luke's favourite Salvia; Paten's Blue. It's a rich, bright blue and startles people with it's bold, almost gentian colour. We had a lonely spot in what used to be the monochrome corner before it kept surprising me with stray random pinks and purples. Now I just am grateful if anything pushes through the bog-like soil.
Having visited a lavender farm yesterday, Luke returned home with three new lavenders for the garden. Lavender should be the easiest thing to grown and cultivate but I seem to kill everyone of my lavenders if I get anywhere near them. I am thinking of just keeping them for a few years without cutting back as, no matter how frugal my trimming is (and I never cut into the old wood) I seem to finish them off. So I have a huge one in the front garden that I will try to take cuttings from before pulling it and it's woody stems up in a couple of years and a lovely butterfly one by the greenhouse door that should see me good for a few more years. The knives though, are not out for this plant. I shall let it keep it's head and spread itself freely before replacing with a newer plant once it's got too straggly. Look how good the field of lavender looks though....

Beautiful, isn't it?
They also had a wild flower meadow which put my teeny patch to shame. Here's how it's done!

I am so envious!

We did have a very quick wander through a field down the bottom of the hill from us. Within minutes the weather had turned and we had to nip back pretty sharpish to the safety of the car.

Most of the plants I bought earlier this year are now half price in the sale because there is so much unsold but I'm fine about paying full price for my feather Bronze Fennel. I'm always pleased to reacquaint myself with the Giant Scabiosa - a tall, bobbing yellow flower head on a long bendy stem - the flowers are as tall as I am. Sadly, my plant is pushed into a corner and is not expanding but I may well buy another and leave that one where it is (but that is for next year).
The gypsophilia around the large agapanthus is like a froth of cappuccino foam and really brightens up that little bed. I lost two of the plants I put there but this one plant makes up for any disappointment.
We have lots to do in the front garden although the two wooden steps down from the elevated decking to the grass have both split and cannot be used now. The beautiful, Crown Princess Margarita roses are doing me proud (I bought them as a tribute to my father after he died and they always make me think of him when I see their bright apricot flowers grouped together.) My plan is to remove the misshapen and half dead conifer one side of the decking entrance and to replace it with a mirror image of the planting on the other side; a honeysuckle, rose and lavender although with this temperamental weather this will almost certainly not be happening this month.
On a more optimistic note I have today removed the electric blanket from the bed. I am currently wearing a woollen jumper and there hasn't been an evening without the wood burner going but I am hoping we are getting towards more seasonal weather. Well, you've gotta have hope, haven't you?

That Friday feeling.

Whilst many people were stuck in traffic, dying to get home for the start of their weekend I was having the best hour of my week. Having worked long hours throughout the week meant I finished work today at 4.30 so I nipped through the ever building traffic and parked up in the garden centre car park. I went straight past the full price plants and nipped over to the seasonal reductions because I was feeling in the mood for a bargain. Straight away I found lots of tobacco plants in lime and blue for a pound apiece and several Nigella (Love in a mist) which is worth getting for the name itself. But the jewels in the crown were two dwarf fruit trees. For ten pound (50% off original price) I bought a morello cherry tree and then found a Braeburn apple tree for the same price. I always wanted to make a wall of fruit and up to now we've got our bank of raspberries, our alpine strawberries interspersed with the normal sized strawberries and encircling the old chimney pot which sits just in front of the blackberries and to the side of the red currants. Once we plant up our cherry and apple we should be looking forward to making our own Summer Pudding in a few years. Is it too much to suggest Luke will make the bread for the pudding too?
A joyous half an hour was spent browsing all the sale items and I came away with £50's worth of plants which took up half my boot space in the car. It didn't help that I came straight from work and was wearing a silk dress. I should have got changed first but I wanted to get it all around the side of the  house and into the garden. This weekend we have full sun forecast so I shall enjoy getting everything planted and watered.
I should be working on paint stripping the stairway but the thought of sunshine after so much rain is too good to miss.

 

This year the raspberries fruited.

A huge raspberry - or hundreds!

 Luke picking raspberries (the rhubarb is growing in the chimney pot to keep it's stems from colouring up too much)

 Big boys, aren't they?

A big raspberry

 I have been laughing today at the chickens, leaping up to secure a fat red berry from the raspberry canes. I thought it would be good for them to get a bit of exercise. As long as they don't land on anything to cut or bruise their feet and cause bumble foot they will be fine and of course around the raspberries we have the old bark chippings that the hens had in their run before I cleared it out for fresh chippings. This habit of recycling is paramount to gardeners (although I can hardly call myself a gardener, just a  plant lover) and with the addition of well rotted chicken manure is perfect for the raspberries.
The chickens had made quick meals of the lower raspberries but now some of those ruby jewels are as high as my waist which means they are all for us! But you know me and those darn chickens. I just can't say no to them. Here Buckster gets one of her Five a Day!

All play and no work.

make me a very happy girl!
We spent the entire day outdoors yesterday with Luke working on the fourth bridge (aka known as THE fence) and me moving my beloved weeping pear from it's temporary home in the fruit bed to the front garden (oh, the joy of starting to make that look presentable) before shifting the strawberries in front of the fancy blackberry we have ready to train up the fence and planting up the rhubard once the space was cleared and dug over. I have also moved the last of the misplaced raspberries and swapped the chimney pot to use as a forcer for the rhubarb. It's long neck will shade the rhubarb leaves and keep them pale, no sun tan for those delicate stalks. I also edged the entire length and hope, once the fence is completed, to have a row of alpine strawberries with their baby's finger nail-sized fruits at the edge of the border, half as decoration, half as food for the chicks whilst our other strawberries will be protected. You know by now that I will move things when we need to move them and not when it's best for the plant - a shocking admission I know and I'm ashamed to say it but I'm impatient and if a plant is in the wrong place for our planting scheme then it's days are numbered there. However, I will only move it if I give it the very best chance of happily surviving the move so when I knew today was going to be continual rain all day I gambled that, with a great long soak beforehand I could move the plants and then they would have all day of being rained in therefore lessening their stress. Very often, if moving or dividing plants, it's best to cut them back or take off some of the leaf to stop them having to divert energy into all parts of the plant. The less stress they have the better. So far the tree is looking very good and the raspberry seems to have not noticed it's new surroundings.
There is little better to me than spending the day working jolly hard with my man at my side, the radio down low and a sweat on my brow.

This morning, when Socks, (Jack's cat from next door who sneaks in when we aren't and are looking, she's not fussy) begged to be let out. I plodded downstairs at 5.06 to the most beautiful of sunrises. Because we had rain on the way there were great streaks of warm pink cloud and the sun was gleaming through to make it appear on fire. I grabbed my dressing gown, grabbed Luke's camera and went outdoors, happily snapping away at the wet poppy heads, the skyline and the borders before realising the battery was dead so I had to rush back indoors, all the while trying not to wake Luke who was oblivious to the racket going on around him. Finding his other camera I realised I'd missed the chance to catch the first rays of sunlight but still thought I could get some nice shots but alas, the battery wasn't even in this camera. I've posted four posts full of pictures; neutrals, pinks, vibrant oranges and yellow and deep purples- a stroll round the garden for your eyes. I hope you enjoy them.

Fruity times.

Wow, another scorcher and another sweat-busting day. I love it when I can spend a whole day in the garden (once our Sunday tea and cake treat is over). The chickens love it too because they are allowed to roam freely in ours and Jack's garden the entire day. We were rewarded with one single egg (the first for a fortnight) from Shakira who is also moulting. Whilst Luke sprained his wrist carrying a load of marble tiles I ended up with a very achy back after lifting heavy pots. What a couple of crocks.

We did manage to work all day though and very satisfying it was too.

Luke spent most of the day concreting in the upright posts for the fence; it's really starting to take shape now. Okay, so we still only have the posts in but the fourteen holes had to be dug out, no easy task with the huge stones that cripple the spade work and great quantities of sand and cement have had to be mixed. Hopefully the next jobs will be that much easier – lengths of 2 by 3 horizontal struts screwed into the fence posts before featherboard is overlaid to create a great length of fence which we'll then paint.

Today was also the last day we could clear out the allotment plot we have long given up. Our friend, Tim, had kept it on but left it to literally go to seed with his own commitments preventing him from visiting often enough. We found that our raspberries had all been pinched as well as the greenhouse dismantled and moved! What a ruddy cheek! If they'd ask, we'd have happily let them take stuff but I'm not very impressed with it being stripped. We managed to salvage an enormous red currant which seemed like a sensible idea before we realised how huge it was (we'd have been better off buying a young plant) but by then we'd already disturbed it's root system so we carried on. Once we got it home I hard pruned it (such a bad time to move it but we had no choice so I tried to limit the work the plant would have to do by taking away some of it's bulk. Hopefully now it will put it's energy into the remaining branches. It had filled the entire back seat of the car when we brought it home but now it looks quite manageable. I also had to tease away the weeds from the root system as it had mare's tail and other weeds growing through it. I dug a huge hole but had to decent compost or sharp sand to condition the soil but I am pretty sure that most berries don't need great soil to grow well (just look at blackberries that spring up at the side of railway tracks). Of course I watered the hole, planted the redcurrant, watered the ground and kept the hose on it for a good ten minutes. Very early days but so far so good.

We also took just one of Luke's premium blackberry plants to train against the fence once it's built.

I'd planted it up before Luke saw it and told me I was too far away from where the actual fence will be so I dug it up and replanted it about five inches closer to where the fence will go. Sadly though, the ground was sodden by then because I had well watered it in to it's original hole so it was rather boggy and my feet seemed to weigh twice their normal weight with all the compacted mud stuck to my shoes as I walked across the ground. We've decided that along the fence will run our fruit garden. We've already got thirteen raspberry canes which have been stripped of their ruby fruit by the chickens up to the point they can reach and also lots of anaemic berries at the top waiting to ripen. The wild birds may beat us to them but we can net them up if need be. Having seen a small bird caught in netting before now I am loath to use netting but I'll reserve judgement till I see how many raspberries are swiped by the beaks!

At the end of the raspberries (they begin just down from the vegetable patch) will be a rhubarb (I dug one up out of the three at the allotment but am not sure the crown is very healthy as I didn't get it out in one piece). If it doesn't recover I will buy another one when it's time to do so.

Next along the line are the strawberries which till now have lived in a strawberry pot but never had much of a chance as they dried out too often. The hens love the strawberries, in fact they nicked most of the alpine strawberries from the mini barrels they'd been planted in. However, we will cover them up with some protection and of course, surround them with straw next summer to keep the berries off the ground and away from slugs and snails. Behind the strawberries is the premium blackberry which will be trained up the fence and then at the end of the bed is the newly liberated redcurrant. I will keep you informed how it does.

A hearty raspberry

Huge great canes ready for monster raspberries. The standard weeping pear in the foreground was last year's birthday present from Luke and is in a temporary position for now. It will have to be moved soon.

Time to plant the raspberries.

This year Luke ordered some Autumn fruiting raspberry canes (Polka) and out of the twelve he planted only one survived. Having complained to the supplier they kindly offered us some more in November and they arrived on Luke's birthday. I needed to get them planted as soon as possible in order to give them the best chance of survival. I dug over the spare bit of ground that I'd used for the roses but it was very wet and dense so and after digging in some soil improver and sharp sand for improved drainage I planted the canes, fanning out their roots and giving them a good watering afterwards.

More gifts from the garden.

Along with the flowers we have enjoyed some produce too. We should have erected the greenhouse earlier (there's a saying in gardening that the difference between a good and bad gardener is two weeks) as taking so long to get that sorted meant that we were late with everything. Tomatoes, sweetcorn and peas were all too late. Only the beans and potatoes went in on time. Next year we will be on top of it but there's no point being depressed about it as we've still enjoyed the gardening aspect of it despite the fact that the tomatoes have not ripened, the sweetcorn is only two feet tall and we missed out on several vegetables altogether.
We've had enough beans to give several lots to Jack, next door but only enough peas for two meals but that is probably because I eat them straight from the pod as I am picking them. Our mint has been great but that's not saying much as it grows like a week.
Here are some gifts though which we've been most grateful for.

Gifts from the garden

Fruit, veg and flowers have all come our way in just a few short months. Here are just a few....