September and October in our garden

We have had a glorious end to the summer with both the end of September and start of October experiencing sunny skies and a final touch of warmth last week. I'm wasn't too sure how much longer the weather would last so this weekend I headed out into the garden to see how things were looking. I'm glad I did as the weather has turned to rain and windy today. I realised that it has been a while since I updated you on our garden and what things have been growing.

I feel very lucky to have the garden and the space we have. The light is fantastic and becomes a little sun trap early afternoon. This summer I haven't spent as long as I would have liked in the garden however the time I have spent has been productive. I'm guilty of not keeping a pristine garden that is  perfectly manicured all the time but one that I let go of! Here is the evidence from back in late August...

Can you see the nasturtium making its way across the lawn? I couldn't believe that the spindly nasturtium plants I grew from seed, thad started to take over the raised beds and had begun searching for more space. One weekend I became so sick of them filling up the space that I decided to clear them out, harvesting the seed pods to dry and plant for next year, as well as keeping some of the flowers and leaves to use in cooking.

The tomatoes I grew this year were Gardener's Delight and Sungold and oh my goodness they were so delicious and bountiful. I popped the tomato plants into the greenhouse as soon as we constructed it in July, instantly the plants seemed happier and had all the core things they needed to grow., in particular warmth. The plants continued to stay relatively compact, in comparison to other tomatoes that I've grown, and out of nowhere came many flowers and then tomatoes. They were very juicy and flavoursome and as they say, there's nothing like a home grown tomato, I now now what all the fuss is about.

Both Gardener's Delight and Sungold are definitely going on my list for next years planting and I will buy more of them next time.

There were quite a lot of green tomatoes left when the plants started to die off. Over the past few weeks they have been ripening in a bowl on our kitchen table.

The garden bloomed throughout September and at last I saw our Montbretia flower. I had no idea that I had this plant in the garden, I must have missed it last year when we moved into our home. The unusual oranges and reds in the flowers were a little different than I've seen in other gardens.

The dahlia's flowered again during September. These mini dahlias recovered from a few snail attacks. Seeing these flowers has made me want to grow some larger versions next year in part of my raised bed.

When I removed the nasturtiums I unearthed the stocks that I had grown from seed. I had no idea if the stocks would grow when I planted them so I just stuck them into the bed to see what happened. Hidden underneath the nasturtiums they had starting to establish themselves but were suffering a little from lack of light. When the nasturtiums were removed they burst into life and flower buds started to form and over the past few weeks they have finally flowered. This is what they are looking like at the moment.

The stocks smell delicious and I hope to grow more of them next year.

The strawberry plant I bought at the start of the summer has continued to produce many runners and so I have started to encourage a few to grow in small pots. I'm hoping that they get established so I can plant up more strawberry plants and pass any extras on to friends for their garden spaces.

The herb bed is looking more established and after a late start the sage has burst into life. I moved a few herbs from another raised bed on our patio space to the main raised bed. I'm pleased to say that after a few weeks they are now establishing themselves in their new home. 

The honeysuckle in our garden became decimated by black fly early summer. I've never had to deal with this type of bug before so it was a little upsetting when all the flower buds were being sucked dry. Luckily there were quite a few ladybird type insects that put everything back to normal after a few weeks. It taught me to keep an eye on the plants more. I think that with the mild and sunny weather we have had recently the honeysuckle has managed to bloom once again.

The blueberry bushes that we have in big pots have had more fruit than ever before . Is so lovely seeing these plants doing what they should be. We decided to move the blueberry bushes into the greenhouse over the to protect the fruit from birds and to give them a little more warmth. At the moment the leaves on the bush are turning a pretty red signalling that autumn has begun, soon these leaves will drop and a cycle starting once more.

I've been spending a little bit of time in the greenhouse trying to plan out how to use the space for growing, where to position a small potting bench I hope to have, and working out if I want to create a brick path or raised beds inside the greenhouse. Here's how the garden was looking this weekend. I've been trying to tidy a few of the areas before the weather gets too cold.

Elsewhere in the garden I've been busy planting bulbs in the garden with a hope of having many beautiful blooms to enjoy in the spring. Having not planted bulbs in our garden before, I decided to made an investment in bulbs to fill the space. I selected a few different types of snowdrops, crocus and daffodil varieties and planted them scattered throughout the garden. I'm hoping for a deliciously colourful display in the spring and one I hope to share with you. I'm looking forward to seeing what they look like in amongst the plants in our garden and watching the bulbs inch out of the ground.

What are you doing in your garden or outside space at the moment?

April in our urban garden

At times our garden feels pretty bare, we're in a stage where we are clearing space for new plants and a new garden design whilst trying to spot what plants are part of the garden we have inherited. I hope to be able to keep as much of the current planting as I can moving forwards and just add to it. Here are a few of the plants currently making an appearance in our space.

Bright yellow crocus making an appearance...

A blossoming apple tree...

Our acer returning greenery to the garden...

The seed grown geraniums from a few years ago still flowering...

A delicate poppy appeared from nowhere...

Our pot grown hosta is growing once again...

One of our pot grown blueberry bushes covered in flowers...

Each time I step outside into our garden space it makes me smile. I've been spending time outside when I can sitting in the sun dreaming of how we will be changing the space, measuring the garden and starting to sketch out a bit of a garden design. I'll update you over the next few weeks with our progress in the garden. 

October in our new garden

Last week I told you about our exciting news that we had moved house. With our new home comes a brand new garden to grow plants in and to transform and make our own. It was sad saying goodbye to our courtyard garden space where my passion for gardening really kick started, but I know that our new garden will take my interest and knowledge of gardening to a whole new level. I'm buzzing with excitement about our new space and I am looking forward to sharing it with you.

I can't tell you how energised I feel about this garden and the plans I have started to put together. For Mr C and I we are seeing it as a blank canvas and the chance to really shape and redesign the space. Our garden is a perfect size for us and will hopefully in time be a space that is easy to look after. In our new garden there is plenty of space to grow things in the ground and in containers, there is space to entertain, and most importantly we now have lots of light! We no longer have a sheltered and shady space where plants started to bolt for the light. Along with the benefits of having so much light, the downside is that our garden will now be exposed to the elements. I'm sure we will be learning as we go about what areas of the garden are effected by extremes of hot and cold weather!

So let me tell you a little about our new gardening spaces...eeek I’m so excited! We are lucky to have a small space at the front of our home to garden as well as a back garden. Our front garden is a typical narrow small space for a terraced home. We have lovely yellow and black tiles and a small gravelled space, in total measuring about 1 metre wide. We have a bay window which allows us to have three window boxes on the windowsills, remarkably our existing window boxes fit perfectly…it was meant to be! At the moment the geraniums are still flowering in the window boxes so I plan to leave them in there for a few more weeks and then look to move them into new pots and put them under cover for the winter. There's plenty of opportunity for container gardening at the front of the house and I'm looking forward to working out what to plant in the window boxes for the winter and what plants we could add to the space.

Our plans for the back garden are quite extensive and we hope to achieve a hefty garden redesign over the next few years. We would love to paint the back of the house to freshen and tidy it up, or if we can we would like to get back to the original brick. We plan to replace the concrete walkway and patio space with attractive paving which is in keeping with the victorian/edwardian style of our home, with the aim of creating a space to entertain. Many of the plants in the garden are over grown and will be removed with a fresh start on all the planting. We plan to remove the lawn and potentially create a space that has a feeling of a walled/kitchen garden with raised beds, a winding brick path, areas of gravel and a lean-to greenhouse. I'm hoping to have a combination of small vegetable patches, a herb garden, and a cut flower patch. We want to have a space that is productive and one that we can sit in and enjoy. It is a big project and will take quite some time to save and plan for, however for the time being we are going to do what we can to make the space more of our own.

One of my favourite features of our back garden are the brick walls that surround the space. Three walls frame the garden and they are all at different levels. The walls are a combination of grey stone at the back and variations of grey and red brick on the left and the right. Around the garden I have discovered a few lovely shrubs, a rose, honeysuckle, a small acer tree, and a few small fuchsia's that I really and will definitely try to keep in the redesign. We moved our pots, garden furniture, and cold frame with us to our new home and have added them to the space where we can.

The garden is changing as autumn is upon us. We have seen the leaves changing colour on the blueberry bushes to a deep red, we've harvested a few final courgettes, Mr C has cut back some of the herbs and has started drying them, and the marigolds are gradually dying and going to seed. The honeysuckle in the garden is still flowering and the fuchsia is also clinging onto flowers and adding a bit of colour and life to the space.

I'm looking forward to watching the space change during the seasons and becoming more acquainted with the plants that are here and how they grow. I'm going to be able to do more than just container gardening which I'm really excited about and I am really looking forward to learning a lot more about gardening too.

The changes aren't going to happen over night, we have lots of plans to make, money to save, and as we are heading into autumn and soon winter it will be a while before we start making any big changes.

I hope that you will join me in my new adventure of gardening. I'm looking forward to learning new things and turning our new garden space into something pretty, productive and a garden we have created ourselves that we will love even more.

Community Farmer Day

Do you sometimes feel that life seems to fly by? For me that's just what is happening at the moment. I've had a number of very busy weeks at work and I am gradually getting used to dealing with the new demands and volumes of work in my job, whilst trying to have a bit of a work life balance...it has been a little tricky but I'm slowly making it work...so I'm posting something today that I wanted to write a while ago but I haven't had the chance...

A few weeks ago I decided to take a day away from my normal weekend routine to do something completely different. I got involved in something fantastic that cleared my head, made me feel great, enabled me to spend a day outside in the fresh air and made me feel really energised at the end of it. I decided I wanted to give my time to something that I felt passionate about...I decided to become a volunteer for a day at The Community Farm.

The Community Farm in Chew Magna was set up in 2011 as an organic farm to grow yummy vegetables for organic vegetable boxes. The Community Farm "aim to reconnect people with the land where their food is grown"...one of the things letting them fulfil this are Community Farmer Days that the farm run, alongside many other community initiatives.

I have been wanting to do something different with my time and have been thinking about volunteering for a while. When I think back to what being a volunteer meant when I was younger, it was being made to go (or feel you have to go!) every week. However this was totally different, the volunteering at The Community Farm suited me perfectly, you can just sign up when you want to go using a list of dates on the website, there is no commitment to go each week which suits my lifestyle perfectly. After seeing a few email newsletters from the farm about what was going on that month I decided to sign up. Each time I read about the volunteering on the newsletter I had a gut reaction and really wanted to have a go, so I signed up with one of my best friends and the gut reaction paid off...we had a fantastic day.

On Saturday 21st June my friend Kate and I headed off to Chew Magna, a beautiful part of the country just 25 minutes away from Bristol. We signed up to spend a day volunteering prepared to get stuck into whatever the farm needed us to do that day. We did well to pick a day with good weather, it was a really warm and sunny! Armed with sun cream, lots of water, hats, bags of enthusiasm and big smiles we began our Community Farmer Day experience...

We started the day with a steaming cup of tea, some freshly picked strawberries and got ourselves settled in the yurt for a briefing about the day with Ian, the Volunteer Coordinator. The room was buzzing with people itching to get started. As a group we had three tasks that the farm were keen to get our help with while we were there. The tasks involved weeding around the leeks and lettuce in one of the fields, planting courgettes and creating a row of bean poles. There were about 18 of us who were ready to get stuck in, there were a mix of newbies like Kate and I, and others who had been before.

Kate and I decided to take the first part of the day weeding around the lettuces, we worked in our pair moving down each row and managed to complete the weeding on two rows of lettuces in the field in the morning...it felt like a huge achievement. The sun was beating down and it was hard work but it felt very therapeutic getting rid of the weeds and watching our progress as we worked up and down the field!

About 12.30pm we stopped for a lunch break and tucked into some freshly picked salad leaves, tomatoes and strawberries from the farm to top up our packed lunches. Everything was so yummy and freshly picked that morning.

After lunch we were given a tour of the farm and saw a range of plants, vegetables and fruit that the farm were growing. We saw all areas where the farm grow things and we learnt about how the farm is run and how the local communities get involved. The farm is set next to the Chew Valley Lake and has some amazing views, it must be a great place to work!

We saw how the farm grows crops under cover as well as in the 22 acres of fields. A range of crops including cucumbers, tomatoes, chillies, herbs were being grown undercover, and courgettes, potatoes, leeks, lettuce and strawberries were being grown outside.

After our farm tour we came together as one team to create a row of bean poles. A pile of bamboo poles and twine came together after a hour or so, filling the length of the field. We all were given task to get the job done, whether it was pushing the bean poles into the ground or tying the tops of the poles to the guideline wire. We all worked hard as a team and had some time left at the end to plant the beans!

I planted these beauties...

Hopefully by now the beans will have germinated and will be growing, and making a bit of progress up the poles.

It was a day I will always remember. Ian kept us motivated all day with his enthusiasm and we spent the day with a lovely set of volunteers that I'm sure I will get to meet again sometime soon. The day felt that we were given real responsibility to help out at tasks that would make a difference and helped the farm function that week. The experience definitely gave us the opportunity to reconnect with the land and see how things are grown.

Late afternoon arrived and we headed home feeling super pleased with ourselves. We felt a real sense of achievement that we had managed to complete the tasks that we had been asked to get involved in during the day. I loved the day as it enabled me to combine the chance to do something for the local community, to learn some new skills and see how organic vegetables are grown on a large scale.

I went away buzzing with enthusiasm and had a spring in my step that stayed with me all weekend. I've found voluntary work I love and something that I'm definitely going to sign up for again in a few months time. I'm really looking forward to going back.

Planting seeds for our edible garden

Over the past few weeks I've been planning what I would like to grow this summer in our courtyard garden. Our little space is quite a shady, we don't get a lot of direct sunshine so growing some plants can be a little hit and miss! There are a few spaces in our courtyard that get sunshine so I try and arrange pots and containers to make the most of the light. I'm planning to make more of the sunny spaces this summer and I'll keep you posted with my plans and how things are growing.

I bought a few packets of seeds to kick start growing things in our containers. I decided I wanted to start to create an edible garden with some variety to what we are growing. I'm having a go at growing lettuce leaves, radishes, spinach, spring onions, beetroot, courgettes and carrots from seed. I've also planted some nasturtium seeds too, so that we can use the flowers in salads. Our rocket planted last year is still growing but I think I'll sew some new rocket seeds soon to ensure we have some fresh leaves and the flavour of the leaves is not too bitter.

Following the instructions on the seed packets I've planted some of the seeds directly into newly dug soil within the containers we have. I've also sewn some seeds in seed trays and left them to grow in front of our window in the lounge, making the most of the warmth in our flat. I'm pleased to say that the radishes planted both inside and out are starting to sprout. The lettuce seeds are trying to grow too.

All the other seeds are lying dormant at the moment. I'm hoping the weather will continue to get warmer so that the seeds will start to make an appearance.

Over the next month or so I'm going to plant some chillies and some new herbs in our window box. I'll keep you updated on the progress of our edible garden. Let's hope the weather is better this summer and we get a better crop. I'm really looking forward to having home grown salad leaves and dressings made with herbs sourced a few steps away from our kitchen.

April in our courtyard garden

I have a real love of container gardening. It's a new passion of mine that has recently grown over the past few years. This week it's National Gardening Week and I'm going to celebrate it by bringing you a few gardening themed posts!

I love getting outside in our small courtyard garden.Over the past few weekends we have had the relief of mild weather at last. The sun has been shining and being out in the fresh air pottering round the courtyard has been great for clearing my head and starting a fresh for spring. Recently there have been tiny noticeable changes to our courtyard space signalling that spring has well and truly arrived.

I’ve been poking around our plants checking to see what is still alive and what is growing. Our blueberry bush has new leaves, the mint has burst into life, the clematis has small leaves appearing, the chives have grown...

 the lillies I separated last autumn are all growing happily in their new pots, and my three strawberry plants are still alive and have a few new bright green leaves growing. In my cold frame the home grown geraniums are still alive and growing from last year...

Our bulbs are blooming with the daffodils and the blue and white grape hyacinth being the first to flower. The tulips have started to grow but no flower buds are appearing just yet. I cant' wait to have these flower too so we can have different pops of colour brightening the courtyard.

I’ve been busy sorting our space, digging the soil in the empty containers and pots ready to start growing new plants, sweeping up, tiding dead leaves and dead parts of plants and moving a few empty pots and containers around.  I moved a few of the pots around so that we could see some of the flowers from our lounge and put a few small pots of Grape Hyacinths to the window ledge while I decide what to add to the window box. I had the company of another lovely Robin both afternoons who was darting around the courtyard enjoying the worms, twigs and bugs I was stirring up.

I found a few hooks on our outside walls that I’m temporarily using for my two hanging baskets. I moved one of the small strawberry plants into one and hung it from a fixing on the wall. I hope the new location will mean the sun will get things moving and we will have a better crop this year. I’ve put some netting over the basket in the hope that any crop doesn't get eaten by visitors!

I've also been busy planting a few seeds too but I'll tell you about that tomorrow!