Saturday 9 June 2018

How Does My Garden Grow

The patio between back of house and garage and the corner with pots and the shabby chic ladder which after 4 years is looking much more shabby than chic. I'll need to give it a coat of colour stain sometime

The Greenhouse with tomatoes on the right, cucumbers straight ahead and peppers and aubergines on the staging on the left. Also in there are pots of Basil, a pot of parsley, French Marigolds to attract in the hoverflies that eat greenfly, some small Heuchera that will go out when they are a bit bigger. There is also an Abelia which I got last year, it says it's slow growing and that's certainly right as it's taken a year to get from 3 inches tall to 6 inches tall and I bought it to go in a pot on the patio as it's a shrub - Ha! Might have to wait another 3 years until it's shrub size!

The Vegetable beds on the part of the garden behind the garage. Colin sowed a whole bed of beetroot, so there should be enough! I have mangetout peas in the next bed plus climbing French beans, with canes up ready for the runners.The next bed is courgettes and leeks plus the last couple of spring cabbage. I need to take down the frame work of netting that's round it. The fourth bed is potatoes with rhubarb at the end and in the distance the bigger soft fruit bed.
The House is next door neighbours, almost all their land is in front of their house beside my garden. They want to buy part of the field behind the house but other neighbours in the lane have tried to buy a bit of field without success. Apparently the farmer who owns it is a grumpy bloke who won't even discuss it!

The old raspberry canes that were here when we came, they are covered in fruit this year, I'll need to chuck a net over the top in a few weeks time, that's what the stakes are there for.


Orchard and Polly. These trees were here when we came. A family apple, another apple, 2 pear and a plum. We added 3 more various apple and 2 apricots - one of which is looking very sorry for itself.

Looking back at the veg beds from the soft fruit bed, with the garage on the right and the back of the house. The oval rose garden and my cutting garden are on  the other side of the greenhouse.
There are sun flowers surrounded by canes and string in the middle of the fruit bed because I couldn't find anywhere else to put them

There are also lots of shrubs over the other side of the orchard and mustn't forget the meadow and new trees. The tall poplar trees in the centre of the picture with Polly in the orchard are down the right hand side of the meadow. Our land is L shaped with the house in the corner where the two bits of the L join. The garden is the bottom of the L and the meadow is the upright of the L. I'll draw a map one day!

Back Tomorrow
Sue


46 comments:

  1. I love your gardens. The greenhouse is looking very productive, so are the gardens. What a lot of land, hard work but wonderful. Mapping it out could be great fun, perhaps the start of a journal of adventures for your and your grandchildren, as they get older.

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    1. An acre all together and it's all very green at the moment - grass cutting is never ending.
      I'll find a large bit of paper and try and draw out a plan. Not a straight forward L shape so a bit difficult to draw

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  2. What a lovely, lovely garden. No wonder you love it so much.

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  3. What a beautiful property you have! Your gardens all look so nice and you even have the orchard. You will be able to harvest such a variety of food. Not only will you save money buying food but the food you grow will be fresh and healthy. I love the patio area. What a perfect place to sit at the end of the day. It is so nice to see everything so now it will be easy to picture it when you talk about it.

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    1. So looking forward to the raspberries, there are more this year than last year

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  4. i bought a bag of mixed salad leaves from lidl the other day - lots of beetroot leaves in the mix. First time i've had them; very nice!

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    1. Yes the small leaves are fine to eat - bit tough when they get bigger!

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  5. Wow, looking fantastic. Other than outdoor tomatoes, mine is almost non-existent this year.

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    1. I had a spare tomato plant and have it in a pot outside but Monty Don said Blight has more or less made growing outdoors a waste of time,so will have to keep an eye on it

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  6. Smashing garden everything looks healthy and happy

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    1. So far so good, all green a lush at the moment

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  7. You’ve got lots going on there. Any thoughts of bringing back some hens?

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    1. I would need something to keep them in that I could move by myself and having looked online for something with a run it would cost me as much as buying eggs for 5 years! Not counting sourcing drinker and feeders etc,Then I would want at least 3 layers as they like company and would have so many eggs I would end up giving them away! The idea is good but the reality is silly!

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  8. Looks good. I like living in the countryside too. Wouldn't go anywhere else.

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    1. My year in town made me realise that I only like towns in winter.
      Could do with 2 homes really!

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  9. How lush your garden looks. The wee patio corner is lovely and I spied the wee boot planted up. We’re forecast thunder so I better crack on with some work before it starts.

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    1. The trailing geraniums in the boot are growing well

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  10. Lovely productive garden. Tribute to all the hard work that's gone into it. Last minute thought - do you fancy coming over to Hadleigh for the Hidden Gardens/ Gardens Open today? But guessing you are probably up to your neck in admin etc

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    1. Thank you for the invite,I popped to see a village fete locally. I'm planning on a couple of open garden visits in nearby villages over the next few weeks....with photos for the blog!

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  11. Thank you for sharing photos of your property. It makes it easier to visualize things when you talk about the garden. I have an acre of land (with none of the veg gardens you have) so I can readily understand what a large undertaking it is for you to manage. A lovely place.

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  12. What a lovely garden! What a lot of work it must be to look so wonderful.
    Everywhere you have lived you have made MORE, more beautiful, more productive, more useful, more wonderful. You have a wonderful space outside and inside books and a great stove too ; ) and jugs!

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  13. Your garden looks good and a lovely size, life can be good whilst outside hands in soil.

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  14. Very impressive. I'd love to have the land and the gumption for that much growing. I have neither though:) thanks for giving us a tour!

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    1. I've always gardened even when I didn't know what I was doing!

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  15. A Beautiful garden , Very productive , I bet you don't have to buy much veg at all xxx

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    1. I'm just growing summer stuff and leeks this year so might need to buy veg in the winter

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  16. You have a lovely garden Sue, I do have orchard envy I have always fancied one. Have a nice weekend.

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    1. Yes the orchard was a big attraction for buying this house, as we left a well established big orchard at the smallholding

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  17. Lovely to actually see your garden rather than imagine it. Lots of lovely produce growing Sue.

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  18. That is absolutely beautiful Sue.

    Col has left you a legacy of a wonderful and productive garden. Between the two of you, you have made it very special in a pretty short space of time. Absolutely gorgeous ❤

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    1. We whipped it into shape last year when he was well enough. Now I need to keep on top of the work and enjoy the fruit and veg

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  19. It looks so lush and lovely! A lot of work there.

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    1. It has been good growing weather this year, not too many really hot days

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  20. I really enjoyed this post. It helps to see what's where. You have a really nice spot in the world and that's a lovely thing.
    Was the greenhouse there already? Did Col have to fix it up? I can't recall.
    Yes- draw the map. I'm always trying to do one and it comes out mess.

    Debra

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    1. The greenhouse was here already, I just wire-brushed it down and gave it a coat of wood preservative in spring last year.

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  21. Lovely to see your garden in the country Sue, and all the hard work paying off. You won't go hungry! PatC

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  22. I envy you the raspberries. They are so expensive here. Really I’m a fruit lover and your whole orchard looks wonderful.

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    1. They are silly prices in the shops here too. and my favourite fruit. I have new canes in a separate bed which I didn't take a photo of

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  23. Harvest, cook, eat and enjoy the beetroot, Colin will be there with every bite. Celebrate his life, it is the only way...

    LX

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  24. Lots of loveliness goin* on in you4 garden. Enjoy :)

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