missing you already

I will be offline now for a week or so. Dont panic I shall return with some wonderful things!

everythings coming up roses

Burgundy Ice a memorial rose for my cat Sybil.

veg

Just thought I'd show you the colour of the flowering purple potato my mum gave me to plant (they are usually white).



The vegetable year so far has been really good. I think its down to not over filling the plot, as I had done in previous years. Although the salad bar is well stocked!



The third crop in is leaf beet (eating tonight) its like spinach, but doesnt bolt, ie turn to seed. Its something new for this year and I think I prefer it to spinach. We've also eaten a row of little gem lettuces with another one ready to go, must sow more seed. We've been eating strawberries now for the last four days, they are actually not as sweet as I would like, though this doesnt seem to stop something enjoying them and as I'm organic I have to live and let live!!

flower power

I've found that as plants mature they really do produce some magnificent shows. This astrantia was purchased last year from the plant lady who keeps a stall outside her front gate. Unfortunately this year I have nearly all her plants already in the garden. As I'm a thrifter I like to get plants from anywhere, and I'm not ashamed to say that I have taken cuttings from the side of the road and gathered seeds.



More lupins for free!!



A new rose purchase this year. Souvenir du Docteur Jamain. Sorry if thats not spelt right.
This is a rose that so Alan tells me in my GW book is suitable for a shady border so voila.


The all consuming lavender bush!

welcome to the jungle

Whenever I go away even for just a few days the garden seems to grow and change, its generally my first port of call before tea or toilet. I dont get to appreciate it if I'm here 24/7, its only when I return I realise how amazing it is or how out of control things are getting. I totally have my hands up that I really dont know anything about garden design which does frustrate me, I guess I will have to learn like all good gardeners.
This crazy monster is clary sage, I bought it has a one pound herb last year and I'm not even sure if I like it. Oh yeah it smells of B O. Yuck!!
Its not like anything I've ever grown, just one of those curious plants that you dont often see.
Gosh there is so much going on in the garden this
week, this could be a long post.

best of the coast

sea thrift~gotta love it!!

hayle

Gorgeous beach opposite St Ives, seems to be our last port of call. Thought I should be creative so here you go.
And heres my husbands attempt, inspired by the stone towers in New Zealand.

st ives

Just got back from St Ives my most favourite place on Earth. Days were spent mainly on the beach as the weather was unusually fine and I even had a dip in the sea at Porthmeor beach (wetsuit applied)

The patchwork so far...

tip

Don't let rocket go to seed even if you love it, after all a weed is just a plant that grows in the wrong place and takes over your garden. Be warned!!

ps. also applies to teasel, which is grown for its seed heads!! Be aware that from one plant millions of babies are born, unless you have a million goldfinches I'd stick away from the teasel.

the taste of summer

First strawberries of the year, some of which are huge, hopefully they will be tasty with many more to follow.

Yesterday we had a months rain in one day! The majority of the garden was turned into a pond due to our clay soil, but thank the gods today was a summers day and the water had drained a way by morning. I do panic sometimes about the garden and spend half the time criticising it, I need to relax and enjoy it more. This the view from the end of the garden under the sail shade looking on to the veg patch and my new ARBOUR!!
This is my birthday present, not for another month yet, but got to make the most of the summer. I'm staining it a grey/blue colour and hope to grow a climbing rose and clematis maybe.
I love how my garden looks like someone elses through the lattice, feels like a whole new garden!

lupin

The lupin. Grown from seed collected in 2006.

junebugs

Wow its June already! So far weather wise we've had a mixed bag, which has been great for the garden though not for the iris who has remained sodden due to the rain. However we do need sun now to dry out the potato plants and to ripen all the strawberries.
We are well into eating my produce, the new raised salad bed has been a total triumph, though I still manage to get everything growing in abundance instead of sucsession.
The veg patch is full now as I've just planted out the sweetcorn, I hope they are still there and havent been eaten. I am growing leeks in the salad bed, to be transferred to final growing bed when I have dug up the early potatoes. I'm thinking about growing suede as I have been cooking a lot of cassoroles. I have courgette and squash seedlings and I dont know where they will go, I originally built the raised bed for them, but seems unlikely now! I'm thinking maybe the pile of rotting turfs might be ok, as I have seen squashes grown on compost heaps.
Here are my pea plants with rather an elaborate cats cradle! I have noticed that something has taken a fancy to the leaves on my peas and mangetout, whoever said gardening was relaxing has never done battle with the garden nasties. If its not the bugs eating your plants, its the rats living under your shed, or lobbying the council to sort out traffic chaos or stop them garden grabbing, there seem to be know end of stresses living in the country! I guess if life was perfect there would be nothing for us to have a moan at.

read the manual

Well as usual I ran before I could walk, and yes those of you who know about patchwork probably noticed my error. Basically I ended up tacking twice on half of the piece because I thought I knew what I was doing, just glad I realised before I'd sewn it all. Of course the paper hexagon should be 1/4 inch smaller than the fabric so you can tack the allowance.