Alphabet chart

I know it is not the garden but I was so pleased to get this project finished that I wanted to share it.

It was started when my children were toddlers, now they are 18 and 19 they are a bit old for it but hopefully one day there will be a new generation to play with it.

So now out to the garden to dig up and save the perennial gerannium from becoming part of the greenhouse base

Pumpkin Day, a Visitor and a surprise in the post

Things have moved on in the garden with Sunday being the day chosen to harvest Audrey the pumpkin. The plot now looks quite bare without such a large plant dominating it, but I have taken the opportunity to pot up some strawberry runners for next year. When they are larger and more established I will lift the older plants and keep them for next year too. Part of my planned 3 year rotation.











Luckily I was in a potting mood as I received a surprise in the post of a tray of plug plants. I'm guessing primulas - maybe winter bedding of some sort, not being a fully fledged gardener will have to do more research. However I have potted them up and now I am left wondering where to put so many in my small garden. I am looking forward to the greenhouse and have been wandering round thinking which plants to take cuttings from. The geraniums have done very well this year and if I can get some cuttings going I am hoping to be able to swap with my neighbours for other colours and varieties.

When we replaced the fence in preparation for the greenhouse I had to dig up a mature clematis. I have given it a bit of TLC and it has started to shoot again. When the root ball has re-established I will find it another home in the garden.






The caster oil plant has benefitted from repotting and moving to a more shelterd location, although it is a very shady area it is looking really healthy. Autumn is definately just round the corner as the sedum is starting to change colour and the kafir lilies have bloomed. Usually they are eaten by the snails as soon as they start to shoot. The snails in my garden are huge and think that it is just one large party platter laid out especially for them.





The winter crop of potatoes has made a flying start and I am looking forward to having our own potatoes at Christmas. At the moment we are just about keeping up with the shoots.






Finally the pond is looking very overgrown, so that is definately something we will have to tackle in the next couple of weeks. However the wildlife enjoy it and can't help popping in for a quick chat with Cyrano and friend.

A Change of direction and Audreys last week

With the addition of Audrey the pumpkin to our garden this year there has been a miraculous change in my husbands view of gardening. This has led to a garden revamp and an interest in grow your own fruit and veg. This blog will now chart the future changes in our suburban plot and our efforts to grow a few things for the table.

Audrey (named after the plant from Little Shop of Horrors) has grown to a huge size and on Sunday will be cut for judging. She had a mixed start and we nearly lost her when first planted out. All her leaves turned yellow and she was on the point of giving up. I decided to re-pot her and she has lived in a pot since. The area she is currently occupying will become 2 new veg plots. Unfortunately the corkscrew willow will have to go but it is really too near the house.

We managed to finish the small trellis fence and have planted some rosemary to one side. The robin box has been moved and hopefully this next year our robins will have better sucess in raising a brood. This year the parents abandoned the nest leaving 4 young. In changing the garden we are trying to keep as much for the birds a possible and to create new nest sites as we had a colony of sparrows on the honeysuckle which has been removed so that we can repair the fence. I will find a spot for some more, maybe behind the weeping pear tree we planted last year

A greenhouse is also being planned and we are just working out the size of the base. You start one job and it leads on to many more. Before the greenhouse can be put up we have had to replace the fence and dig up a small circular patio. In true recycling style I have reused the patio and put it round the bird table.

Although I have now realised why we go through so much niger seed. I think that the goldfinches and siskins just spit it out.

Growing the pumpkin made us try some new veg and we have had great success with baby aubergines. We will definately grow more of these next year. We have also started some late cropping potatoes in barrels and tubs and hope to be able to get a crop for our Christmas dinner. They have just started sprouting! The idea of growing our own sprouts this year as ended in failure as we have been hit by the cabbage white plague. We will try again next year.

The patio apples have now arrived and I have repotted them and will coddle them on over the winter. The Kiwi 'Jenny' also arrived and we now have to decide where that will go.

Goodness knows where we will put the olive tree