You win some, you lose some

A trip to Ireland, then Milton Keynes (this girl knows how to travel!) and bad weather intertwined with bouts of illness equals very little time spent in the garden over the past few weeks.

Came back from Ireland to find that something had eaten all the leaves off my carrots despite the use of netting and some slug pellets! Still over the past few weeks my pea pods have appeared, the sweetcorn is flowering and I've been able to eat my own broccoli, rhubarb and some teeny weeny beetroot (well, I had to thin them out so one or two small ones have made their way into my salad for tea).  The broccoli wasn't huge, but enough for me in a meal, and there's still some florets coming on the plants.

Looking forward to eating some of these straight from the pod

Weeny beet; grated on a salad they're...
well....great!

Really delighted to see the peas coming on though; considering I got nothing at all from planting dwarf beans seeds.............I wonder if mice got to them?  Haven't seen any holes in the soil though.

Managed to strim a third of the field before the bad weather came in a couple of weeks ago (it is July isn't it?!! sure it's not October?) and now I keep looking at the rest of it growing and waiting for a chance to get out with the brushcutter again. I was hoping the weather would be kinder this month so I could keep on top of the strimming. Ah well sometimes you just feel like you're losing the battle.....but I will win the war!

at least it's not brambles and thistles this year

still got access to the shed........just about!

The Plympton Pippin apple tree that had the frost damage seems to be none-the-worse so far. I've wrapped up the damaged area using a piece of that fibrous material you use to line hanging baskets with.  It's good for retaining water, which will help the scar to heal.  One of the Sunset apple trees got attacked by Blackfly and several of the leaves were curling in and wilting as a result and it generally looked tired and poorly!  There was only one thing for it.....the bug spray I'm afraid!  I try not to use chemicals on the garden but every now and then I don't feel I have a choice.  If anyone knows of any other non-chemical way of getting rid of Blackfly from an apple tree I'd really be interested to hear about it.

A couple of weeks ago I bought some herbs from People and Gardens who are based where I work;  Basil, Lemon Basil, Purple Basil, Sage, Thyme and Oregano.  I've planted them in the bed with the cauliflowers in, as most of the caulis died off and left me with some space to fill. I haven't had much success with herbs in pots for some reason so I'm hoping they'll do well in the bed.  So far everything seems to be surviving. I also bought a pumpkin plant and a courgette plant and planted in the same bed.  The pumpkin has already started to spread along the bed but it shouldn't interfere with the herbs and both are flowering nicely.  Once the fruits start to show I'll mulch around them to keep the moisture in the ground.

Today was a goo day for getting out in the garden so it was time to attack the weeds that have grown up along the path into the garden and the Alpine bank I'm trying to create as you enter.  An accidental dislodging of a stone on the bank revealed an ants nest.  Talk about frantic! Operation 'Rescue The Eggs' kicked in instantly and I was so fascinated to watch them that I just had to record a little of the highly coordinated recovery plan!

Oh and I almost forgot to mention - I was surprised and delighted to discover recently that my two surviving cauliflowers have grown hearts! Brilliant - I thought I'd failed on that one.  Fingers crossed they grow a bit bigger. I read somewhere that it's a good idea to bend the leaves over the hearts to keep them white, so I've done that today and I'll be keeping a close eye on them - the Cabbage White butterflies are hanging around - time to get more fleece I reckon.

Guilty pleasures

I haven't posted for a month and I've missed it.  The reasons being that I took a couple of weeks holiday over the Easter/Royal Wedding/Bank Holiday period to see various family members, plus my internet connection has been a bit dodgy at home recently and, to be perfectly honest I've been too tired in the evenings after work to sit down in front of another computer screen and start typing again.

So it's going to be hard to write this one without it ending up being a small novel.  I'll do my very best not to waffle........but I'm making no promises! So, what shall I begin with? ah, yes, the plum wine.

A few weeks ago I finally bottled my plum wine. All 3 bottles! Yep, out of a gallon initially made I ended up with half a gallon which made the grand total of 3 bottles.  People had warned me that you get a lot of sediment in making plum wine but I wasn't prepared for how much.  Still, it's made a good wine and I'm pleased with the taste and the look of it.  I will make more in the future but

a) I'll make a much bigger batch and
b) remember to add more sugar (the initial tasting revealed an extremely sharp wine, so I added an extra 5ozs of sugar and went through the fermentation process again; making a total of 5 'racking' sessions)

It's slightly sweet, not too sickly though, and has a pale peach colour. I usually like my wines dry but this isn't a bad drink at all!  Slightly thicker - if that's the right word - in consistency than the elderberry I made last autumn, which apparently means it has a higher alcohol content. When I tip the glass there's a little delay in some of the liquid sliding back down; something to do with evaporation and surface tension?  Yeah, that's getting far too technical for me too.

Next on the list? I think I'm going to have a go at making carrot wine.  I've made wine from berries and fruit...now it's time to have a go at the root.






I began this blog mainly to keep a record of the development of my garden; alongside that I'll occasionally ramble on about other things - usually around the subject of outdoor spaces - that I feel like sharing.  So here's some ramblings about some places I visited whilst away.  I'll get to the status of the vegetables towards the end - something to look forward to.

During the two week break I did nothing in the garden.  Instead I took time out to visit various family members.  I did have a slight guilty feeling about not using the time to crack on with jobs outside, which lasted around half a day before being pushed firmly to the back of my mind. Sometimes it's not just work I need a break from.

First stop - Northamptonshire branch of the family; my younger brother and his girlfriend. We took a picnic to Stowe gardens, a National Trust property near Silverstone. If you've never been it's definitely worth a visit.  Although you pay an entry fee into the gardens, the parkland is free....oh and don't forget to take a picnic. Your food will definitely taste better in these surroundings! It's full of lakes, rivers, fabulous old trees, temples, ornate stone bridges, spectacular views...no, scratch that....... vistas is a better word to describe the vast open landscape of rolling hills, wide paths meandering through ancient woodlands and broad riverbanks where groups of families and friends sit chatting, eating or play games together.

A bottle of the plum wine had travelled with me and we opened it during an impromptu music session one afternoon.  I swear we played so much better after a couple of glasses each!

Surely, this has to have been in a film?

Mr. Darcy will be appearing out of the water,
any second now

A few days later I was in Exmoor with more family members, staying in a holiday cottage.  Lynton, Lynmouth, Dunster and the moor itself were all part of the itinerary.  I've never been to Dunster before and was seriously impressed with the castle and grounds which stands overlooking the town (you can see right out to the coast from its battlements). Not to mention the town itself (not a mobile phone shop, MacDonalds or Tescos in sight!) which has numerous places to eat and the best triple layer Victoria sponge cake I've tasted in a long time.

Oh and the second bottle of plum wine came to Exmoor and went down well with a large chocolate birthday cake. It seems to go with everything!

Dunster town viewed from the castle

Dunster Castle and the coast beyond

The first thing I did when I returned home was to plant out all my vegetables, except the tomato plants, in the raised beds. The leeks, sweetcorn, cauliflowers, broccoli and brussel sprouts are planted out with mats around the bases of the brassicaceae to prevent cabbage root fly getting in. I've also sown carrot, parsnip, red onion, beetroot, peas and dwarf bean seeds and sadly resorted to sprinkling slug pellets (safe to use around children and pets) sparingly in between all the plants.  I try not to use chemicals in the garden but broken egg shells and crockery only do so much to keep the pests at bay.

Two weeks on and there are signs that things are growing.  The peas were the first to show but now I can see tiny leaves along the rows of carrots and beetroot.  It looks like I'll have to do some thinning out soon too.

The leeks, sweetcorn, broccoli and brussel sprouts seem to enjoy being in the beds, however the cauliflowers aren't looking so happy...............wait for the bad pun......................... they're hearts just don't seem to be in it! And I mean that literally, joking aside.

Beetroot popping up

Mind your peas in queues!

                 

The leeks are doing well...

....as are the sweetcorn but.....

.....the cauliflowers? not so good

I have a little suggestion before I go. Are you looking for a good read? something a bit different from the usual '101 things to do with your parsnips'?  Add this on your birthday/Christmas/Anniversary wish lists....'Minding My Peas and Cucumbers'.  The author, Kay Sexton, takes you through her story of owning an allotment plot and all the ups and downs that go with it.  Full of humour, recipes, quirky characters,  handy tips and, of course, the trials and tribulations of growing crops, it's a great read.  A nice, easy read. In fact, you don't have to be into growing your own to enjoy this book. I was bought a copy by my sister for my birthday and I've enjoyed reading it 'in drips' in the evenings. If you don't receive it as a present then I suggest you treat yourself to a copy..........curl up on the sofa on a drizzly Saturday afternoon and enjoy the read; it's working for me!

Mistaken Identity (also known as Not-Quite-Sure-What-The-Hell-I'm-Doing!)

Saxifraga Peniculata 'Rosea'! THAT'S the name of the pink flowering plant I posted a picture of in last week's blog.  Lord knows where I got the other one from...........Note to self:  check several websites and books when trying to ID a plant which has lost it's label; don't just go for the first one you see!  So with it finally named correctly it can carry on helping to keep the weeds at bay in my border and rockery by slowly spreading itself across the ground.  Useful little plant and extremely pretty - I think I'll look out for some more varieties to plant on the rockery.

Now correctly identified, the Saxifraga adds a spash of colour to
borders and banks in my garden

Thankfully I had a quick reply from my brother and his partner Dancin' Fool (who also has an arboricultural blog - The Green Man) last week about the damage to one of my apple trees; frost damage apparently.  Although not good news, I have to admit to being slightly relieved that it wasn't caused by any animal...I get all sorts in the garden; rabbits, badgers and foxes.  Anyway, here's his suggestions for looking after the tree.  I've copied this straight from his email:

a) wrap the damaged area in hessian and leave it on as long as necessary

b) 30g of 'Tate & Lyle' per 1 litre of water per 1 square metre - this will artificially provide the tree with sugars (that it would normally obtain from photosynthesis) and encourage fibrous root development. Do this once a month for the next 4-5 months and repeat again same time next year. You could also try it on your other newly planted trees (or anything else that's struggling and requires photosynthesis) The more fibrous roots that a young tree (plant) can develop, the healthier it will be and the more able it will be to fight off any secondary 'host specific' pests & diseases that may want to take advantage of the exposed wound. 

c) If the tree isn't staked, you should stake it (windward side) and place the ties around the wound area to relieve any structural stresses. 

d) Don't prune it (except to remove damaged, diseased twigs & leaves 

e) pray

c) is already taken care of; d) is fine because I haven't pruned it so that just leaves a) and b) to carry out and then rely heavily on a lot of e).

Saturday afternoon was spent at The Lost Gardens of Heligan with a group from the dementia project - Creative Spaces. Small groups of residents and staff from the care home spent a lovely couple of hours wandering around the Northern Gardens with young people and their parents from the community.  One lad was provided with a recording microphone by a local radio station so that he could record some of his conversations with one resident.  It's going to go out on the station's gardening programme shortly.  These two chaps have formed a bond over the past 18 months and it was a delight to come across them sitting on a bench on Flora's Green, just enjoying their surroundings; not chattering but sitting quietly, arms and hands linked.

Unfortunately, due to a bout of illness over Sunday I didn't get any work done in the garden at the weekend.  However, a short walk up to the top revealed that the brambles this year have been replaced with intermittent 'rugs' of Forget-Me-Nots, gatherings of Bluebells, Red Campion and Buttercups. I even discovered one tiny Wild Violet that was struggling towards the light through a clump of nettles.  Ah yes, the nettles return each year........little do they know that the strimmer is coming in for a clean up this weekend in preparation for much use!

Does anyone else have an invasion of Hairy Bittercress? I pull it out of the borders around the lawn every year and this year it's gone mad in the rest of the garden; particularly in the area beyond the vegetable garden.  Reading up on it, in Richard Mabey's 'Food For Free', I've discovered that you can actually eat the whole plant; I thought you could just eat the leaves.  According to the book it goes well with cream cheese (sorry Jane!).  It has beautiful, delicate flowers which can be appreciated either by getting on your hands and knees with a magnifying lens or, like me, using the super macro on your camera.  The seed pods protrude from within the flower and look as though the stem has pushed through and beyond the petals.  Even the slightest brush allows them to scatter their seeds on the wind......how helpful to us gardeners!

A small army of Hairy Bittercress; strim or salad?

Take a closer look; there's beauty in weeds

Have a wonderful Easter everyone and I hope you all have a great time outdoors (illnesses and weather permitting!).

Friends + Fresh Air = Fun!

I had a really enjoyable Saturday morning up at the care home as part of the dementia project.  With the garden redevelopment well under way I thought we'd get the residents and young people growing plants to go in it once it's finished.  There was quite a group of us; staff, residents, young people from the local school and one of the relatives, whose a gardener, ran the session and had us sowing seeds, pricking out and potting on.  Obviously tea, juice and biscuits were involved, and with the sun shining and a slight breeze we spent a great few hours outside as a group of friends, laughing, chatting and helping each other. You can't help but come away from those moments feeling positive and proud.

I came home and got stuck into transplanting my own small plants, from seed trays to small pots and then moving them out into the mini greenhouse.  Was I inspired by the morning session? I guess so!  I spend a lot of time in my garden by myself.  Not that I mind, I find it's a place where I can think whilst I'm busy with my hands and gardening is very good for the soul of course. But I think the time that we spend with friends outside are some of the best times we have.  Whether it's in each others gardens or a day out together these times are often creative, inspirational and fun. I look forward to having many more of these days during this project.

So, how are my plants doing?  Well, the second lot of cauliflowers are looking better than the first; only 3 survived from the first batch. I'm not sure what killed off the first ones, so as a precaution against slugs and snails I've battened down the sides of the little greenhouse with planks of wood underneath which I've buried the 'skirt' of the greenhouse and then packed the wood in tight with soil and straw. If anything crawls over the wood it's only going to come across the plastic barrier. In addition to that, I've also sprinkled some anti-slug granules around the edge of the greenhouse - see if that works.  That's the theory at least!

An almost full 'greenhouse' housing sweetcorn, broccoli, leeks,
cauliflower,tomatoes, a couple of sad-looking brussel sprout plants
and a tray of, what I believe are Asters

I took a wander up beyond the vegetable area to look at the apple trees this weekend.  The two Sunsets are in full bloom and look amazing. At least double the flowers on them this year than last, despite the fact that I left half a dozen on last year just to taste my first home-grown apples! Not so the Plympton Pippins.  One has a few flowers on it and the other has nothing at all.  Oh dear! what's going on there?  To add to my disappointment I've found some bark damage on the one that has a few flowers on it. Not sure what that is but I've put in a plea to my friend Dancin' Fool who also runs a blog called The Green Man and her partner Mr. Dancin' (my brother!) to identify what the problem is and what may have caused it.

A Sunset apple tree in full bloom; planted last year

Not such good news for one of my Plympton Pippins
 - what's been having a go at this?

No more has been done to the fence around the raised beds.  Sadly that's going to have to wait until next pay day before I can get any more wire mesh.  Fingers crossed it won't be too long before it's finished and I can get some seeds sown into the ground, as well as getting my greenhouse plants actually into the ground. I don't want to miss the growing season another year.

I'm going to end this post with some lovely pics of flowering plants that are growing well in the garden at the moment.  Always end of a good note!

The first bluebells appear

Dainty Bleeding Hearts

Lost the label for this one but I think it's an Eridium

Forget-me-nots are in abundance this year due to full-on strimming
of The Field last year!

Spring borders

Oh dear - disaster has struck my little cauliflower plants.  I transplanted them into small pots last week and all but 4 have withered!  They haven't been chewed; the tiny leaves have just wilted.  Did I transplant them too soon I wonder?  Where they still too young to be outside, even if they were under cover? I've no idea but it's something I'll have to notch up as a failure and hopefully learn from it. Thankfully I've got some more growing in a seed tray upstairs and I'll make sure I don't pot those up so quickly.  It's a real learning curve this veg growing business!

Aargh! the Cauliflower Catastrophe Conundrum

at least the second year rhubarb is doing well......

...and I've somehow managed to grow a cat too! (Felinus Relaxiflorum!)

Earlier this week I planted some of the marigold, broccoli (both the Early Purple and the Autumn), tomato, brussel sprout and sweetcorn seeds; along with more leek and cauliflower (thank goodness).  They're also up in the windowsill in the spare room and already starting to pop their tiny heads up in the trays. I'm growing these ones in seed compost; I used a normal multi-compost for the first leeks and cauliflowers......could that be another reason why the caulis didn't establish well in the pots?

No work on the productive garden this weekend.  A friend's 30th birthday party on Friday night put paid to doing too much on Saturday.  I did make it down to my first Seed Swap event, held in Lostwithiel (after a good breakfast and a couple of paracetamol!).  I took some seeds down to swap and came back with salad onion (Red Baron), Penstemon (Miniature Bells) and Chard (Mangold Witerbi) seeds.  Plus an edging tool for the lawn, a brilliant little hand scythe and some great 'cloches' made out of old street lamp covers...you know, the clear plastic covers that go over the light itself.  What a brilliant idea; and all for £5!  Great fun; I hope there's more of these events locally in the future.

AND, with all my concentration being on the productive areas of the garden,I've seriously neglected the borders around the lawn.  So today I spent the afternoon weeding them and redefining the edges - with my new edging tool of course. I got 3 out of the 4 done and I'll finish the rest over the week. Fingers crossed the good weather stays with us for a while longer.  Having said that, I had to top up the water butt today because we haven't had any rain in over a week and I've been watering the seeds, rhubarb and apple trees during this dry, warm weather we've been having.  It was only half full to begin with because it's not long been in the garden but I think I'm going to have to get another one because my garden isn't directly outside my house and it's, quite frankly, a pain in the butt (pardon the pun!) having to carry buckets of water up and down in the evenings.

Back to the borders. They're an eclectic mix of shrubs, bulbs and perennials.  I suppose all I've done over the past 4 years is fill them with anything I've seen around the garden centres that I like the look of, or plants that people have given me.  There's been no planting scheme in my thoughts at all. When I first created them I just wanted to plant for the sake of having something in them.  Aquilegias and Forget-Me-Nots began to grow soon after I'd dug the ground over and cleared most of the weeds. The first plants I put in were the cowslips (Primula Veris), a couple of Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra) and Siddalcea 'Elsie Heugh's then came the bulbs; Muscari (Grape Hyacinth), Alliums (Ornamental Onion), Chionodoxa (Glory-of-the-snow) dwarf crocuses and the odd bluebell bulb that I uncovered during my early days of frantic digging.

Grape Hyacinth & Cowslips sitting pretty side-by-side

Delicate blue flowers of the Chionodoxa

Next came the shrubs along the back of the borders; a Honeysuckle, Hairy Canary Clover (Lotus Hirutus), False Spirea (Sorbaria Sorbifolia), Pieris 'Forest Flame', Red Robin (Photinia), Choisya, a Flowering Current (Ribes Sanguineum), Exochorda x macrantha 'The Bride' and most recently a Hydrangea Petiolaris and an Escallonia Peach Blossom.

Exochorda planted last year

Aquilegia growing by the False Spirea - photo taken 2010

I hope to be able to add some Penstemons if I'm successful in growing them from seed.

In the meantime, I should think about planting between the bulbs to add some interest during the autumn/winter period, especially whilst I can see where the bulbs are growing! Perhaps some hostas or something taller like Echinaceas. Looks like I'm in for trawling the 'net' to find something suitable.

Finally, just a quick note about the plum wine.  Hmmm, semi-successful I think. There was so much sediment that after racking it 3 times I'm down to half a gallon!! Just enough for about 2-3 bottles I reckon. Ah well, let's look at it as being half full rather than half empty and start thinking about getting some carrot wine on the go. 

Deeds and seeds

Blimey, I'm exhausted! 4 hours out in the garden yesterday and another 4 today - what glorious spring weather we had over the weekend!  Doesn't it just make you feel like doing something outside? Whether it's working in the garden, like me, or going for a walk, or just sitting outside enjoying the warm sunshine - the sun makes us feel good; plus I certainly feel like I've had some exercise this weekend!

Sometimes I never know what I'm going to do in the garden until I actually stand in it. Yesterday I had the urge to finally erect the seed cloche/mini greenhouse.  It's been sitting in its box since I bought it last summer, waiting for me to decide where it should go.  With the everlasting rabbit problem, the best place for it is next to the raised beds inside the wire fencing. It was a good job I hadn't actually put the fence up yet; the area I'd marked out wasn't bit enough for the cloche to fit in.  As with every other structure in my garden, I had to dig a level area for it to go on. Oh the joy of having a garden on a slope!

Getting the ground ready for the cloch/mini greenhouse

I can't make my mind up about digging. I find it very therapeutic and in an odd way it relaxes me but - ouch! - it can be a back-breaking exercise sometimes.  Even with the 'bending knees and keeping the back straight' rule, after you've spent 4 hours digging increasing amounts of soil (my garden is on a slope) and trudging up and down the garden a few times with a wheelbarrow full of top soil, you start to make those noises which are a constant reminder that your'e not 20-something any more.  If they're not a big enough hint then the twinges at the base of your back certainly are!

Still, I got the job done in the end and the cloche dutifully erected. It's not quite finished; I need to go to the garden centre next pay day and get some gravel to go in as a 'floor' and to help with the drainage.  But I couldn't wait to start using it and promptly fetched my seed tray containing the cauliflower and leek plants and installed them inside.  Today, I re-potted the cauliflowers into small pots; they're big enough now to handle, but the leeks are still a bit too small and will stay in the seeds trays just a little longer. At the moment they're all sitting on straw which is not ideal I know, but it will help retain some of the heat inside at night for the time being.

Cloche installed and ready for use

Excited and revitalised by my new addition to the productive garden I went out this morning and bought more seeds:

• Beetroot 'Rhonda' F1 (a sweet tasting beet)
• Broccoli Early Purple Sprouting (easy to grow and hardy)
• Broccoli Green Calabrese (easy to grow, yields in autumn of same year
• Brussel sprout 'Nelson' F1 (produces high yield and has good resistance to being blown over)
• Carrot 'Flyaway' F1 (easy to grow and resistant to carrot fly)
• Chives (easy-grow seed mats, good for growing in pots on a windowsill or can be grown with carrots to keep the carrot fly away)
• Dwarf bean 'Ferrari' (produces high yield, freezes well and is resistant to Anthracnose Halo Blight and Mosaic virus)
• Lettuce 'Salad Bowl Red' & Green Mixed (good for beginners - like me!, loose-leaf, looks good in a border as well as a vegetable patch)
• Marigold 'Boy-O-Boy Mixed' (French, easy to grow, dwarf plant, a good companion plant to tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli and squash but not beans)
• Parsnip 'Countess' F1 (heavy cropper, resistant to canker)
• Pea 'Hurst Green Shaft' (produces high yield, highly disease resistant, also good for freezing)
• Perpetual Spinach (not Spinach but a leaf beet; a 'cut and come again' plant that tastes like Spinach but doesn't bolt; winter hardy)
• Sweetcorn 'Incredible' F1 (produces very sweet large cobs, resistant to rust, freezes well)
• Tomato 'Sweet Million' F1 (cherry tomato, grows well in a greenhouse or on a sunny patio, disease resistant)

By the way, in case you're wondering.......I got all the information about each plant either from the back of the seed packet or the internet.  Remember, I'm just a beginner at all this which is why I've selected many that are easy-to-grow and are disease resistant. I'm not brave enough yet to try the more difficult varieties.

So next week I'll be busy in the evenings sowing Chives, Dwarf Beans, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Sweetcorn, Tomato and Marigold seeds and filling up my back bedroom with the seed trays.  The rest I'll sow outside as soon as the fence is finished around the raised beds.

Talking of which, that was a job I started today.  I got the first 6 metres of the wire mesh fence up along the back of the beds. As usual, I was joined by the rest of the Tywardreath Highway Gardening Team; no sooner do I pick up a tool I hear that familiar sound "Can we help?".  It's not child-labour, honestly, they love helping! So they held the wire whilst I hammered in the staples. It looks very rough at the moment, I need to add another couple of stakes along the back and screw the posts to the garden fence and the raised beds to make them slightly more solid, but it's a start. When it's all up then I'll clip the top off and use it as a skirt around the bottom, buried under the soil. I know what you're thinking "Why didn't you bury the wire whilst you went along?"  Well, to be honest, I just wanted to get the fence started and when the girls asked if they could help it was easier to get them involved this way; the digging would have been too hard and I can do that myself later.  It least once it's done it should act as a deterrent against those damn 'wabbits'!

Starting to look like a proper growing area

Not exactly the Great Wall of China but it'll do the job

Fencing friends

Not the duelling type who charge at you wielding an epee in their hands; but the sort that  lower your garden fence so that finally, after 4 years, you can see right to the top of your garden. It's always bothered me that it's separated the garden so I asked my next door neighbour if he could cut it half way down.

Saturday provided good weather and after my neighbour set to with the jigsaw it wasn't long before I had a stack of sawn planks and a view up the field I haven't seen since before I moved in.  Once the fence posts have been cut down I can make a gate for the fence around the vegetable garden and use the cross bars as top rails for the fence. I'm also considering making an outdoor table from some of the leftover wood, and the rest will come in handy for something I'm sure.

Now you don't see it.......

.....now you do see it!

The veg plot feels enclosed and separated

Now it feels open and has views down as well as up the garden

I wanted to keep a small fence so that I can grow a few climbing plants along that border and still retain some sense of 'formal' and 'productive'.  They'll have to be plants that like partial shade as this border faces north-west and doesn't get any sun until late afternoon; even less in the winter time.  Perhaps an evergreen clematis and a jasmine? Hmmmm, further investigation is required I think.

So it doesn't feel right to call it The Field anymore. the garden not only looks but feels different, you can see the true expanse of it now.  Of course, it also means that I can see everything that needs doing every time I walk up there but that's not a bad thing.  It's been too easy sometimes to sit on the patio and not open the door to the 'Productive Area Formally Known As The Field', to ignore thoughts of strimming brambles, clearing piles of cut branches, moving heaps of soil and checking to see if the rabbits have tried to dig into the old warren. Now there's no avoiding it!

In the meantime, I've laid more straw around the veg patch as the weeds are starting to grow through last year's layer, and cleared the area underneath the Box that the 'THGT' (that's Tywardreath Highway Gardening Team for any new readers) cut back last year; making room for a bench this year. No doubt I'll be trawling the garden centres, DIY shops and online to find a lovely seat for this space...........then again, maybe I could make one.

On a plant-related note, my rhubarb is coming back lovely this year. As soon as I saw it popping through the mulch I placed a plant pot over it and over the last week or so it's really begun to shoot up.  The problem is we're in for some frosty nights this week so the plant pot has promptly gone back on for the time being!  This will be it's second year so I should be able to make some lovely rhubarb crumble later in the year and perhaps some rhubarb wine.......the possibilities are endless.