Perry and gardening

Wasn't the weekend that just passed, beautiful?! The first truly Springy one! So as we promised ourselves, we cracked open the first bottle of our perry! And... it was delicious!! Well worth the wait! Nice and dry and flat with a lovely taste of the pears. We enjoyed it outside in the sunshine after the first phase of planting in the Hastings garden!

Cheers!

Further bean progress and garden

Hello again! Cor, I've been slacking on the blogging front for an age! Tsk tsk. I have, since my last post, started a new job, and by golly what little time a 5 day working week leaves you! However since then, the garden has sprung into bloom! In just over a month, the beans have really shot up and the garden is alive with bees, berries and herbs...

Further bean progress...

Bean progress...

The bean patch...

At the weekend we prepared the patch in the garden for to grow the beans in. It started off as a messy, forgotten about corner... So we cut back the surrounding bushes and pulled out the weeds... Dug in and turned and loosened the soil... Created a boundary from old bricks... Filled the bed with new compost... Fixed some garden string for the beans to grow up... All ready for the beans to go in!


I have to admit, we got a little impatient and bought one (ready for planting out) bean from the local Farmer's Market and popped him in, so he's just waiting for the others to join!


But here's how the beans from seed are coming along in their pots! They've literally just pushed up through the soil over night! Just a little way to go yet before they're ready for planting out! Exciting!

Sowing beans...

This afternoon I sowed my runner beans! The last time I grew beans was when I was a kid at school! Tsk tsk, so hopefully my first attempt since will be a success! Once they've grown big enough in their pots, I'll transfer them out into the garden and train them to grow up the trellis! I shall be documenting their progress...

Harvest

This week I have reaping the awards of my hard work (sort of), loving care and attention. Fresh mixed salad leaves...

These amazing tomatoes, of the heritage, Tiger variety, so named because of their stripes!
And soon, this tasty looking baby...

These toms are still green, they should hopefully ripen soon, if not they can be used to make green fried tomatoes, a tasty dish from the southern states of the US introduced to me by a certain intrepid explorer.

Turn End

Last Saturday, seeing as it was a topper, I decided to get out of London and into the countryside, so I took myself along to the little village of Haddenham in Buckinghamshire. Where there are...

This beautiful, picturesque little hamlet was one of the film locations of the late 90's ITV drama series, Midsomer Murders, which I have to say, was a favourite of mine (mainly for the lovely settings and village greens), when I was younger, although having watched it again since, it's really quite dreadful! Anyway, the main reason for coming here (honest!) was to visit the gardens of the Turn End houses.

The Turn End houses are a group of three, beautifully designed by architect Peter Aldington in the 1960s. Peter still lives in the main house with his family, but he will kindly open his home to the public occasionally by special arrangement. The gardens surrounding Turn End are open to the public on selected days during the year, by entrance of a small commission, under the National Garden Scheme, to raise funds for The Turn End Charity, securing the future of both the house and gardens for generations to come.
The walled gardens, which sit perfectly around the houses, are a wonderfully peaceful oasis between two lanes, with large borders of wild flowers, scented roses, separated garden spaces, a fountain and pool, a miniature box tree maze, a giant redwood! It was so relaxing to stroll around the gardens, which is full of birds, exploring all corners.

I decided this weekend was a particularly good time to visit as it was also the last for the Bucks Open Studio Weekend, an event which takes place all over the county of Bucks during the last two weeks of June each year when artists and craftsmen and women open the doors to their homes, studios and galleries to the public and so too did the Artist in residence at the Turn End studio, the Book Artist, Heather Hunter.

Heather's books are very inspiring, and I particularly like her folded page books made from old reference books of butterflies. Heather has also been experimenting with a large press in which she prints on to paper using lace and leaves.

Whilst I was there, I also ventured into the historic town of Aylesbury to visit an old 13th Century Inn and enjoyed some delicious ales. More on that to come...

My garden

Ever since I was little, I've loved Foxgloves and Hollyhocks, but could never grow any of my own because we didn't have a garden. Now that I'm lucky enough to live in a house that does, I have a one!!!
I sprinkled some wildflower seeds in the beds last year and this year they're still sprouting on up and this is what became...!

So here she is, my beloved Foxglove.

Horticulture Saturday

(I think) I've managed to bribe my dear green fingered friend into helping me with my little horticulture mission this weekend in return of the promise of feeding and clothing her for the day.

I have a small back garden which has become a little neglected since last summer and so this weekend we're going to get outside, trowels in one hand, ciders in the other and get to work on it (despite the forecasted freezing rain)!

The highlights of our horticulture day are weeding, turning the soil and laying a new, fresh top layer ready to scatter some ornamental flower seeds and sowing some crops.

The flowers of choice are a wild flower seed mix, found in my favourite store on the corner, the 99p Store. I actually sowed some last year and now have a corner patch in the garden which is full of beautiful colourful wonders, and a hollyhock too!! I'd now like to get the rest of the beds looking the same, leaving one corner free for a Ceanothus, (a large hardy bush with beautiful vivid blue/purple flowers) a cutting which my mum is kindly giving me from hers.

I'm also going to be making the most of my patio and window sill pots and tubs for growing some crops. I've actually left it a little later this year, than last, to start growing my veg for the coming months, but I think I still have time to get some tomatoes, lettuces, herbs, beetroots and (baby) carrots in. I've also got a grow bag for potatoes left over from last year so I think I'll give that a go too.

Oh, just got the word in from my fellow gardener, that she's on for the weekend but it's to be cocktails whilst gardening, even better!! - hmmm, yes, we'll have to see how far we get with that hard work!

Wish us luck!

Photos to come......