Writers cramp! ©
  • JOHN AND MARGARET'S FRONT PAGE~~
  • Copyrights Explained
  • Blog~~Scribblings~Scrawlings and Scratchings
  • Words ~ Words ~ More Scribbles
  • Gardening Blog
  • General Blog
  • John's Poetry ~2013
  • Friday Flasher
  • Inspiration Monday
  • Poem-a-day November 2016
  • 750 WORDS Section Two
  • Untitled
This above all; to thine own self be true. 
William Shakespeare

There is peace of mind in a garden

The calmness and satisfaction gained from Natural  Growth

28th May 2013 ~~ the Allotment and The Magnificent Tree peony~~

29/5/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
I could not resist just posting a few more pictures of our magnificent Tree Peony here as the life span of these beautiful blooms is so very short and ephemeral, they will not be seen again for a whole year. The rest of our garden at home is still growing apace and very soon I will be removing the tired but still pretty Forget-Me-Nots in favour of making room for the other bedding plants that will need the food and space. Of course the Forget-Me-Nots always prolifically self seed and they will be back next year~~

Picture
The allotment is growing very well and the seeds have come on splendidly. We have actually enjoyed a couple of very nice salads using some of our lettuce leaves and some nice fresh radishes. The asparagus is not as prolific as I would like but we have had a few spears and we mingled some into our salad bowl sliced and they were beautifully tender and very tasty.
 Margaret made a lovely Rhubarb crumble with some of our home grown Rhubarb, that was so delicious we shared some with our next door neighbour, Tony.
 I planted some Butternut squash plants that were a present from my friend Darren as he had a surplus, Margaret intends to try making some home made soup with these when they are ready.
 All of the potato plants have pushed their way through the soil and I think we can look forward to a very good crop of spuds this year.
 The rest is just weeding and more weeding as the pesky weeds are as prolific as ever and they just keep arriving in force.
 The seed bed is looking brilliant as the following photographs show~~ Good growing~~

0 Comments

23rd May one week later

23/5/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
 I am not able to get on here to blog as much as I would like to, I do not believe it has been a week already. The garden is looking very colourful,  the flowers seem to be catching up fast, in spite of the inclement weather we have been experiencing here in Norfolk, we seem to be about a month behind with the weather, we are getting April showers and March winds in May. Floral development and the cycle of life continues apace, our beautiful Tree Peony has come back into full bloom and we have pretty pink Clematis flowers climbing on the back fence. There are Forget-me-nots all over the borders and we have Wallflowers, Irises Primulas and Daisies intermingling.
I have re-pointed and filled in all the cracks between the stones on our patio, I bought a labour saving bag of ready mixed patio grout from Homebase and I am very pleased with the results.

Picture
Our magnificent Tree Peony Flowers.
PictureDigging in the goodness~
The allotment is now keeping me very busy in the early mornings, late Spring is the peak time for making sure all the small plants and seedlings get bedded in. My second early potatoes are doing very well and looking very healthy. The first early bed of potatoes is very patchy, some of the plants are very advanced while some are not showing through the topsoil at all. 
  I planted some Celeriac plants and I am now busy preparing the beds for the Brassica plants. I have Cabbages, Sprouts, Kale, Sprouting Broccolli  and Calabrese Broccolli all growing from seed and I intend to fill two beds.
 I will have to net my strawberry plants, to protect the fruit from the attentions of my my avian friends, there is a particular blackbird who is obviously raising young in the area somewhere,  always pecking around as I work.

Picture
Sunrise on the allotments
0 Comments

A friendly robin in the garden and allotment progress 16th May 2013

16/5/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
I spent a couple of hours in the garden today pulling weeds and generally tidying up. I was delighted to be accompanied by my little friend pictured on the left here. Meet our resident robin, he was following me as I pulled the weeds and flying off with any visible insect life, obviously to feed his family in a nest somewhere. 

The allotment is making very good progress~~I spread some manure on one of the beds and sowed my courgette seeds~~ Margaret loves cooking with these~
0 Comments

Friday 10th and Saturday 11th may 2013

12/5/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
The allotment is looking a lot more productive now, The seedlings are growing very well and I will soon be potting some on ready for transplanting into the beds. 
The winds here are coastal and very strong, I have watched some clouds of dust swirling around the allotments. This is obviously topsoil blowing in the wind, some people spend hours patiently removing all the stones from their allotments. Sadly the stones actually hold the soil in place, there is a good reason for most things in gardening.  I have erected my three bamboo wigwams for my Runner beans and climbing French beans to climb, I will plant some seeds directly into the soil and back them up with the seeds I have growing in pots.
My strawberry plants are nicely covered in the pretty white flowers that will eventually become juicy fruit. I always say the strawberry fruit always times its arrival with the start of the Wimbledon tennis tournament.

0 Comments

9th May 2013 One week later

9/5/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
We were away for a week to celebrate Margaret's birthday. It has been so very dry here  the plants are very far behind both on the allotment and in the garden at home. I am sure everything will catch up soon.
 The back garden is very advanced and is becoming full of beautiful colours, with the Tulip bulbs springing into life all over. We have some beautiful yellow wallflowers or stocks in full bloom and the forget-me-nots are everywhere as usual. Our Camelia bush is still in flower and there are small pansy plants everywhere. I watered all the pots as soon as we got back from our short break and everything has survived without very much liquid, It never ceases to amaze me how tolerant and hardy garden flower plants are, they look very pretty and fragile with their soft petals, but they are survivors.

Picture
The allotment is still making very good progress, I have my first showing of asparagus spears, These are a white variety that I planted last year, so I will not be cutting these spears at all this year. I will have to stake them up to protect them from the harsh winds we get here in Norfolk. My first early potatoes are just beginning to show through the topsoil and I will have to earth these up to protect the leaves from any late frost. I managed to plant the third bed of main crop potatoes this week, I will be planting just a few more "pink fir apple" salad potatoes when time permits. I also sowed some runner beans and climbing french beans in pots to use as a back-up to the seeds I intend to sow directly into the ground. I was very pleased to note my leek seeds are pushing through, and growing well in the pots, I started them in on the allotment.
0 Comments

    Author

    John~~Battling with the elements, pests and diseases in my struggle to keep the garden growing. A constant  daily struggle that will be recorded here.

    Picture
    Gardening is such a delightful pastime. I spend time on my allotment almost every day of my life, and the sensation of pure satisfaction never ceases to amaze me. I get so much out of this pleasure, I think the benefits are so huge that the government should legislate and make it more available to everyone. I will list just some of the obvious reasons here. ~~
    1) Fresh fruit and vegetables and other produce. 
    2) Fresh air and an intense feeling of getting close to Nature. 
    3) Healthy exercise without the necessity of machines that are found inside a gym. 
    4) The satisfaction obtained by growing plants and watching and caring for them through to maturity. 
    5) A regular occupation that you can make into a routine, somewhere to go to at a certain time every day. 
    6) The companionship of like-minded people, with whom you can get ideas and swap tips on your mutual interests.


    Archives

    March 2016
    February 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.