Every girl's dream

Or maybe it's just me.
I have moved to a new home and this is what I have inherited...

Yes that is a large pile of manure!

I've hardly had a minute recently. Time has been taken cleaning and packing and then cleaning and unpacking so I have had no time for blogging. Then I had to go back to work after a week off so had even less free time. It is really getting in the way of things I want to do.


I have inherited some garden which is very well looked after and very fertile. The previous owners had two ponies so added copious amounts of manure. The soil in the cultivated beds is very good and there are some lovely plants.

This is the star at the moment. A philadelphus with a beautiful perfume. One of my favourites since childhood.
I also have a large area waiting to be transformed into vegetable and flower beds. There should be enough room to grow pretty much everything I fancy. This area is clayish soil which is typical of the conditions around here. It is probably quite compacted but I hope quite fertile, given that ponies have been on it! I have dug some of it and it was manageable.

So at the moment I am collecting vegetable peelings and grass clippings in one of these large bays. 

I'm planning to layer some of the unrotted manure on top of this waste as I have such a lot.
There are five bays. One is very well rotted manure which I am digging out to use and the others look quite un-rotted on the surface but it's difficult to tell what is underneath. Building new compost heaps is quite far down the list of things which need to be done, given that I'm still falling over a suitcase with half my clothes in, as the wardrobe isn't big enough. Some rather nice nettles are growing in the top which indicate fertility.

I've been digging out here as you can see. I am creating new beds and adding manure as I go. More of that later. I am slightly concerned that is is going to collapse on top of me so I think I need to did out the one at the side too.
So after develping a good system of composting which worked for me in our last garden, I am starting again. Working with what is here to start with, we'll see what happens. 
I hope to be back with some progress about the new beds soon. All I need is some spare time.

There are always pests

I haven't given up gardening or composting, despite the lack of posts.
The truth is we have been trying to move and my focus has not been on my garden. We thought we would be moving in March but that didn't happen. Things are still up in the air but we are hopeful. 
March would have been perfect from a gardening point of view. A good time to start sowing in the new place. I did a little gardening the the early part of the year but not sowing and have found it difficult to plan.
As soon as I knew the move was off, I sowed a few things here. I wasn't sure if we would be staying here for the summer and couldn't bear the thought of not having any luscious tomatoes growing. 
Normally at this time of year, every flat surface would be covered in pots and tray of seedlings. Probably going a bit leggy as I started them off too soon.
The reason for the move is to have a larger garden (greedy, I know) and to be rather more rural. I am so looking forward to making a new garden but have to keep plans in check until I know we are going. 
I have a fantastic crop of dandelions. I've been out deadheading regularly but there seem to be bigger and better ones every day. Prize specimens. 

They are lovely, really. I wonder if someone discovered them now in South Africa if we would all queue up to buy them. 

I have some Echeverias in pots. I keep them in the greenhouse over winter and then bring them out in the spring. The don't like to get too wet. 
They didn't look to happy so I thought I would re-pot them but when I tipped out the soil I found these delightful creatures. 

No wonder the plants were unhappy. These are Vine Weevil grubs and they eat the roots of plants in pots. 

This one has no roots left. Luckily they root very easily so I put in new soil, cleaned them up and tucked most of them back in. Hopefully they will perk up now. I left the grubs out for the birds.

I did sow a few broad beans but they have been nibbled too.

This is damage by pea and bean thrips. They nibble round the leaves and make them look messy but don't really damage the plants. Later they get chocolate spot and black fly!
On to jollier things:

 This is a strawberry plant flowering. 

 Bluebells and ferns.

Gorgeous plant I can't remember the name of. Such a cheerful flower. 
Even though I hope to be moving, I am still composting. I put in all the kitchen waste and grass clippings but confess I have not done any hard work such as digging out. I'm leaving that for now.

Winter flowers

I made a good decision today. Tuesday, being my 'day off', often runs away with me and I find I've spent the day cleaning and shopping with no time for anything fun.
First thing this morning the sky was blue with not one cloud. So instead of getting out the rubber gloves and vacuum cleaner, I went straight outside. I had about an hour before the clouds started to gather and then we had torrential rain and hail interspersed with sunshine.
I filled up two bags with soggy dead plants and things which were in dire need of being cut down.
As well as that I managed some photos of hellebores before the rain started. I love these. They are so welcome at this time of year. Are they a bit early this year? I'm not sure.
The flowers are so beautiful but you have to get down to see them and lift them up. 

I particulary like the dark ones ( and the light ones). The pale ones don't seem to be so far on and I did have some white ones but the plants have completely disappeard.

This one still has creases in the petals.

When you lift them up you also find the slugs which love to eat them.

 Also just coming into flower is this Daphne odora. It is not a very special looking plant. The leaves often look a bit ropey by the time the flowers come out.

But the scent of the flowers is equisite. This one is just opening. If you don't have this plant, I can't recommend it enough. One tiny sprig of flowers scents a whole room.

 This is a very bad picture of a Sarcococca. It is another evergreen shrub which flowers in winter and has scented flowers. Below you can see the shiny black berries.

PS. I ate my first pick of Purple sprouting broccoli today. It is amazing to be able to harvest something from the soggy bedraggled garden.

A little winter sunshine

I finally made it out into the garden. Christmas preparations and vile weather meant that I have not done much in the way of Winter clearing. 
Today it is bright and chilly but not bitter. Yesterday was beautifully frosty which even made all the dead leaves pretty. 
Even though it is the bleakest time of year, well almost, there are always things to find. And not always what you expect in December:

As you can see most of the leaves are still lying around. 

This is my 'woodland area'. One tree and some ferns. It is very shaded in the summer. There is a strawberry flower right at the front.

 
These are from the Magnolia tree and they do rot down very quickly in spite of being so thick and leathery. Even after a few months I found some lovely skeletons:

 

 So I collect all these in bags and leave them to rot down for leaf mould. I leave them for a year and then empty out last year's in the spring. I try and spread it around on bare ground as I weed and tidy early in the year, or later... depending on the weather. They don't add much in the way of nutrition but they do add bulk and humus.
Here are some other things:

A bit early, I think.

Hellebore buds - one of my favourite flowers.

Purple sprouting, it really is very tiny but welcome all the same.

It seems I don't empty my rain gauge very often. Now frozen solid.

I didn't really stay out very long, I'm not a martyr. Just long enough to collect some bags of leaves and for my feet to be frozen solid. Then coffee in the warm is very welcome and feels well deserved after all the lazy days and too much good food.

Misty Autumn day

We've finally had a proper frost and that means the end of any tender plants left outside. 
I still have a few Nasturtiums and they are abundant in leaf but very few flowers. I have pulled some of them up but the rest will have turned to slime now. Also the Dahlia foliage is blackened so the tubers can be dug up and stored somewhere dry and cool. 
I have a few tender plants in pots and have already taken them into the greenhouse. Now cleared of all tomato and cucumber plants. This week I have eaten the last of the tomatoes. When I cut the plants down I brought in anything likely to ripen. Sadly all gone now. 
A couple of weeks ago I was out on a misty, grey day:

Spider web on an everlasting pea.

Grasses are fabulous in Autumn.

Everything is still beautiful. Well, maybe not everything. There are plenty of dead slimy plants which should be tidied up. I leave many things for structure but it can look very messy if you don't tidy up at all. I leave the teasels as long as possible but if they fall over a path or get broken they have to come out. 
I'll potter about in short bursts outside over the next few months and tidy up a bit at a time. Sometimes I have to force myself to go out but it's good to get out and earn that cup of tea back in the warm.

Seeds

I'm not quite putting together a seed order yet, though I did get my first catalogue in the post this week.
I'm celebrating the wonder of seeds.

This is one of the most familiar seed dispenser. Very effective at shaking seeds everywhere. 

This is Geranium nodosum. You have to be quick to catch these seeds. Those little cups at the top start at the bottom and ping up when ripe, throwing out the seeds. If you are lucky you can catch one still sitting in the cup.

Nicandra

Mallow

 

Lunaria before ripening

Salsify makes the perfect globe seed head.

Some we can eat

Just look at how these unravel. I can't help pulling them apart in wonder. It's a weed, in case you were wondering.

Clematis before turning into a fluffy seed head. 

To me seeds are the most amazing things. These are just a few that I have managed to capture. All that potential wrapped up in a tiny package and dispensed in so many different ways. Nature is so effective at her job. 
Actually I think I will go and get out those seed catalogues...