Busy busy busy…

Despite best intentions, a couple of weeks have gone by without my finding time, or energy left (!) for my blog, which is a pity because I have done SO much work in the garden.  Every spare moment I have been planting out, weeding, hoeing, tying in and potting on…

As is often the case, whilst lying in bed I have written vivid accounts in my head of what we have been working on in and what we have been harvesting from the garden, but it has never made it to the computer (or Mac in this case)…

The hot weather we have had recently gave me confidence that hopefully the frosts are over now (fingers crossed) and last week I planted up half of the Dahlias, Cannas, and some half hardy annuals in the flower garden, and my squashes, courgettes and french beans in the vegetable garden.

Everything is so dry though, some of the beds are like dust.  The waterbutts have been dry for a a while now, and we haven’t had any rain for a couple of weeks.  

I think both gardens are looking really good though despite the lack of water, and last week we ate artichokes, asparagus and bucketfuls of spinach, sorrel, kale, lettuce and chard. These are definitely value for money, we have been eating them since early spring and are something we will be growing these again next year.  Maximum productivity/cost for minimum effort, and taste fantastic.  It helps having Sarah Ravens cookbook too, she has lots of recipes for nearly everything we grow, our favourite kale one at the moment is Kale and Mushroom Curry, which is delicious.

Above: French beans (gold and green).

 

A audience with…

I was told, not so long ago, that for ’she who must be obeyed’ (SWMBO)’s birthday I would be treating her to a ’surprise’ weekend away…I was also provided with the precise details as to what the ’surprise’ would entail. I soon realised that what might have been mistaken for a romantic weekend away was, in fact, more of a pilgrimage. Sarah Raven was having an open weekend at her garden at Perch Hill…we would also be visiting somewhere called Great Dixter, the home of (SWMBO informs me) a late Cristopher Lloyd or ‘Christo’ to his friends (more on that later). Now, I knew there was a danger that being subjected to repeats of Gardeners World that I would, even if only by osmosis, take in some horticultural knowledge…something I have long resisted out of principle. However, the entire weekend was to prove something of a revalation…SWMBO had provded me with details of a B&B close to both sites which turned out to be extremely pleasant, but populated by other SR devotees. Great Dixter was one of the best gardens I have ever been dragged round. The ladies who conducted the house tours were both interesting and informative, they even let small children climb on the furniture…a certain hanging offense in a NT property…it was all so, well, casual. We were informed in the parlour, where the music was played, that Mr Lloyd was also a concert standard pianist…the air was suddenly full of comments such as ‘oh, what it must be like to be blessed with two gifts etc etc. Now, never having met the chap, I am sure he was a lovely bloke but really, come on, he didn’t exactly inhabit the normal world of being pre-occupied by the need to earn a living, for example, or 

What a weekend!

For a belated birthday treat (me) we went for a weekend away, to visit Great Dixter and then Sarah Raven’s garden at Perch Hill, with a nice bit of dinner in between. Both gardens were FANTASTIC (see photos below). The weather was amazing both days, lovely sunshine and about 20 degrees.  

The planting combinations and colours that Christopher Lloyd used in his garden were stunning, and totally inspirational. Probably the best garden I have ever visited. Around every corner was something totally brilliant and beautiful.  (I took 140 photographs!).  As we had gone without the children, I was able to really look around properly and take my time, a rare treat!

And of course Sarah Raven’s garden was brilliant and vibrant as ever.

 This is the garden that I am trying to achieve at home, one that produces vegetables and flowers all year round for harvesting and cutting. I have read all of SR’s books, and have visited the garden twice before (last June and August), so it was great to see it at the beginning of the growing season and see the tulips and spring planting, and also get some tips on what I should be doing in my garden now by way of preparation, staking, planting etc.  

1. I must stake my broad beans (did this when I came back – tick)

2. Put out my hardy annuals that are growing too big in the greenhouse (calendulas, poppies, chard, the list is too long to mention) and also perennials.. eryngium, globe artichokes.. 

3. SR let her Kale flower, it looked quite pretty with all the yellow flowers, so I think instead of ripping mine out as usual as soon as it flowers I will leave it in a bit longer. I don’t need the space in that bit of the veg patch just yet..

4. I’m going to steal some of her tulip planting combinations for next year.. (I took over 200 photographs of her various gardens!).

Came away with lots of ideas and inspiration, and also lots of plants – despite husband warning me not to buy any more because they wouldn’t fit in the car when we had to pick up the children from their grandparents on the way home – I managed!  There was NO WAY I was leaving without them.