Seasons Greetings from Sunnyside

The fruits of our harvest

We've been blessed with a bountiful harvest this year.  All this and endless runner beans, peas, spinach, kale, chard, courgettes and a little brocolli, plus parsnips, leeks, cabbage and purple sprouting still to come.  These carrots were photographed in July, they are now around twice the size.  The water supply to the allotment has paid dividends!

Pruning roses

Pruning roses is a first for me.  I think I need to be a bit more ruthless as there are still some crossing branches, but it's a bit like having a drastic hair cut - a bit difficult to pluck up the courage to have it all chopped in one go. 

More of the garden in summer

The borders have been neatly edged ready for planting the mountain of bulbs I have ordered.  It's early days for these plants, but this is a huge departure from this, taken two years ago.

Midsummer at Sunnyside

The beds around the outside loo have been jam packed full of plants grown from seed in the greenhouse and some donated from neighbours. It's a long way from the vision in terms of the colours and plants I have in mind for this patch, but it's been wonderful to have flowers blooming in the garden at last. A joyous feeling.

Blooming at last

It's July and the garden is blooming. We have sweet peas coming out of our ears, and the new flower beds are gracing us with a splash of colour.

Clearing the way for the shed

After just one morning let loose in our garden, Gilbert had made huge progress in preparing the way for the shed. The timetable is a little tight as the builder is coming in just a few weeks to start the foundations, and we need to empty and demolish our outbuilding in super fast time.

Roses

The garden is beginning to bloom. Louise Odier is smothered in blooms which have the most exquisite "old rose" perfume. I have no idea what this other rose is called, but it is growing wild in the back hedge on the side facing the field, being enjoyed only by the rabbits, so I have brought some indoors for us to enjoy.

All ready for roses

What a scorcher of a day today, Good Friday. The ground is gasping for a splash of rain. Whilst the kids played in the paddling pool (yes, in April), I finished the edging around the pergola, ready to plant my sweet peas and the roses that I grew from cuttings taken from Mum and Dad's garden. A job for tomorrow.

The fruit cage

I have been promising to post a photograph of this for some time, as it is weeks since Mab finished his masterpiece. My job for the weekend is to weed the bed and uncover some fruit plants which have fed nobody but the birds these past two years.

Dung and bark

We now have a steaming pile of cow dung and a beautifully composted pile of bark chippings thanks to the Fosters and Bastables, and Mab for collecting them and expertly manoeuvring the tractor through a hole cut in the fence at the end of our garden. This should see our garden right for a couple of years.

Potting

My greenhouse is full of pots! We have chard, squash, courgettes, broccoli, purple sprouting, beans, kale, lupins, aquilegias, sweet peas, and a few trays ready and waiting for the black hollyhocks, larkspur, scabious, knautica, euphorbia, godetia and anchusa which have been ordered from Sarah Raven's online shop.

Pergola

Mab finished the pergola today, and what a fantastic job he has done! It looks positively majestic. I'm looking forward to seeing it smothered in climbing roses, but will have to wait until next year, as it's too late to order bare root roses. It will earn it's keep this summer by propping up my sweet peas.

New Dawn













Sunnyside's first two roses have been planted: New Dawn (left), a rampant rambler to scramble up the side of the outside loo, and Louise Odier (right) a fragrant 'old' shrub or climber, recommended by Sarah Raven as a good rose for cutting.

First garden day of the year

Spring is truly here. The snowdrops have finished, the helebores and snowflakes (leucojum vernum) are out and the daffs are beginning to open. Mark and I both had the day off in the garden and things are now really taking shape. Last year's gardening efforts involved digging a big hole and refilling it. Now that particularly tedious job is finished, I feel that this year's gardening experience will be much more enjoyable. Another milestone was reached as I planted Sunnyside's first climbing rose, New Dawn, against the wall of the outside loo. Marks efforts these past few days have been even more monumental. The fruitcage is finished (picture to follow) and the pergola begins to take shape, adding instant structure to the garden.