Sunday, January 30

green-fingered



In the last few months I've developed a bit of an interest in gardening - inspired by a few people, including, of course, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his River Cottage garden!
One day I'd love to have my own beautiful garden, complete with a vegetable patch, lush lawn, red brick walls and huge slightly wild flowers. Until then I've contented myself with a small vegetable patch in our small suburban garden. Like Hugh, I always want to be as self-sufficient as I can.
Back in the autumn I pulled up a giant ghastly red hot poker plant and an oversized rosemary bush to make way for a raised bed, which my dad had built out of old scraps of wood. I prepared the ground by adding extra soil and fertiliser. Then there was nothing else to do but wait until spring (and pilfer my mum's gardening handbook for a bit of light bedtime reading).
Yesterday I went outside to investigate the effects of winter on my vegetable patch so far. With spring only a couple of months around the corner, I need to start planning what fruit & veg yums to plant..

 
 

A lot of weeding definitely needs to be done...
What fruit and veg do you think I should grow? I'm currently thinking courgettes and tomatoes...what else?
I will probably keep documenting the progress of my vegetable patch on this blog, so you can watch it change through the seasons and see how much of a success (or failure) the crop turns out to be.

There was also a small sign that spring is on the way...


Today the weather was sunny and gorgeous, adding to that spring feeling. Sunny days feel so rare in winter, so of course I just had to take my camera for a walk this afternoon. I wore my mum's red gilet (a bargain thrift from charity shopping earlier in the week!)


 

6 comments:

  1. I love your photos, especially mr robin - well done for catching him!
    My garden consists of lots of pots on my balcony so I am jealous of your vegetable patch! When we get moved into our new house I will be digging myself a little patch, can't wait!
    Last year I had lots of success with tomatoes, which are really easy to grow, strawberries and peppers are quite easy too and you can buy the kits from homebase to get you started. Carrots are good too, we grew some yummy baby carrots from seeds in our pots that turned out well.
    Plus any herbs like basil are easy enough to grow from seeds. Gardenate is a really good site as it helps you plan what you can grow through out the year: http://www.gardenate.com/.
    xxx

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  2. I WISH I had a garden to turn into a little vegetable patch, I have to make do with an indoor mini herb garden and a few flower pots outside, definitely no room for veggies unfortunately. So jealous! My dad grows potatoes and just planting a small amount seems to produce enough for potato salad all summer. I think tomatoes are meant to be almost impossible to grow unless they're in a greenhouse/conservatory because of some bugs that just munch through them...although it imght be strawberries I heard that about?!

    Sorry for the rambling, looking forward to seeing what you decide to grow!xx

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  3. You're so lucky - I'd love a vegetable patch! I think my dad might murder me if I started digging up his garden though

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  4. Your blog is so simple and beautiful! I love it! You take very pretty pictures! Cant wait to see more!

    Shy

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  5. it is THE most satisfying thing ever when you see something grow, knowing that you planted it :)

    xx

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  6. oh my goodness; that plump little bird is my new favorite thing. i absolutely adore birds. <3

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