Tuesday 29 November 2011

Next year?

It's likely that next year I will live in a house without a garden OR a balcony. Yes, really! I will be reading all of your gardening blogs next summer and feeling very jealous. I will do what I can on a windowsill, but I doubt it will be very much. I will have a garden one day though, so here is my dream garden/vegetable patch for whenever we get a house and garden of our own.

Raspberries - I LOVE raspberries, I would like to have a whole row of raspberry canes so that I can grow more raspberries than I know what to do with.

Peas and beans - these were really easy to grow so I definitely want to grow them again. I'd like to make a pretty structure out of canes for them to grow on. And at ground level I should finally get some bees!

Sweetpea - I was very jealous of other bloggers this year who had a supply of sweetpea flowers to bring into their houses. I'd like to dot sweetpeas among my vegetables.

Lettuce - I would like to have a patch for lettuce where I can plant all my favourite varieties (I like delicate leaves and I really want to try some rainbow chard) and never have to pay supermarket prices again.

Apple tree - I would love a fruit tree of some sort. I know they take ages to grow but it will be worth it.

Lemon tree - as above. Imagine being able to pick your own lemons!

Herbs - I would love some big herb pots so that whatever I am cooking I can pop out with the scissors and get some fresh herbs to go with it. I'll keep growing heartsease too so that I can add the petals into salads.

Lavender - I've got lavender this year but it has been a bit sad as it hasn't had any bees visiting it, which is sort of the point of lavender. Also bee populations are struggling so we should help them out as much as we can.

Chillies - if I've got a sunny indoor spot I will definitely grow chillies again, they were great. I also think I am becoming slightly more tolerant to spicy things. Slightly!

Carrots - you can't beat the taste of home grown carrots. I didn't grow them this year as it's not too easy on a balcony but when I have actual ground, I will.


So that's my dream garden....I hope it will come true some day!



Monday 14 November 2011

My other love


Friends,

Over the winter while my balcony is covered in frost and (hopefully) snow, I won't have much gardening news to post on this blog. I've started another blog about crafting, and I promise that I am much better at crafting than I am at gardening. Already you can peruse a sample of my projects from the last month - cards, sewing & baking and there's plenty more excitement in the pipeline.

It would mean a lot to me if you would follow me in my new adventure.


Sunday 6 November 2011

Favourite photos of 2011


Realising how beautiful chilli flowers are


How my pea plants climbed the netting


Sunny days


Finding heartsease and lemonbalm plants


Very happy chilli plants


The bumper crop of tomatoes