12 Days of Christmas

Day 11: Green Fingers and Fairy Dust I have never lost the sense of wonder and excitement that is generated when I plant seeds. From opening the packet, to placing the seeds in the earth, the gentle application of water and then the growing sense of anticipation as I watch and wait for the seeds […]

Make Do and Mend

At last the polytunnel has been repaired and we’re ready to garden again. After being exposed to the elements for two months a major clean-up was required. This mainly involved shovelling up sand and wind-blown debris, fortunately the local starling flock preferred the warmth of my neighbours cow shed as a roost. The accumulation of […]

A Slow Start

I fear that whatever I write about the garden and the weather I will end up either a Jeremiah, Job’s comforter or even worse a Polly Anna. So we will summarise the current state of the vegetable and cottage gardens as wet, sodden, saturated and waterlogged, which is quite remarkable as I garden on almost […]

Celeriac

Celeriac – a variety of celery, Apium graveolens rapaceum, with a large turnip-like root, used as a vegetable. I like to grow a new vegetable each year and as I am rather partial to both celeriac and celery they were near the top of the list last year. I had attempted to grow celeriac in […]

Vegetable Garden

The potatoes are in sacks under the bench in the shed, the garlic neatly platted and hanging above, soon to be joined by the onions which are drying in the polytunnel. There are boxes and boxes of jam and chutney and both freezers are full to bursting point. Autumn has definitely arrived, complete with the […]