I remember as a child and teenager really disliking anything to do with the garden. There were so many better things to do. bikes to ride, places to explore and gardening wasn’t more interesting than any of them.
Whether through a change in priorities, necessity or a mix of both, I’ve found my interest in the last five years or so has increased. Slowly at first, but then as I started to see some results, found some plants that I’ve introduced it grew to be more of a pleasure and less of a chore. That isn’t to say it isn’t a demanding plot of land (just over an acre to keep in shape), but it relaxes me and now reduces stress far less than the stress it sometimes causes.
The garden has already been a major attraction in the road through March and April. Around 250 tulips of assorted types and colours have been filling the front of the property, so my first job was to clear out the dead leaves so the bedding plants could be planted out to fill the resulting gaps.
One of the plants I chose and was pleased to see had taken was Hebe Blue beauty which has doubled in size in six months and was packed with spears of lilac and blue flowers. To say the bees like it is something of an understatement. So with these (there are two), alliums and plenty of lavender there is a great deal for the pollenaters to enjoy at the Acreage.
Along with the hebe, a few Australian natives were planted to allow Vaughan to feel at home in the Shire.
In addition to the hebe I spent a good half hour clearing the weeks to give the bottle brush, japonica and cotton-eye some room to flourish.
Having done some weeding and planted up some bedding I turned to a raised bed that had turned into something more like Borneo. I had come to expect Don Estelle emerging from the undergrowth singing “whispering grass”. OK, something of an exaggeration, but you get the point.
After removing a mound of vegetation and digging in plenty of compost, we have a cabbage patch in waiting. For the eagle eyed, there are half a dozen savoy cabbages and the same of red cabbage starting their journey to Kimchi and winter veg.
For those wondering, there was some digital content, a speaker streaming Classic FM and I did take the pictures here using the phone app on my phone, but other than that, I didn’t pick up the phone all day.
The last job of the day was the toughest. To reclaim, redig, compost and condition two planting beds for tomatoes. Being against a south facing wall it’s a trade off between the risk of a wall drying them out (solved with lots of cardboard and water keeping materials dug in to the trench) and the fact it’s a sun trap so ripens them well.
Twelve tomato plants out and in their growing frames and no thought of Facebook, Messenger or the like.