Pergola shangrila

On Saturday night I had my last hen night of the year (number 5!) and Matt his penultimate wedding (number 4) so we went our seperate ways to eat drink and be merry. This made it doubly difficult to get up early on Sunday morning to lay a patio but lay we did...for 11 hours! We cam frustratingly close but the weather and the final episode of Sherlock conspired against us so we put it on hold and have just now finished.



The garden looks like a building site still, and the poor grass is suffering but by the weekend (in which we have nothing to do - hurrah!) we will have it all cleared and I will be spending Saturday digging a nice big hole for the giant pot I've bought for the fig tree while Matt finishes the patio edges and we attach the trellis. I might make a trip to the garden centre to get some nice shade loving plants for the back of the patio, where this is a little strip of mud.



After we finished there was nothing else to do that have a celebratory cheese cake and shandy. A meal fit for royalty!

Pergola-la-la

I have been thinking about a pergola for some time. An odd thing to think about I'm sure you'll agree but I have been certain that our garden really lacked it. Our neighbours gardens are so empty of plants etc (although one side is getting better) that we don't get anything filling any space so it makes our garden feel even emptier! So I decided a pergola was the answer...

This weekend just gone we took a couple of days off so we had some time to get it done. We took our little car down to the local timber merchants and placed our order, which they prepared straight away (very nice chaps) - we managed to fit it all in the car and get it home without losing any out of the open boot (phew!).



Two very hot and sweaty days later we got the main posts up:



I'm afraid I don't have a photo of the finished product yet. The cross beams are now on (not in this photo). We are also going to put some trellis panels on the left and right hand side (to the left and right of the main posts) for the grape and hop to grow up. The fig tree is also going to go into the ground in front of the right hand side.



We also still have the patio to finish. We tried to get some nice reclaimed tiles from the local reclamation yard but were shocked to discover that they were £3.50 each (we would have needed 250!), which is considerably more expensive than those that we've seen before so plan B was Homebase where we found some nice-ish brick tiles. Not perfect but they'll do! We need over 200 of them so I did 2 shifts bringing them home in the car so that it wasn't too heavy. I still have one or two more loads to go but couldn't face it this weekend so I will need to get up early on Saturday to get them while Matt starts preparing the ground for laying them.

The chickens decided that we needed some assistance with the pergola. This is Rom, who decided that a pile of bricks would be a good place to sit (she just hopped up there. Isn't she clever!)



Blue, who is still quite ill and having antibiotics, was also trying to help Matt by removing bugs and worms from below the ladder. Isn't she good.



Having dug out the post holes, and some of the paving area, we made a nice pile of soil on some tarpaulin ready to go down to the allotment. The girls, however, had different ideas. Apparently a neat pile is not the done thing and a nice flat dusty spread across the lawn would be much better:

Ground Force

I have been feeling rather down about our garden recently - the grass is looking a bit scraggy (I refuse to water it), and the chickens went on a rampage last week and flattened lots of plants. I have also been neglecting the beds a little bit recently (working and doing a PhD doesn't leave much time for gardening!) and we are planning on building a pergola so it feels a little bit in limbo.

In order to make myself feel a bit better me and my mummy went plant shopping at the weekend - spending some of my birthday money from grandma.

A lovely Hibiscus ("red heart") - with big white flowers with a dark red centre, which I have put near the back and hoping it will fill out nicely over the next few months and years.

I managed to find a white Hollyhock which I was delighted about, being one of my favourite flowering plants. It's gone in at the back in the hope that it will spread and get nice and tall in future years. Katy has also given me a pink one which she has grown from seed from one of her plants so hopefully we will get some nice big spikes of flower next year to add to the "family"!



The most gorgeous Delphinium (Guardian Blue) with flowers which look blue but are actually a mixture of blue and purple. Again, at the back, and there are plenty of buds which I'm hoping will open.



Coreopsis (grandiflora Sunfire), which has amazing yellow flowers with a red centre, and has tonnes of flowers, which I am hoping I can keep going by deadheading and picking for cut flowers - the bees seem to love it!



Next to the bright yellow sunfire, I have a Catanache (blue), which has silvery foliage which lots of purple flowers on tall stems. They close up in the evening so I don't have a photo, but they are very pretty and make a lovely rustling sound in the wind.

I also got some little plants to go at the front of the bed - a lovely little yellow poppy, which again has lots of buds which I am hoping will open. It looks everso delecate so I am hoping I don't kill it!



Also at the front is this very pretty Sanvitalia (Inca), which has tiny yellow daisy like flowers. I think it should spread nicely under the larger plants.



Finally, these lovely evergreen bedding plants (Lysimachia Aurea), on the right, which has beautiful light green foliage which looks like it will spread across the ground and provide some nice winter colour.



The produce that we have in the garden is also doing really well. We have some cayenne chillis in the greenhouse, which has HUGE chillis on them. I've done so much better this year at watering and tending them and it really shows. I just need to keep it up now! The tomatoes, which I hadn't intended to grow but just popped up out of mummy's compost! I'm glad they did though, and hopefully August will be sunny enough to ripen them.



All in all I think the garden looks a lot better. Not perfect, I still have a lot that I want to do, not least build the the pergola. I would also like to fill it with more plants including some climbing up the fences on either side to make it feel more lush.

Garden and Allotment News

As promised, I got myself organised and went down to the allotment to take a photo or our newly erected fruit cage, built entirely from pallets. if this doesn't keep the birds off, I don't know what will!



We also harvested our first proper veg last night. I was making Thai Green Curry so popped down and picked some peas a mangetout and they were yummy (although not as yummy as when the pods are full of peas!). Hopefully this early harvest along with all of the rain and sun we're getting will encourage plenty of peas to form:



On our jaunt out yesterday we bought a new addition to our plat family - this is Hoppy, he's a Hop! It's a Fuggles variety, famous for it's beer making qualities. Once we have got around to building our pergola in the garden he will climb up one side. We're not intending to use it for beer making (although maybe one day!) it's more orgnamental with a nod to traditional Kentish produce.



Our garden if now full of Iris of all shapes and sizes - the smaller ones being my favourites - but we have a few medium sized ones which are also lovely just popping up. I thought they were all purple until the heavy rain encouraged this little lady to pop our head out, isn't she lovely:



I have been talking for ages about wanting a Fig tree to give the garden some exciting texture and my mum and Nick took a cuttting from their plant. I wasn't sure how it would do and for the first couple of weeks didn't show much sign of life until I potted it up and this happened. Hurrah! This weather is perfect to encourage growth so hopefully he'll keep on growing:

Sissinghurst Castle Gardens

We have the week off this week - primarily to head to the Cotswolds for a couple of days to drive around in our temporary little Moggy - but also just to relax and enjoy some time to ourselves. So yesterday we headed off to Sissinghurst Castle Gardens, something which we have been intending to do for ages having not been for years despite iot being just down the road.

We didn't go in the house but just concentrated on the gardens and I have to say they were even more beautiful that I remembered - it's like a fairy tale house and I didn't want to leave!





True to form, our favourite places were the vegetable garden (I didn't take photos - more functional that beautiful!) and the cottage garden, which is simply amazing:





The range of flowers is breathtaking - with so many Iris of all shapes and sizes out at this time of year it really must be the best time to go










They also had a rainbow of Aquilegas the like of which I didn't know existed!




The peaceful flower meadow, next to a little river, complete with bee hives and the odd Grecian Urn gives wonderful views over the house and makes you just want to stay forever lying in the long grass reading a book:





if you happen to be in West Kent over the summer I implore you to go and visit - it really is amazing and if a certain sister of mine reading this blog wants to visit it (you would love it!)you know where we are...

So many things!

Well, where do I start. I think I've been rather tardy again and it's been a month since my last post so plenty of things to update on.

In the garden the flower bed is looking wonderful - full of colour with bees buzzing around all over the place. We have two giant Iris as well as a host of Alliums on one side of the bed (the purple side!) and an amazingly successful Lupin on the other side fighting for space with the Acer, which also looks lovely at the moment.




The girls are also doing well - we're getting three eggs most days and today they produced 4 just to impress our visitors from Basingstoke. They have taken a liking to lemon balm (which is fine by me because I dug it up last year and it refuses to go!) which they are all enjoying in this photo:



Now to the allotment and boy have we been busy. The broad beans are all in flower (and are now being attacked by black fly - grrr - which the ladybirds are doing their best to keep under control), as are the peas. The first early potatoes are a dissapointment but the second earlies and maincrop are doing well. We also has courgette, squash, cabbage, cauli, purple sprouting and calbrese, celery and a whole host of fruit (strawbs, rasps, red and blackcurrant, goosberry and tayberry). Much excitement this week when we had our first peas (one pod each!) and strawberry - we were so eager to eat them that I didn't get a photo but I do have these as a bit of a summary:






We've also been doing some building work on the plot with avengance - we've built ourselves a fruit cage. I foolishly discovered that I haven't yet taken a photo of it but needless to say it's great (!) - made entirely from pallets, we only had to buy the netting and the nails so we have a 5x2 metre fruit cage for only £40 - bargain! I will try to post a photo soon but my "parent blog" (te he) is slightly suicker than I am so you're likely to see it here more quickly. In the meantime though, I can show you this rather smart brassica cage that Matt made as well as him posing as "man about the allotment":

So much to say!

I've had a request for a blog update because I've been a bit tardy once again! Part of the reason that I haven't updated recently is because the garden and allotment is just so full or things to be done and these, along with working and trying to fit in a PhD as well as about a billion weddings and hen dos leaves very little time!

But I really can't complain because everything is looking so lovely with Spring well and truly here!

Here's a summary of the goings on in the garden. Now, I want you to start singing the tune from The Gallery as you look through these:

I love this plant but can't for the life of me remember what it's called. We got it last year from the Tonbridge garden fair, which has sadly been cancelled this year. This year it's so much bigger than last, it's just lovely:



The bed is getting nice and full as the perennials from last year come back to life again:

The 100 Allium bulbs that I planter are starting to flower, which is so exciting because I LOVE alliums:





Gavin The Apple is flowering nicely, although his sister Laxtons is being a bit rubbish and hasn't flowered yet. Last year Laxton provided all of our 2 apples so looks like Gavin is trying to prove he's up to the job!





Not to be out-done, the girls also wanted to say hello. Hythe does like to stand up as high as she can so that she can see what I'm up to, so here she is on her favourite perch. The other girls never get the chance to perch while she's around! We are having a mini-chicken crisis at the moment - we caught Hythe and Bell eating an egg the other day and, as our copy of Home Farmer which arrived today told us, this is a habit which is hard to beat, and they basically recommend culling any chickens that pick the habit up! We obviously won't be doing this so we are just going to keep an eye on the situation and play it by ear but we are more than a little concerned. I'll keep you posted.



Down on the allotment, the flowers are also blooming, with these lovely blue (and pink!) bells welcoming us in:




Our peas are starting to get nice and big and strong, so we're constructing a climbing frame for them! This hazel and wire structure is going to be strung up for the peas to clamber up:



We've also taken the risk and planted out some of our Spring/Summer cabbages (keeping some in the greenhouse, just in case!) and given them a pigeon proof cage!



We've also put two of our courgette plants out, under a little glass shelter. We visited them today after a chilly morning and they seem to be doing ok, but we also have some plants in the greenhouse at home to see how they get on:



Finally, the stuff that has been on the plot for a good while now is all doing well. the Broad Beans are looking strong:



...and the fruit is all doing brilliantly. This is one of the tonnes of strawberry plants that we have that originated from our 2 "parent" plants which we got about 4 years ago. They are all flowering like mad! This is why they call it The Garden of England!



Generally, the allotment is going really well. We have made all but one of the beds and have been digging like crazy to reduce the clay and increase the soil! We found a stash of top soil near the river and have been ferrying claggy clay out and nice top soil in. It's really making all the difference. I just can't wait until it all starts growing properly!