in the garden

garden greens... a brussels sprouts stalk is still throwing up leaves and trying to flower... I keep eating them... lol... and there is a handful of american hedge garlic... which has been self seeding in the garden for years. lovely fresh eggs from a freind, I used the two big brown eggs and made a fry up with french bread and greens for my lunch. 

 sitting in my pyjamas, with the cat, a coffee and reading a gardening book... Alan Titchmarsh's Kitchen Gardener. I went out to sit in the greenhouse but it was so warm we ended up just chilling outside.

aquired a coffee table to use as a low bench in the greenhouse, its got a metal frame so should be strong enough to have a few plants on it... the chair will come out soon so I can start planting up. 

one bed is ready to be seeded... plans for this one is to use the pallet collar with a shower door over it and direct sow carrots, turnips and beetroot. I could have done that today.. but chose to chill with the cat instead.
in the house I am eating lettuce leaves, sown about a month ago, and have cherry tomatoes about an inch high on the window sill, and fat tomatoes in the boiler cupboard waiting to sprout. not organised at all with buying seeds... I might be having a pot luck year with whatever I have left over... which is  a lot because I over buy when I am full of enthusiasm.... 
 

''Son of the Secret Gardener'', author Dr Trevor MIllum, Book Review

Dr Trevor Millum's grandfather, George Millum Snr, was the head gardener at Maytham Hall in Kent which was the home of Frances Hodgson. The very famous classic childresn story 'The Secret Garden' was written by Frances Hodgson in the early 1900s. The grumpy old gardener who tends the 'secret garden' in the book, Ben Weatherstaff, is modeled upon a younger George Millum.   George Millum's son, George Charles Millum, who like his father was born in the gardener's cottage at Maytham, also grew up to be a hard working country house gardener .

George Charles Millum kept diaries for many years of his working gardening life, also in his lifetime he was called away to war, married and had children...  his son, Trevor Millum has transcribed and sometimes interpreted two of his diaries , also giving details of  their family life throughout the book. There are family photographs and illustrations( byTwink Addison) throughout.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, amazed at the sheer amount of work involved in running and keeping a 'country house garden', not just the general upkeep but also having to grow the vegetables for the house and keeping flower displays for inside as well as organiseing, planning and providing stunning gardens.What a wonderful family heritage of personal diaries and photographs, shared by Trevor Millum.

This is an good relaxing, want to read and keep reading book. Perfect to sit reading  and relaxing with a cup of tea in the garden, I mostly sat in my little old greenhouse, as its not that warm outside just now!

I hope, as a keen gardener,  there might be a follow-up of the entire set of diaries transcribed ? please?  lol

Sundays gardening

greenhouse temperatures. max 23 c   current 18.5   min 2.5c    seeding herbs and wild flower mix into new seed tray/propagator; coriander, sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley and re-sown onion seeds, Cipolla Rossa Di Tropea.

old propagator lids on the left.. look how yellow they are compared to the nice new clear ones. will use the old ones till they fall apart, they've given good years of use.

 bookmark from Wildside, keeping place

favourite gardening book. I reccomended this to a friend who unfortunately bought the 'new edition' which I've looked at and don't like at all.. the author has changed his views and ways of doing things over time.. so I'll only recommend the old edition, not the new one... what suits some people doesn't suit others.

I've been piling horse poop on top of this bed for a couple of weeks, bringing home a couple of bags at a time in the car.

that's it dug in now, weeds removed, stones removed. I know its not been tended well for a number of years but the soil seems such poor quality.. like its never been dug over before... oh well, it can only improve with work and time.

these are snakeshead fritillary which were coming up underneath the twisted hazel... its the right time to move snowdrops.. but not these... but, being on my knees removing the snowdrops from under there, I just thought well move them while I'm there... as not likely to want to crawl under again.... hope they survive. snowdrops and fritts now in a place where they can be better seen when they come up next year.

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123 meme

I've just been tagged to do the 123 book meme by Alice, of Born2Cree8. I've done this meme before I'm always reading different books so it'll always be different.

you go to page 123 of the book you are reading, find the fifth sentence/phase and then post the next three sentences/phrases.

picture borrowed from PHOTOBUCKET

this is a library book "The Taking" by Dean Koontz:

"Molly, Neil . . .I'm sharing this out of concern for you. I don't mean to cause you any distress."
"Too late," Molly said.
"You're my friends," Derek continued. "I don't want to see you waste your final hours or days in futile resistance to an inevitable fate."

well, its a horror/thriller, we're being taken over from outer space, not to be read just before bed time. . . . I've just reached the part with the fungus..... and ther's lots of rain, hence the borrowed photo.

books review

can you have too many gardening books? not till the shelves are full!! and I think there's just about enough space here to squeeze in these two books I've been asked to look at. they are from a new Royal Horticultural Society series Small Steps to Sucess, published by Dorling Kindersley. they contain a surprising amount of useful information and some inspirational photography. I really like them, a good read for a wet afternoon, we seem to be back to the cold wet yuck here.
the Easy-care Garden, Jenny Hendy. this book starts off with some beautiful pictures of garden types, such as 'wildlife', courtyard', 'formal' and others to inspire you. the chapters that follow give 'shopping lists' of which plants to buy to get the particular look you like; information on how and where to plant them and what to do to care for them. there's also useful information sections on soil types, pests and diseases and a further gallery of beautiful plants to think about planting.
these pages look at 'Right Plant, Right Place', full of 'I want that plant' photographs! following pages describe how to create raised beds, mixed borders and container gardening with all the information you'll need to care for them. an idea I particularly liked was for an 'Aromatic Herb Border', a great ides for a vegetable grower looking for inspiration.
Shrubs and Small Trees, Simon Akeroyd. more clear and bright photography to get those ideas going! this one also provides planting inspirations to get the look you're after. there is soil, pruning, feeding, clearing. planting, staking instruction throughout. there is also a good section on pruning and caring for fruting trees and bushes.
how about a 'Fruit Border', shopping list provided with planting, soil and care information to get the best results. another one to interest home vegetable growers! there are other planting ideas for which shrubs and trees to plant to carry the gardening interest through the seasons. very useful.