Year: 2021

‘How big are your beds?’ is one of my most frequently asked questions…….along with ‘Where do all the cats live?’……..so in today’s video I’m going to try to answer most of them as we take a walk around my garden and the site it’s in. Please note: I mentioned the footprint for the shed being 12 feet x 12 feet……I’m an idiot!…..it’s more like 7 x 7.

After something of a delay because of so many rain days I am finally getting on with my parsnip thinning and transplanting experiment……all the ‘books’ say it shouldn’t work…….but I have the space and they need thinning anyway. I also thin the beetroot patch….the thinnings will become a meal, yum! It’s a day for doing lots of little jobs including tomato cares and a bit of reseeding…..

I was reminded recently that I had forgotten to give you all an update on my horse manure experiment in which I was testing for the herbicide ‘Aminopyralid’……so here’s an update on it today. Plus I harvest my first batch of Lemon Balm and discuss growing, harvesting, processing and using it. It has a great many uses……for me it’s mostly about the bathroom.

It’s time for a long overdue postbag catch up and thank you session. It’s a wonderfully mixed bag……and I enjoy it all with a naughty beer……but I have a good excuse! And how exactly did my letterbox get broken? Well….let me explain…….

On another warm and humid day I set to with starting to plant the winter garden. Today the first of the brassicas will be planted: Cavolo Nero kale and a red, curly kale. As the beds will be exposed all winter they will need some mulching and, most importantly, these beds will need protecting from the pests that love brassicas. I talk about the kit I use for this protection.

Gosh, it became a long one……I guess it’s not surprising though as we head into the height of the growing season. So many plants are still quite small but there are exciting signs of life and development everywhere.

For the first time in four years I skipped making a ‘Thoughts on’ video at the end of May (month 49)……life was getting a bit bonkers…….but I’m gradually turning things around again by using a sporting analogy. ‘Quiet please, the players are ready’….

My day continues……still lots on the ‘to-do’ list…….and a change of plans because the harvest is the most important thing.

You will be seeing this on the longest day, the summer solstice…..it seems apt somehow. I actually filmed it on the 15th, exactly two weeks after I filmed the June tour. I wouldn’t normally film another tour in the middle of the month…but this hasn’t been a normal year…..I have been ‘behind’ since March….but finally I am beginning to catch up and as so much has happened in the last two weeks I thought I’d bring you up to date with the garden………looking like it ought to have done at the beginning of June!

Woohooo, I finally have some tinker time! For anyone not familiar with the phrase it sort of means doing little finishing touches/jobs after the big jobs are done….no pressure, no urgency, no time constraints….just…tinkering. I shalln’t explain anymore….simply come and be with me in the garden and relax a bit.