Tag: vegetable gardening

A Week in Books: A Tibetan journey, old favourites, vegetable gardening and a fairytale

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On a Sunday evening, I like to clear the shelf next to my desk, in preparation for the week ahead. There will always be a pile of books that have accumulated beside me. These will include stories my daughter has brought over for me to read to her and those that I have quickly grabbed to find a quotation, or check an ingredient for a recipe. There might be a seasonal book or two where I have looked up a flower name or gardening wisdom.

I enjoy the moment when I scoop them up and shelve them again, the titles on the spines evoke a diary of the days just passed:  A Week in Books.

The Way of the Clouds

Newly added to my shelf this week is “The Way of the White Clouds” by Lama Anagarika Govinda. The book follows his travels across Tibet – a journey that was never his intention, until the call to follow his spiritual teacher proved suddenly hard to resist:

“Sometimes a glance, a few casual words, fragments of a melody floating through the quiet air of a summer evening, a book that accidentally comes into our hands, a poem or a memory-laden fragrance, may bring about the impulse which changes and determines our whole life.”

No prior knowledge of Buddhism is presumed, and the terms are carefully explained. As I write this, I have just started the third chapter, as the writer sees the Tibetan plateau for the very first time:

…into a world of uncannily changing, fantastic forms, which appeared and dissolved with such suddenness “that one began to doubt their reality as well as one’s own.”

It reminds me of my first impressions of the wild north-west coast of Scotland, where the mountains seemed to appear and disappear as the rain and fog drifted by. I am looking very much forward to reading more.

Little Women

This month I re-read Little Women for the first time since I was ten years old. This time around, I fell in love with the beautiful descriptions of the seasons passing, the way that flowers seem to burst out of nearly every page. I found myself inspired to start upon a new writing, art and photography project, which I hope to share more news of very soon.

Dracula

Dracula was another enjoyable re-read for me this month. My little vegetable garden is a lovely sun trap in the early mornings where I like to sit and read, perched on the raised beds with a cup of tea. It made me smile when I realised I was sitting next to the garlic bed. No vampire was likely to venture near. I was a young teen when I first read this book and remember being so pleased to find in Mina Harker a brave, intelligent heroine.

Veg in One Bed

Every few weeks I like to check the “at a glance” section in this book for the month ahead. Veg in One Bed is aimed at maximising a small space, and since I only have three raised beds it is really helpful with the timings – which have to be spot on when you have limited room available. March through to October is a sort of plant-based game of musical chairs. The french beans that it advised me to plant last month, are now ready to go up on the canes that were placed over onions the month before.

Fairytale Play

When I bought this for my daughter’s Christmas Eve Book Giving gift, I knew it was a pop up design, but did not realise it would come with countless beautiful hand-drawn figures. They are reversible too, so a hungry wolf on one side, might be a cunning fox on the other. Mixed in with the classic fairytale staples are readers, dancers, scenery decorations and tiny creatures. Below is the cityscape…

… with alleyways to get lost in, a fairground to visit and castles to climb up to. Other pages include a treasure cave, a forest and an underwater scene. I could include this on any “Week in Books” because my daughter plays with it almost every day.

Are you enjoying a book at the moment? I’d love to read your comment below.

I wish you all a peaceful start to the week ahead.

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Potager Garden: July 2020

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The sunshine of late July beckoned us to the woodlands and with it being such a busy month in the garden too, I am a little behind on my garden diary.

I signed off in June with the sight of our onion crop harvested and drying on the raised beds. Soon after, the garlic was gathered up, dried in the open air and plaited. I wove in little handles so that they could be hung up for storage.

Within days, the weather changed and lightning storms were forecast. We eagerly anticipated the rain’s arrival, which would bring an end to the stifling humidity of water-saturated air. Little speckled showers came and went.

Then, one evening, we saw the oncoming storm and headed to the fields to watch. I have never seen such a clear divide between a summer sky and the swirling mass of darkness across the horizon.

It rained for several days and as the dry ground was replenished, we watched our resident snail venture out for a daytime drink at the stream.

The garden itself, which had been on the cusp of a new harvest, suddenly burst into life.

Our first radish crop of the year was followed a few days later, by the season’s first lettuces.

The rhubarb was moved as part of the winter garden re-design and is thriving in its new placement by the stream. As tasty as it looks, I am letting the rhubarb have a year to settle before I start cropping again next year.

After just four weeks, the onion beds were full to bursting with broccoli, courgette and pumpkins plants, all pushing up against the protective bird netting. Last year our courgettes were destroyed by snails before they even grew their first full leaves. This year I kept the seedlings on my kitchen windowsill, then surrounded them with a copper mesh and gravel when I transplanted them into the raised beds. So far, so good.

A peek under the netting revealed newly formed pumpkin buds. It is amazing to think how quickly they will grow between now and October.

Just as we reached the start August, the hollyhocks burst into flower. The little trumpets that announce the height of summer.

The flurry of work is now done. August, for me, is the month of enjoying the garden, of long summer days that merge into beautiful evenings.

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Potager Garden: Unexpected arrivals, bees in motion and the first potato harvest

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We are still keeping up with the early starts. Bright light streams in around the tiny gaps in the shutters; getting up is not so hard when the sun is waiting to greet you.

In the garden, the bees arrive dozily, a few at a time, meandering amongst the lavender flowers. Soon, there are countless numbers, the tempo increases and the combined buzzing is audible from the other side of the garden. Nature’s own rush hour.

Share in our morning ritual and enjoy this slow-motion capture of the first bumble bee of the day on the lavender flowers.

By the French doors, a single sprig of self-seeded verbena catches the breeze. I have tried buying verbena plants from the garden centre before and they have never taken. During the lockdown, I have been a lot more appreciative of “weeds” and their potential as free flowers. I have been allowing them to grow and, like a lucky dip, seeing what I have got. I’m so happy with this latest arrival.

Tucked into an old mossy log that forms part of the edging to our stream, a strange silvery leafed “weed” appeared this April. It looked a little like sage at first, then grew taller and taller, the leaves became scallop-edged and multiple large buds drooped heavily towards the ground. By then, we had already guessed it was a poppy, but could never have imagine how beautiful it would be.

On my kitchen windowsill, I thought I was only nursing newly sprouted courgette seedlings, safely away from the greedy snails. However, little bell-like mushrooms appeared overnight; there must have been some spores in the organic compost. The tiny fungi only survive into the afternoon before withering, though for the next few days, every morning I find another trio.

When my order of bird netting arrives by post, I plant the courgettes into the old onion bed, with gravel around the stem, copper mesh and the netting stretched above. So far, so good.

The rose has been persuaded to attach to the arbour and now, clinging on securely, it is climbing at speed. Fresh buds are appearing daily. My little daughter, who always likes to run around the garden before her breakfast, enthusiastically points out any new ones, happily calling “flower!”

As soon we see the honey-scented white blossoms appear amongst the vegetable plants, it is time for our first ever potato harvest. Unlike most of the vegetables we grow in our potager, the potatoes give no hint to the size of their crop, hidden so completely beneath the soil. Even onions give you a bit of a glimpse of how things are going.

My son chitted these seed potatoes throughout Lent and, keeping with horticultural tradition, dug the trenches for them on Good Friday and kept them watered them throughout the draught. I really wanted them to be a success for him. Happily, he is able to pull the plants out whole from the loose no-dig soil and as he triumphantly raises them aloft, the bounty of new potatoes hang beneath on tiny white stems like little baubles.

We ate this first batch within an hour of unearthing them, simply boiled and served with a little butter. They were delicious; soft and melting. It was one of those times I have wished for our own acre of land, meaning we would never need to buy shop-bought potatoes again.

Newly emptied terracotta pots now await my next round of seedlings.

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Potager Garden: Stream watching, borrowed hats and precious food

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We continue adapting to this new, quiet time in our lives. I am noticing little changes. Food, for example, is suddenly becoming very important due to the shortages. We seem to talk about it a lot more than normal. Our autistic sons have very restrictive diets, therefore we are saving all of the plain items we know they will eat just for them. I am also trying to disguise other foods creatively to tempt them into eating more protein, as we cannot buy enough vegetarian substitutes in the shops at the moment. Courgette fritters worked well – gobbled up before they knew they were not potato rosti. Hummus disguised as butter was viewed with suspicion and then handed back to me with knowing looks.

My ten year old son (on the left) is enjoying the peaceful garden and has taken a great interest in the stream lately. He can spend over an hour watching the water flow under the wooden bridge, rearranging the pebbles and floating tiny leaf boats. His autism often causes me to forget that there is only eighteen months in age between him and my next eldest son and it is when they spend companionable time together like this that their similar heights make it very apparent.

Our little daughter is completely unaware of any difference in the pace of life. This is her first spring outside of babyhood, to her this is what the season is – the tranquility of birdsong as the plants she has grown to know so well burst into new life. She is amazed at leaves emerging from shrubs she knew only as twigs, pointing them out to me, hopping up and down. Look, look! Who knew they were magic?

She has taken to wearing a flatcap that belongs to her youngest brother. He in turn picked it from an outdoor shop because it matched his dad’s walking cap. Our youngest son likes to look like other family members, feeling secure in wearing what is familiar. He prefers hand-me-downs to new clothes.

One of my long term aims with the garden is to create a miniature woodland, especially sized for children. The evergreens will be cropped and kept small, to look like old gnarled oaks. My daughter is already enjoying this little area that has “trees” her size. She is starting to play hide and seek with us, and is just about able to stay hidden now without giggling and giving herself away.

There is a slight camber in the path here, which was designed to make the track exciting for the boys’ scooters as they sail around the “roundabout” section. My daughter goes very carefully – although I can barely detect the lean as I walk around the route, it must feel much more so to her, being so small.

I have been working on raised bed number three. I’m trying my luck with beetroots for the first time, and cabbages grown from seed. I usually use plugs for the brassicas, but deliveries are in short supply. The garlic and the strawberries I feel at home with, these always seem to thrive. I’ve also planted some sunflower seeds and nasturtiums, as I love to have an orange hue to the garden as autumn approaches.

I have removed the older, damaged leaves from the strawberry plants, detached any runners and planted them in their own space.

Our neighbour’s apple trees have come into blossom, which gives a lovely screen of privacy again. Hopefully it will not be too long before the bamboo provides this all year round.

In the late evening, when the children are asleep, I spend a contented hour writing up the garden plans and making note of when everything was planted.

Next, before bed, I will go through all of the salad and fresh food, see what is coming close to being overripe and decide what to make with it for the seven of us tomorrow. I always knew that healthy meals were important – but now they feel precious.

—Keep safe and well everyone. With heartfelt thanks to all those who are working to keep us safe, especially those on the frontline in the NHS and hospitals around the world.—

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