We will be winding down the bird table feeding over the next week or so. The birds have made good use of it over the nesting period but now that everything else is blooming along the canal and in the fields beyond they will have plenty of food to keep them going and we can reclaim our garden back.
We have to do this at this time of year to dissuade them from visiting the garden for the Summer as I really don't want to share my new seedlings with them. With less and then no actual bird food we will have less visiting birds and less mess, but don't worry come the end of Autumn Alan will be freshly stocked with food to see his feathery friends survive over the Winter months.
The apple tree is in full blossom at the moment and the compost bin is nicely doing it's thing quietly against the fence. I was determined to find a small compost bin for all the household scraps and weeds that we produce, and this one ... found at the local garden centre in the half-price section ... does the job wonderfully, and looks nice too.
The daffodils have all gone now and the forget-me-nots are looking pretty alongside the primulas at the base of the apple tree.
Behind the newly planted large pot the vegetable planter is already filling up. I have potatoes in the middle section, the raspberries on the righthand side with salad leaves planted in front of them, protected from the cold nights by their little plastic covers.
Around the corner by the shed we have radish, spring onion and carrots in the right-hand side of the smaller vegetable bed, covered at night by the Perspex piece from the cold frame that Ginger broke last year. I'm glad that I took it apart as these panels are working brilliantly to keep things from the cold.
After taking this photo I planted two of my courgette plants in the little black planter with the glass domes, they should be nice and snug in there while they establish themselves.
At the front of the lodge I have my herb bath, with lots of thyme, parsley, basil and sage, all handy for snipping off when I am cooking a few feet away in the kitchen.
And here's a real blast from the past.
One of my birthday presents was a years subscription to Kitchen Garden magazine, so I have a year of magazines and their free seeds to look forward to. I am in no doubt that I will be able to squeeze a few more plants in if some interesting seeds should turn up. 😀
Sue xx
Your garden looks fantastic. What a good idea to have flowers in the fruit tree pot - I'm going to copy that, I think. Thanks.
ReplyDeletexx
It started gradually and then expanded, but I love the look of it, having some Tete a Tete daffodils in there gets the season off to a good start. The tree still has lots of growing room beneath it as we cut out most of the bottom of the pot and dug a hole under where it was to go, filling it with compost before siting the pot and planting the tree.
DeleteAll looking lovely, nothing beats having a few things to eat that you’ve grown yourself does it - just one thing though….maybe you could just snip off the elastic band that has the label on the apple tree as it could be damaging the bark, enjoy the spring time.
ReplyDeleteCountry Cook
After being virtually self sufficient in vegetables and fruits for so many years I just couldn't have a garden of any size without some edibles in it.
DeleteDon't worry the elastic is in it's final stages of biodegrading, I did go and check after reading your comment but just touching it has made it virtually fall apart. I must remember to take out a drawing pin and pin the label to one of the wall boxes in the shed before it blows away.
Thanks for caring for trees ... this one's name is Sheila. :-)
That’s nice to know, I hope Sheila produces some tasty fruit for you this year, maybe if you were to photograph label and post it on blog you will have a permanent record “some where safe” ?
DeleteI’m always tucking labels into”safe place” and they never see the light of day again! 😂
Country Cook
A photo of the label is a good idea. :-)
DeleteYou have lots of things coming along nicely there.
ReplyDeleteUsed to enjoy Kitchen Garden Mag. When you get a chance to read it can you share what it says about growing simple perennial veg? Save me buying!
It's a good start, I'll be glad to get the tomato plants out of my bedroom though!!
DeleteI got it for a couple of years when we lived in Oxfordshire and Wales, I remember photographing all the free seeds every month for the blog. I'll photograph the page and email it to you. :-)
Your little garden is amazing and shows people that you don’t need much space to make a garden both productive and beautiful. I have argued with neighbours on numerous occasions about keeping feeding the birds all year but to no avail. We haven’t even put plants in yet as we have only recently had good nighttime temperatures here. Must do better! Catriona
ReplyDeleteI have always stopped feeding them as soon as Mother Nature springs into action in the late Spring. They do need to be able to teach their youngsters the 'proper' way to look for food and not just to visit bird tables and feeders. Perhaps if I lived in a city I would carry on, but being semi-rural and next to a canal and river it means that they have lots of opportunity for natural foraging.
DeleteNo you don't need much space to grow some tasty edibles do you. Even when I lived in the caravan I had the little tin bath with herbs and spinach, and 'cut and come again' lettuces and spring onions in amongst the flowers in the wooden planters. As well as being tasty it's so satisfying isn't it. :-)
We're not growing many veggies at all this year - well, none in fact other than the asparagus which of course comes up every year, we've had 2 or 3 meals worth so far and it's lovely as usual. We do have the 3 apple and 2 pear trees.....I'm not including the plum as we've only ever had one small bowlful of plums off it in about 8 years! You do make the most of your small space, Sue.
ReplyDeleteAlan loves asparagus and I hate it. I let him have one of my raised beds on the hillside for it when we lived in Wales ... as long as he was responsible for it's upkeep. Instead of regularly weeding it he covered it in membrane with a few slits and expected it to grow through them ... it didn't and he only ever ate about 3 spears before giving up. That's the limit of my asparagus knowledge ... although I do love the delicate ferny growth that it sends out at the end of the season. :-)
DeleteHaving five fruit trees is brilliant, and who knows this might be a good year for plums too.
It will be an interesting gardening year for us. We are turning our old garden into a berry patch: raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries to start with. Our vegetables will be container gardens, mostly, just like you're doing. We'll readjust next year.
ReplyDeleteOh a berry patch sounds good, so much less work once you get it up and running too. :-)
DeleteLooking good in your garden - I only sowed some flower seeds last Friday in the greenhouse and the next day the Cosmos were already peeking through the compost - now they have leaves and it won't be long before I have to prick them out. The courgettes are being quite lazy though in making any appearance!
ReplyDeleteI always think that late seed sowings are so much better, instead of weeks waiting for those little pops of green shoots, it's literally days ... so satisfying. You've reminded me I have to prick out my Cosmos too, sown weeks ago and only now just big enough to need potting on. Where they will go when they are bigger and need to go out I have no idea!!
DeleteYour garden is promising to be super productive. I love that you've called your apple tree Sheila! We've got absolutely loads of blossom on our 2 trees at the allotment so fingers crossed for a bumper crop.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit strange aren't I, I don't know where her name came from ... the last time I knew anyone called Sheila was when I worked at the Equal Opportunities Commission and she was a typist in the typing pool!!
DeleteThat's a brilliant idea about removing the bird table during the Summer so your feathered visitors can forage for themselves and hopefully leave your seedlings alone. I might have to take a leaf out of your book and do similar.
ReplyDeleteInspired by you we bought a fig tree and it's already showing signs of fruit! xxx
It looks like it's going to be a good year for figs this year. Alan's is springing to life and is covered in leaves and fruits already. I hope yours does well.
DeleteWhat a lovely garden.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
It's turned out quite well hasn't it and it's maturing nicely now that we're in our second year here.
DeleteLovely pictures of your productive garden. The forget me nots around the Apple tree are a nice touch
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
Some of them were seeds given to me at the vets when Bella died and some were seeds handed out at my Uncle's funeral last year. A happy mix of memories.
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