Gardening

I dug out my composter for the first time this weekend, I really thought it was going to be wet and smelly, but luckily for me I got lovely compost, a bit too many woody bits, but it's a learning curve, I used it on my side bed as a mulch. I took out the bottom third. 

Hubby got a new toy, a shredder, it will help with the woody bits when we cut back shrubs and branches from the tree's, he trimmed the twisted willow as we don't want it getting huge. All the bits have been put into my black dustbin, in hope it will add to the leaf mulch I am making. So other than thicker branches (and we don't get many of them), everything can now be reused in the garden. 

On a sunny day everything looks great, I have all my bedding plants out now, the greenhouse is almost empty, I sorted all my plastic pots and cleaned them ready to reuse next year. 

Our bench is being used every day, we do love to stop for a coffee outside, it's nice to sit together and chat, another small plan is forming, not too much work, just sorting an untidy spot. Here you can see the shade forming from the garage, lovely spot for a hot day, it's always sunny in the morning and shady in afternoon. 

This is now my herb section, I have loads here, chives, thyme and parsley in the big black tub, and in pots I have bay, rosemary, mint, 2 x sage, lemon balm and marjoram. I have seeds sown for basil and some cress on wet kitchen towel. The bay has been cut right back, I am training it into a ball top. 

The beds are starting to look good, I still have a few gaps, but once everything has grown it should look full, I have cut back on my forget-me-nots in hope I get a second lot of flowers. 

Saturday was a working day, I don't think of gardening as work, it a passion of mine, hubby was happy to use his new shredder, the twisted willow looks a better size for our garden, we both are pleased we can reuse almost everything in the garden, without using the council expensive garden waste system. There will be times when we have branches thicker than we can shred, I am hoping I can pile them in a corner to rot themselves down. After 12 years here working outside, we don't get many weeds, I do keep an eye out and pull any when they are small, all our plants are healthy, so nothing is a chore. I have even decided to get rid of 2 big pots, they are not needed with the new garden bed giving us loads of colour. 

Sunday was a lazy morning, I went out for an afternoon tea lunch with youngest daughter, it has been planned for ages, it was a fundraiser for Portsmouth Downs Syndrome charity. Our host was daughters hairdresser, he is gay and has a cross dressed alter ego, he has been fundraising for a couple of years, he's such a fantastic person.