Bottom of the garden.

 This end of the garden is my working area, it's not that big, everything has to work hard to be here, I love my greenhouse, summer and winter it's always in use. The fruit tubs are doing well here, it was a good move. 

 

The raised bed is just giving me the blooms I have been craving, filling this corner with colour, this is often the dumping spot in the garden, normally filled with pots and my garden waste bag. 

 

My shed is a storage space, I have loads in there, in the winter months I store loads more and it's hard to get inside, but I don't normally need much during the cooler months. It does need a paint, I will have a go when the next few sunny days arrive. I love the mix of pots and plants here, it's also the best spot for my Hosta's. 

I have loved my wormery, but it's not big enough for all my garden waste, I have decided to clean it and sell it on, these are not cheap, the plastic is very sturdy, so there is a good 2nd hand value. My new composter will just fit in the space.

This is my new system, I am really excited about this hot bin, it's much smaller than normal composers and just fits into the only space I have, I can put bigger quantities in here and more diverse kitchen waste, with the hope of compost and still worm juice (liquid fertilizer to the rest of you). 

The bin had a 14 day delay stated on the website but was dispatched 2 days after placing my order. I am very hopeful this will help keep our footprint much smaller, all garden and kitchen waste will be made into compost, less purchasing compost in plastic bags, I'm pretty sure I won't make enough compost to stop us having to purchase it. 

I have had plastic compost bins before, but nothing like this, I was pleased to be able to get one with a base, we do suffer with mice in the garden and on occasions rats, and loads of flies, this bin once lid is shut is sealed, and reviews state it works well.

I have watched video's of how to set it up, read on how to keep it hot, we will have our own supply of shredded paper, and dried woody mater (from hubby's blower/sucker machine, which shreds when sucking), we can use the coffee waste from our pot and tea bags, egg shells and fruit skins and cores, and more food items, not that we waste much food. 

Thank you for all your comments regarding the new look to our home, I am much happier with the look, hubby loves his very different garden to mine. 

 

November Garden.

Cyclamen are looking good, I have loads of these around the garden, only a couple of plants are new this year, all the other have come back, such good value in plants. 

The begonia's are hanging in there, these stay in these raised pots all winter, there are cyclamen in the same pots, but as yet we can't see them. The raised soil level in these chimneys drain well, so tender plants survive our winters, which are also mild. 

Behind my small fence is my shady pots, these are full of buds, it's a shame we can't see them from the house, they do look good, I have snowdrops planted in here as well. I am thinking of taking away the pots next summer and planting straight into the ground, in hope some of the plants grow through. 

The side bed is empty, the water butt is sorted, I have also moved my wormery, I have replanted my big daisy at the front end of the bed. We have decided to get some dogwood for beside the water butt, good winter colour and it will shield some of the butt. 

Wormery now lives next to the greenhouse, in front of the raised bed, the watering can is there to catch the worm juice, this was another scruffy part of the garden. I'm not sure if the stand with my succulents will stay in front of the huge rhubarb pot, it's a case of watch and see. 

Winter has arrived in our garden, after a couple of dry days we have covered the wooden table an chairs, there is no room for them in our garage. We have packed away the canvas roof from the pergola, as yet we have not heard from planning department, but it was always our plan only to have canvas roof on in summer months. The small green metal set stays out all year. 

We have had loads of dry sunny but cold days, enough to allow us to do the final winter tidy outside, we both enjoy being outside together, the patio doors have been open alot after all the visitors earlier this week. The garden is looking really good, the wild birds are down all through the day feeding from the Magnolia tree, we have almost stopped the squirrels coming in, they destroy so much, we now only put sunflower seeds in the feeders, the small birds love them, and the starlings aren't interested. 

I have ordered a dogwood plant online, hopefully it will be here soon, I will be able to plant it straight into the garden. I am at the point where there is nothing to do in the garden, everywhere is sorted, I have no space left, next year I will only have space for limited bedding plants, I have planted 2 more Salvia hotlips around the 2nd yellow rose bush, I did take a couple more cuttings just incase any of the plants fail over winter. 

It's a good feeling when everywhere is as I want it, not sure how I'm going to get my gardening fix next year, maybe I should suggest I start using the garage roof, I could pop veg in pots and grow up there, can you imagine what hubby would say. 

Maggie thanks for sharing your good news in comments on my last post, everyone loves planning a wedding, can't wait to see photos.

I've got worms

Lovely fine compost

 Hard working worms

 Wormery

 Note the best area of dahlias, next to the wormery

I removed the tomato plant, loads of green tomatoes

popped into paper bags, left on the table,

they will ripen over the next few weeks.

 I did get into the greenhouse, cleared the cucumber plant and the raised bed, I have plans for this space, but first I will pull everything out the greenhouse and give it all a good clean.

 My pepper plant has loads of fruit on, I am letting them dry out on the plant, I did this a few years ago with great success, they keep well once dried, which is good as I don't eat chillies.

 I love the walk to my greenhouse
still loads of colour

My wormery is doing well, all kitchen waste is put in here, the compost looks fine and rich, and the juice from the bottom helps feeds my plants, when we get heavy rain the bottom sump fills up, so often I open the tap and let some drain into the garden, hence my wonderful growth on the dahlia bush next to the worms. I have no plans to use the compost until next spring. 

We managed a couple of hours in the garden, me in the greenhouse, hubby about our tiny plot doing chores, the new season is here, leaves are dropping and require picking up each day, spider webs everywhere. The warm sunshine was lovely on Sunday afternoon, I do love a warm September day, always a bonus. 

I have stopped picking blackberries, the few remaining are for the birds, I have been making cordons for the brambles to grow along, I want the long garage wall to be full of fruit next year, plus I am trying to get them over my shed. 

In the next week, I have bulbs to plant, cutting to take and create a new raised garden in the greenhouse. I also need to shop for gravel, slate and pebbles, not too many of each. I at my most happiest when I have a garden plan and it's all ready to go. 

Staying green.

Our wish for our house and garden to be as green as possible goes on, our waste is on every level is much lower and we are both feeling good.
Our food waste is almost nothing, all vegetable waste, peeling, egg shells go to my wormery, which already is giving us fertilizer, and soon lovely fine compost.  Plus it's a magnet for any children coming into the garden. We are very good an do not waste meat, fish or dairy.
My ground coffee is scatted on my garden, the filters are dried and then used as pot liners, the used teabags I am popping into pots as I plant them up, nothing is thrown away.

Every time I go shopping I take a few of my home made bags, our local fruit and veg stall now hands out paper bags, which I always keep in my shed drawer. They now have gone back to using proper plastic bowls for their pre-weighed items, which they use time and time again, they switched very quickly. Plastic still comes into our home, but much less than before, and if we are able to avoid it we often do. If I go to the plant stand at the market on a Wednesday, I always carry a couple of previous used thin plastic carrier bags, and reuse them, I'm sure I can make them last the rest of this year.

My dish covers are always in use in the kitchen, we still on occasions use stretch and seal, but the roll we have again will last much longer, and our hope is by the time it's all gone, we will have minimized the need for it. Because we are not wanted to waste so much food, we are better at our portion sizes and do not have leftover food very often, before we freeze anything we ensure the portion sizes are right for us, which often means we get extra portions from our purchases.

Is this a fail, I love to see a full fruit dish, but the limes which look good hardly ever get used, we do use lemons alot. So I purchased two plastic limes, they do look very real, and now I will only purchase limes if we need them, so in a strange way it's not a fail, but a win.

 We are even saving our lolly sticks, these make great plant labels, and they are short enough to be put in seed trays with the covers on.

Another small win, we are using citronella candles in the garden, far more than ever before, I got these at Asda, 3 small pots costing a pound each, they are pretty and the pots can be reused for my succulent seeds when they grow, on the down side they came packed in plastic.   

I have not purchased any clothes or shoes since February, and I have no plans to buy anything this year. Garden toys for Will are all second hand from charity shops or off local facebook selling pages, and once finished with they will be passed on. My garden spend has been high and where I have purchased plastic items, they are not one use items, and will last me for years.
I recycled some of my plastic plant pots, I had spare plants which I potted up and took to our local Save the Children shop, so profit for them and pots moved along.
I responded to a post on our local facebook page and I have been given two books to read, I have been promised more once the lady sorts them, once I have read them I will pass them along. I gave some fabric to our local primary school for costumes, using the same page.
So half way through this year, I feel we are making progress, just small things, but we both feel better making the changes, we can't change our past habits, but looking forward we will be greener.

Back in the garden

Tiny bit of retail, 3 pop up 'greenhouses' for £1.50

I have had the one in use for 3 years, 

they are brilliant

in the end of season sale from the pound shop. 

 

 A few flowers from the garden,
the pink ones in the front are from my £1 reduced plant
which is now full of blooms

 1st of my dahlia's, they are all late this year

 Late raspberries, the fruits are all looking good. 

My cut flower raised bed was a let down,  two reasons, 

firstly the tomato plant placed in front made it difficult to get to the bed, 

secondly using seeds did not work. lesson learnt for next year. 

I spent an hour in the back of my garden

none of the primroses or cyclamen, are new 

I just separated ones from last year, which I had in pots all through the summer

I left the sweet peas in the corner, they did not do well this year, 

but I hope they may come back next year. 

 This area is tidy again, 

my long pots have bird seed growing in them

The late summer flowers are now coming into their own, I am pleased now with my garden, the side garden only missed on summer flowers, which next year I will grow from seeds in the greenhouse  and plant out. I would also like a few shrubs, I watched last Fridays gardening world, where Monty showed how to purchase a going over cheap plant, cut the top growth off and take the roots apart to make more plants for next year. I need to get farmyard manure for the side bed, which I get from the garden center, so I will get a couple cheap plants and try and make new plants for next year, I feel it's worth a go.
We have been given two lovely pots from Win's garden, and two azaleas, hubby wants them for his front garden, so we will get the ericaceous compost.
The yellow tomatoes have gone into our freezer, I did not have enough jam jars to make chutney, so I left the bowl on the side whilst we were away and most of them ripen so I blanched them to remove the skins and chopped them, and bagged them up for use in sauces. We will use the rest of the red tiny gardeners delight tomatoes.
My worms are now happy in their home, we are adding the small amount of kitchen waste for them to eat, I am also getting some liquid fertilizer, but I think alot of it is water, as the rain still gets in.
Lunch out on Monday was fun, it's nice to have time to chat, my friend still works but does shifts of 4 days working and then 4 days off. I have no desire to work even part time.

Mix it up

Hubby got this hydrangea for the front of the house

we have a large untidy pot we will move and plant this in the corner

He is enjoying taking over the front of the house.

 The owner of our lovely local shoe shop is retiring

so he has a sale on, I could not resist these at half price

I will miss the shop, I often get shoes in their sale

I enjoyed this book about and American farming family

set through 60's,70's & 80's

 My neighbour has swapped some books with me.

both authors are new to me.
I have started the stolen child, but it's a bit hard going

I have had problems with my wormery, they have been escaping

The original kit did not have enough 'earth', the rain got inside and was washing the small amount away, and so the worms moved on. I ordered more coir, which the worms love, a mat for the bottom tray to stop the worms getting away, and another pack of worms. The bottom tray is almost full, but I can lift some of the coir into the next tray as the bottom tray fills. I have sited it in the corner of my side garden, it's in the shade all afternoon and evening. 

I spent yesterday with daughter and baby Will, we popped to Southampton for a few hours, daughter had a few tasks to do, I was very good and made only 1 purchase, I got a cheap cotton grey sheet and a pair of darker grey pillowcases, daughter wants a reading wigwam in Will's room, and the sheet is the cheapest way to get the fabric. I will also use the sheet as backing to Will's cot quilt, which I have been pattern designing.
Today we woke up to an over caste sky, hubby has popped to drive his ladies to their lunch club, a task he loves, and will be back mid afternoon. I plan to stay inside, later I have a sewing job for my young neighbour, she is loosing her milk teeth and we are going to make her a tooth fairy cushion with pocket.
Nothing else on my radar, I am enjoying this week again in holiday mode, soon I will start bringing more structure into our days, I am also trying to get my steps back up, my back is pain free, but it's not completely gone away, so I am taking care.

Around the plot

We had to get some plastic covered canes for my huge tomato plants

it's not perfect, but for now they hold the plant up

These are as tall as me now.

 My cucumbers are both doing well, loads of tiny fruits growing

 Watching Monty on Gardners World, he spoke about leafy Allium plants a few weeks back, stating this was due to overcrowding. So I did as he did and cut into the roots and divided the plants, today I have 12 new flower heads popping through. With another plant in the garden gaining strength. 

My cuttings are becoming nice plants, 

soon I will be able to plants the Coleus in the garden 

 My Lilles have loads of buds

The marigolds are huge around the outside of the pot. 

 Finished this book last night

Slow start, but a good read

I am about to start reading Faith by Lesley Pearce, one of the girls in work is passing a few books she knows I am a fast reader and will finish them before I leave in just over six weeks.
The worms have stopped escaping their nice home, I added a bit of top soil, so the level is deep enough for them. We can't start feeding them yet.
I have decided to sort all the spare plastic pots which are stored beside my shed, firstly I don't use them so they will be taken to garden center for recycling. I will put a huge pot on it's side with the bottom missing, like a tunnel, so the hedgehogs can get through, we popped next door and checked behind their garden wall and the hedgehogs can get through to other gardens.
Hubby got two new bird feeders, they are huge, only the small birds can feed off them, the pigeons can't get near them which is good as they wasted all the seed out of the old feeders. Now we are getting so many different small birds.
Our potatoes were yummy, I have a couple potato bags, so I will grow plants again next year. We have strawberries and raspberries each day, putting the strawberries in the high long tubs have worked, the fruits are not touching the ground and the bugs are not eating them.

Seeds and pips

Kiwi plant on left

Pomegranate on right slightly in front

both sill on my desk 

 12 more Kiwi seedlings

these are in the greenhouse

 This Poinsettia was tiny at Christmas, 

put it in greenhouse in bigger pot, 

where as you can see it loved it, plenty of new growth

 Lemon tree, still tiny but growing

Tiny orange tree

My wormery is in it's final place

I am so happy to know I have 2 bags of worms living in their new home, ready for all the kitchen and some garden waste, I have read loads of items regarding the care of the worms, and the next couple of weeks are the toughest time for them. I have 3 trays, which should be enough for us, the top two trays are up side down on top of the lid, it will be a while before they will be required. The hope is now to have zero food waste from our kitchen, we are very good and do not waste meats or dairy, we have also stopped loads of plastic coming into the house, we won't be able to stop it all, but we can try our best. We do recycle everything we can, but again we have noticed the bin is never as full as it used to be.
Work has been interesting, as more people find out I am retiring and more comments are made. I am counting down the weeks, just 7 to go, I have loads of things I want to do and try. I have a few crafts I want to progress with, I should find time for my cross stitching as well as loads of reading time.
Thank you so much for your comments last time regarding the announcement of my forth coming retirement, the decision took a while, I really did not want to say I would give up and then have to got back to work later. We did loads of research to ensure I have paid in enough to get my state pension, when I am 66 years old. Hubby is very happy, he has wanted me to finish for months, knowing I was not enjoying going into the office. I am really looking forward to us spending time together, we share hobbies and enjoy each others company so very much.