Tales from a small; garden; As I come to the end of our first season in our new garden, I look back with some satisfaction to what has been achieved, starting with a “blank canvas”, it is now very pleasant to sit in the dining room and look out on the garden, during meals. This month I will move the gooseberries & blackcurrants  where they were temporary placed when we first arrived, their new home will be on the opposite side of the garden, joining the other soft fruits & fruit trees I planted this year, giving us fruit the full length of the garden. The tayberries planted early after we arrived have really fruited well in their first season, but now is the time to cut out all the old wood and tie in this years growth for this is where next years fruit will form. The lawn which was laid to turf has looked well all Summer, it will get an Autumn feed. Due to the presence of a few fungi on the lawn tells me that the drainage could be improved so it will be spiked all over and sand brushed into the holes. The cuttings of pinks I took last month have rooted well, and need to be potted up. During the Autumn I have collected up many seed heads, the seed is now dry & ready to store for sowing next year, on the subject of seed, the gardener should always be looking out for this, while on holiday earlier this year in Devon I picked up a shrivelled passion fruit, this has yielded many seeds which I will sow this month. Again I bought a couple of tomato plants at our plant sale, these were an American heritage variety with the unlikely name of “bloody butcher”,, they fruited & ripened outside earlier than those under glass, while they came in assorted shapes they tasted delicious!. Wishing to grow these again I selected an overripe fruit, removed the pulp & separated the seeds, these were placed on toilet tissue,&  when dry will be stored, come the Spring all I need to do is place the tissue on some seed compost, cover, water & with luck I should have some tomato plants, some for me & some for the plant sale, full circle! In the vegetable garden, the beetroots, the largest I have ever grown, have been lifted & pickled. Now that the runner beans have finished fruiting, having saved some seed, will be cut down leaving in the roots, haulms composted. The bean sticks to be washed off & the ends that had been in the ground, stood in creosote for a week, this will keep them in good condition for use next year. On the subject of maintenance, now that most plants have died back, it is time to treat the fences, giving  a good opportunity to carry out a check that they are sound, carrying out repairs as necessary, this pay back all the effort, when strong Winter winds try their best to blow them down. My new  herbaceous border is now nearly complete with plenty of structure & Winter colour, thanks to the plants I bought from Rosy Hardy at our August meeting. Like all gardens it is an experiment, trying new ideas, changing layouts putting in new plants & moving round containers. I have really enjoyed  our first season in this garden  & look forward to many years working in it, & I hope you have enjoyed  this journey with me.

Tales from a small garden; now harvesting French beans, runner beans, lettuce, radishes, Swiss chard and the first of the carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers & peppers from the greenhouse, not too bad when I think we started at “ground zero”  at the end of January this year. The grape vines that I saved from the original garden had tried to make a” take over  bid” for my fence & neighbours garden, on checking these, despite the luxuriant growth produced, I could find no flowers, so out they came, and new vines planted, these were welcomed to their new home with lots of well rotted farm manure, we will see what next year brings?  Work progresses on my new herbaceous perennial flower bed, this will divide the garden into two parts, planting up with plants purchased from garden centres and generous donations from friends & neighbours. The stream bank, all the weeds & brambles, now cut down & left to dry out in the sun, making them easier to dispose of. My plan with the stream is to erect a low chain link fence along the stream edge,  fill with rocks & rubble behind it, fold it back and bury the top in the ground by back filling, also to put in a set of steps down to the water, very useful for filling those watering cans! The last of the   flower beds has now been cleared, the bay tree cut to a respectable height, round this is my herb garden, I have had the young plants for some time now, from plants purchased from our plant sale & those given to me by my daughter. To be continued:-