grow it yourself

I think I have become addicted to growing from seed – flowers, veg and occasional mouldy tea cups under the bed.  I have a beautiful greenhouse, and an orchard – so really I have no excuse.     It has recently been  harvest festival time at school, I thought I could send in a box or two of super home grown produce.  Needless to say all hopes were dashed as a letter arrives with a request from the beneficiaries  in that they really only want items that have a shelf life of over three months.   Give me strength, needless to say the Ellis family are now consuming apple pies and crumbles at an alarming rate.

I have been saving seed at a phenomenal  rate this year.  I recently read an article on sowing fresh, rather than saving  seed- so I did just that.  I collected seed from a towering black hollyhock a while ago, and a fortnight ago sowed them and they have  already germinated.  I can imagine it already  – and for once it will be in my garden, rather than someone elses.   Heres a question  to ponder on ” Why is it that you often have your best  design ideas and actually get round to creating them  in someone elses garden ”  ? –    Anyway I digress –  I can see towering black hollyhocks mingling for pole position with Rudbeckia Herbstonne, late flowering aster, seed heads of woad and a bit of fennel thrown in for good measure hopefully next year.

I love these trombanico courgettes, just their very shape makes me smile, and those tendrils.   As a bonus they also taste quite good.  Next year I am actually going to get around to grow them over an archway with some Nasturtian Crimson Emperor, rather than let them just sprawl over the floor –

It has been a truly wet day here in Shropshire,  I almost lost my gloves and handfork  to the soil that had a consistency of christmas pudding, time to pack up and write this. 

Finally this is my favorite garden in my care.  I have been working here  for six years now, and have dug out hundreds of square meters of borders.  I love the fact that the owner just lets me get on with it, and I have made huge borders with massive drifts of plants that particularly at this time of year are knitting together with colour, seed heads and berries.  for all you garden makers out there if you get the opportunity to work in a big garden,  plant big and bold – just do it – you know it makes sense.