The year has been the year of the pheasant in my garden. Almost every day, my friend the pheasant is somewhere around and I'm really surprised that he's not afraid of being quite close to me as I do my work. Obviously, he understands that I'm not a threat and just continues on with his search for food. The following four photos are the best shots I've been able to take of him. … [Read more...] about My friend the pheasant
greenhouse
More veggies than I can chew?
I've been busy in the garden lately. Real busy. So much of my spare time (which is quite limited) is now being taken up with the garden. Of course, it's a problem all of my own making yet, I have to admit, I enjoy it a lot (most of the time). My last post was on April 10th (where has all that time gone?) and was called "Things are growing". In that post there was a … [Read more...] about More veggies than I can chew?
Stones, Woodchips and Seeds
Last weekend, I did a few things in the garden and I'm posting a series of images below with comments to describe what's going on. You'll see why stones, woodchips and seeds are the main things on my mind. Here in the UK, the grass is just starting to grow again after winter, and things are starting to move in the garden. My aim is to build a natural, diverse garden and I'm … [Read more...] about Stones, Woodchips and Seeds
Stinging Nettles – taking up the fight
Since moving to the UK, I've become accustomed to stinging nettles. They grow very vigorously, as a weed, and have runner roots just under the surface which spread out everywhere and result in new nettles. They're hard to get rid of and their leaves really do create an unpleasant sting. One thing I've found is that they love ground that has been dug up. In general, if … [Read more...] about Stinging Nettles – taking up the fight
Hartley Greenhouse – the good and the bad
I've recently had a Hartley Greenhouse (from Hartley Botanic) installed in our lower garden that I'm trying to turn into a beautiful natural garden. To install the greenhouse, it needed to have a substantial base built and then have the Hartley Greenhouse installed on that. You can see photos of all this construction below (click on the images to see them … [Read more...] about Hartley Greenhouse – the good and the bad