saturday buttling

Fancy a little stroll through my Saturday? Oh, go on, it’s been ever such a lovely day, I’d love to share it with you…

It started with a dash to the post office, and a quick detour to the Country Market (I really should stop calling it the Women’s Institute, they don’t like it!). A cake that I am meant to keep for an event on Tuesday (hmm – I can see me making another one), and some Grasmere gingerbread – which didn’t even last long enough for a photograph.

Then on to the main business of the morning – a community growers event at the local library.

Our Transition Towns group has a little community garden just round the corner from me, that I pop down and help with when I can. We were at the library today, telling people about the garden, along with Grow Sheffield, who have just taken on a Community Grower in the area, and Abundance, who harvest unwanted fruit around the city and hand it out, or make it into chutney. Oh, and another community allotment association, who are very close to me and I didn’t even realise! Plenty of exciting things going on round here at the minute.

The library were ever so accommodating, and had made a special cheerful display of gardening books. What fun!

Then it was time to trot back up the hill to home, where Peter had made the most beautiful broth for lunch, and the spring issue of the Permaculture Association newsletter had arrived.

I was itching to get out in the garden, but first I needed a little trip to the garden centre.

I only bought one thing that I didn’t go in for – a small lavender plant, which I did need really, after killing the other one (accidentally!) – you can’t have a garden without a lavender in it, of course.

Anyway, three (for the price of two) large bags of compost later, and finally I got out into the garden, with my garden planning folder, my box of seeds, and the sweet peas, which I’ve been slowly getting used to being outside. Hope it’s not too early for them.

I planted a couple of the sweet peas outside a week or two ago, and literally the minute I’d finished planting them, the sky darkened, and it started hail stoning. Poor little things. I improvised them a little house, intending to take it off again, but they seem quite happy in there, so I’ll leave it on for a little while…

The daffs in the pot are looking lovely, they make me smile every time I look out of the window. And now I’ve got another pot of sweet peas too, with mizuma (a salad leaf, I’ve not had it before) sown round the edges. I’m planning on sitting out there in the summer, smelling the sweet peas, and picking the salad to go straight into my dinner…

The most exciting thing in the garden at the minute is the willow hedge, which I planted about a month ago – look how much it’s grown!

We’ve had ever such fun peeping out of the window each day, watching it grow. You might think we had better things to do, but clearly not.

I’ve also been planting more peas, having become rather obsessed with eating pea shoots over the last few weeks.

The original ones have been scoffed, and are nicely regrowing, and there’s been two more lots sown since then, but there’s still room in my life for more pea shoots. I’m planning on not buying salad at all this summer, but I also need some windowsill space for new seedlings, so these peas will have to take their chances in the garden. I’ve still kept plenty inside, just in case. Can’t imagine life without pea shoots now.

Just about time to stop for a cuppa I reckon, before standing back to admire the view.

Those little mini fences weren’t planned, they were just lying around, and I was feeling overwhelmed by all that space (look what having a tiny garden does to your perception! ‘All that space’ indeed – goodness knows what I’d do if I ever got a proper sized garden – sit in the middle of it crying and never do anything I suppose.)

Anyway, I was looking for somewhere to sow beetroot seeds, that wouldn’t get trampled on when I planted out the squash in a few weeks, and spied these little fence things. I think they may have come from the pound shop, a long time ago. I’ve plonked three of them along that section of the garden, and it divides it up into sections nicely, and makes it feel more manageable.

And I’m told it looks ‘quite cute’. Hmm.

Just need to figure out where to put all the things that got ousted off the windowsill now…

How was your Saturday?

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