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sharon mc
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...Testing, Testing... Introduction... Take...Three...

Category: Gardening 2008 | Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 12:51 am

I moved here to West Wales in 1997. It is a very rural area, as can be seen in this here picture...if I can make this flipping work...third time lucky!



In the foreground is Pencarreg Lake, which lies in the Teifi Valley. The lake is home for a lot of wildlife and it is currently being visited by migrating geese. It's brilliant watching them fly in as a group to land on the water. The downside is that they can make a lot of noise at night, which gets our two dogs barking...

This next picture should show the home which I share with my partner ('Himself' as I shall be calling him).



It was taken when we last had snow here in January 2007. Since then, the weather has been abnormally mild and apart from some sudden frosts at the beginning of December it's been almost tropical. Wales, like most of the UK, has had unusually high rainfall and this has hindered efforts in the garden because the ground had been too wet to dig.



This picture shows I hope my desk where I do my writing and online activity; I'm there now except that it's night and dark outside, so I can't see the view. This next picture was taken at the end of last summer and it shows my little garden.



I grew mainly flowers in this bit although I did have some Broad Beans too. They started off great but after the constant rain that we had from June to September, they got blighted. This year there I'm just planting flowers here; I had a lot of luck raising plants from seed last spring and I'm hoping that I can repeat that again.

This here boat



and



has been tidied up a lot since I took these pics. There weren't many plants in it, except for perennial weeds and the topsoil was pretty poor. Last season, I wanted to inject a bit of colour and some scent, which I did.



The problem was that my planting wasn't very planned. That was OK in the short term but I hadn't allowed for the strong winds that we frequently get here because we're quite high up on the side of the valley. Subsequently, the flowers that I grew: Poppies, Cornflowers and Nicotiana were a bit too tall for that position and they suffered.



So, as you can...hopefully...see, although it was colourful, it was all a bit chaotic. The two dogs are part of the household: Flapsy (background) is a black Labrador and Brick(y) is a Border Collie X. Brick(y) likes to help out in the garden by digging and guarding imaginary rat-holes.

Last year Himself and I rescued an old greenhouse that was going to be demolished and brought it up here, to a corner in the field. As it's out of the way, we have to cross a ditch which collects all the run-off water from Pencarreg Mountain, so Himself built this little bridge, to make life easier.



He is a carpenter-builder and is happy to help out my gardening efforts by building raised beds and doing fencing, bless. I'm very lucky. The walk up to the greenhouse, being a bit out of the way, always makes me think I'm entering a secret garden.



At the top of this path, we've cut the meadow grass back a bit but apart from that, nothing much has been done...yet. It's an ongoing project and this is only the first full season for this part of the place.



Not a tremendous photo but I should have some better ones later on to add to this blog as the season progresses.

Once the greenhouse was up, we began to spend more time in this part. It was too late in the season to do very much but we did buy some Cordon tomato plants; they were OK but they suffered a bit fom us not knowing how to take care of them properly. I also grew some Bush tomatoes and they did really well. Encouraged by that, I've just started some of both types from seed and will see how they go.

This last picture...



ought to show a side-view of the 'veg plot'. In actality, this is a corner of the field by the greenhouse that Himself kindly fenced for me with zinc sheeting. This is to provide plants with shelter from the prevailing winds and to hopefully give some protection from the rabbit population. Last year, there were lots of them; this year we'll have to see as they have been getting hunted by men who come up with their dogs and chase them into nets.

As well as our two dogs, we have 24 hens and two cockerals. The birds were bought as pullets and are just coming into lay, which is great; the eggs are really golden from the hens free-ranging on grass. We also have eight maran chicks which are now eleven weeks old and they will be joining the others in a new hen-house which himself has just built. As I said before, he's an excellent carpenter.

I've just sunk a small pre-fab pond in the veg plot. I'm not going to be putting fish into it, just aquatic plants and then we'll see what turns up; I've seen frogs and toads on the field and as they gravitate towards water, I'm hoping for a bit of pond-colonisation to help keep down the slug and ohter pest population.

Finally, we've put up five nesting boxes amongst the trees here in the hope that some birds might use it to accommodate their pending familes in; time will tell and hopefully, this is the first of many future seasons.

Well, that's the introduction over. I'm hoping to continue this blog as an online record of this gardening season and I will add photos as I go.


Now to see if this has worked...


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Comments

sharon mc wrote on Thu Feb 07, 2008 12:57 am:


FANTASTIC! It's come out ok; here's to the next one!




 

Sjoerd wrote on Thu Feb 07, 2008 1:25 am:


Now that's a nice bit of writing with pictures that illustrate the layout there. It all looks really good. A very nice setting with great possibilities.
Sorry to hear that you had it a bit too soggy there. Moisture can work against you sometimes, can't it. Hopefully this year will be diofferent. I think that I would be a very unhappy person if I had no broad beans to freeze-in.

Well, good luck and keep the pics coming. It is all quite interesting.

My partner andf I visited Wales a few years ago and really liked it, especially along the coast. There are some very interesting historical places here and there...not to mention the beauty of the land.




 

kuntrygal wrote on Thu Feb 07, 2008 2:50 am:


Loved reading your blog, enjoyed the pictures and your dogs are so cute. Good luck with your gardening this year! Glad to have you with us!




 

glendann wrote on Thu Feb 07, 2008 3:16 am:


I sure enjoyed all your pictures .Seems like you will have a great yard and garden Thats a really big green house .I am proud of my little one.I know you will love your big one.




 

petunia wrote on Thu Feb 07, 2008 3:25 am:


sharon, looks like you'll be very busy. Great picts. I also have a pond. Many frogs come each spring. Last year we also had garden snakes-they were after the frogs so we had to get the snakes out. But I love seeing ponds come to life each spring.
Can't wait to see your ongoing pictures. Thanks for sharing.




 

Palm Tree wrote on Thu Feb 07, 2008 8:25 am:


I like your space, the dogs, the greenhouse and the boat container garden. Great idea I'll say again.
Gosh Sharon I would be in heaven with all that space. Happy gardening.




 

Droopy wrote on Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:54 am:


You've got a nice place there! The veggie patch looks lovely, as do the dogs. Hope this summer will be a tad drier than the last one for you.




 

Frank wrote on Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:40 am:


Very nice introduction, your garden and home is beautiful. Flapsy and Brick(y) look mischievous but friendly. I also love the boats you have plated in, novel.

Looking forward to future blog entries!




Silman45 wrote on Thu Feb 07, 2008 12:23 pm:


Wow! I want to rent Himself! Mr. Man might learn something from him...Is Himself any good at brainwashing???? Mr. Man needs a good dose! Beautiful pictures...I am excited for you! Please keep us posted! Make sure you keep feeding Himself REAL GOOD!




 

Netty wrote on Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:39 pm:


I really enjoyed your blog Sharon. I just love that boat!
That's great that you have such a great handyman to help with all your projects.




 

Biita wrote on Sat Feb 09, 2008 2:06 pm:


Thank you, for a very nice into to your world. You have done an excellent job on your gardening an sounds like you have it all planned out for this comming season very nicely. I love the boat idea! (can i copy it,, it would fit right in since i live on a fjørd)




 

bsewnsew wrote on Sun Feb 10, 2008 1:47 am:


Well done......Love the plants everywhere.. the boat is sure a good use for a reject....
Out here they use old bathtubs for flowers.. Guess not many boats around the area..

Lovely presentation..




Robin282 wrote on Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:52 am:


I REALLY like those black iris, but the pooches are cuter!
Robin





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