Tussiemussie's Profile

I have a large garden and grow most of my own vegetables and fruit organically, the vegetables are in raised beds, and this has helped drainage during his very wet weather. Have just joined Garden Organic, which entitles me to free entrance to the Organic research gardens at Yalding Ryton etc, plus other showpiece gardens,, access to their website and free advice on organic gardening, and some free seeds too.
I also keep 6 Indian Runner ducks and 6 Blue Haze chickens. Several cats and a dog.
Love the" my garden" facility, have filled a lot in already, it will be such a useful reminder for future planting. and I intend to add to it over time.
I hope to learn more from others who do likewise.

We found the garden in this state and I wrote this poem.....

The kiss of the sun for pardon
The song of one bird for mirth
one is nearer to god in a garden
than anywhere else on earth."

-- Engraved stone tablet found in the garden, author unknown

Roots of Restoration

It had been a struggle to survive,
in the end the natives won. The garden
was impenetrable; a mesh of brambles
in mortal combat with aged shrubs.
Contours of old flower beds were
covered in long grass. A drunken old

pergola teetered over the flagstones
buried under weeds, with no space to fall
it stood tall. The rear garden gate
swung on a single hinge and creaked
in the prevailing west wind. Water iris

and a lily clung to life in a leaky
pond which sprouted a mix of moss grass
and brambles, these lay on a thick mat
of old roots. A water boatman and a newt
paddled about on the stagnant surface.

A rustic garden seat had succumbed
to rampant woodworm and decay, in front
of a dilapidated shed where old spades,
scythes and rakes had rusted away.

We didn't find the ancient well until
we cut the overgrowth. The supports
for the winch had toppled into the well,
a bucket lay where it fell, in a tangle
of cable next to an old rusted handle.

We open up the well, thirty feet down,
glimpse a prehistoric scene. Wild
creatures frolic in the cool water.
A family of newts, blink in the light,
this garden is their nursery and home.