A bit of earth

14 comments

‘Might I, might I have a bit of earth?’ (from The Secret Garden)

Welcome to my gardening blog. I’m not a novice but am far from expert. I am of the philosophy that says in order to learn, you must just do. And then keep a journal and learn from your mistakes! :-)

I am originally from Cincinnati, Ohio in the USA. It’s a midwestern state and we get freezing, snowy winters but blistering summers. Spring and Autumn in Ohio are breathtaking. And I mean that literally if you’re an allergy sufferer, haha. Before I moved to England in January of 2004 (why didn’t anyone warn me what England was like in JANUARY?!), I loved to garden but stuck with herbs and vegetables.

When I moved here, my husband introduced me to the pleasures of gardening simply for beauty and I then went the opposite direction for several years and stuck with flowers and plants. My life’s mission is all about achieving balance and as you can see, it is something I still struggle with!

Two years ago, I finally combined the 2 by digging over the bottom of the garden for a veg patch. Fantastic. But once again, because my all-consuming passion was the veg, I sort of neglected the rest of the garden.

So here we are, April of 2010 and I am absolutely itching to be out there every minute I can, digging in the earth, planting, cultivating. It’s a sickness but one I’m sure you can understand! I have always loved a cottage garden and so began reading up a bit more about them. You know, what plants are traditional, how to achieve a certain look…all the usual. And then, right there in black and white, was the most beautiful idea! Can’t believe it’s really so simple as all that. Just squidge your veg in amongst the other plants. I mean, after all, a ripened tomato plant or runner bean vines in flower are every bit as ornamental as foxglove and roses, in their own way. And my mind went wild at the thought of all the exciting architectural stuff I could achieve in my existing beds with climbing vegetables.

For instance, one side of my patio arch has a well established clematis already making it’s way vigorously to the top. The other side looks bare as the potted climber over there is not doing very well in that spot. Call me mad but I’m going to relocate that little plant and train a cucumber up the arch instead.

And I saw a gorgeous idea on here the other day, a potted, inverted wigwam of beans, that I’m itching to try out though I think I’m going to use sugar snap peas. Plus I have the perfect spot for a pumpkin plant or 2 that I want to encourage to grow vertically so I’m looking for the best structures to support them. And finally (well, only finally for the moment because I have tons of plans and ideas knocking about), I started my sweetcorn in pots because I can’t wait to have a go at growing the ‘three sisters’ in the trad Native American way.

I’ve tried it before, back in the USA, with little luck. And yesterday I read an article in Grow it! magazine about companion planting and decided to try again. Essentially, you grow a circle of sweetcorn til it’s well established, then you plant climbing beans in a circle around the corn and train the vines up the cornstalks. And once the beans are established, you plant squash around the beans. The corn supports the beans, the beans provide nitrogen for the squash and the squash keeps the ground moist for the thirsy corn.

Oh yes, now I’m off to erect that rose arch and then jumps up and down with excitement heading off to the garden centre for climbing roses, jasmine and foxglove.

I hope I haven’t bored you! :-)

Lots of love and green growing vibes,

Tatia

• 11 Apr, 2010
• 1 like

More blog posts by tatia