Before and After January to June 2014
June 28, 2014 by Jenni Clutten | 3 Comments
We all know that things grow over time, but I don’t think I’ve ever been so aware of it as this week. I was flicking through my laptop and I could see the transformation was just so striking. It’s the change and varieties in colour more than anything. Here are some of my before and after photos from January 2014 to June 2014. Have you seen any big changes in your garden tis month?
The garlic has been wonderful, such a fragrant thing to plant in the winter months and look forward to in the summer. I’ll certainly be planting some again this year and I am hoping to learn to to keep what I’ve grown for as long as possible. The bulbs themselves arent enormous which isn’t a surprise as I didn’t add anything to the soil before I planted. Once I’ve emptied the bed I’ll be adding more soil conditioner to try and boost the nutrients.
The beautiful roses are in full bloom. I can hardly believe they were woody stems just a month or so ago. I have used them for the village flower arranging compeition, to give to a friend and I have just started to make some confetti too.
My loganberry has gone from twig to lush foliage, Evie and I tasted our first berry on Wednesday and actually the first one I’ve ever tasted. It was on the sour side of a raspberry and would be perfect in crumble or jam.
And of course there are other beautiful things that have been growing, plentiful peas, sweet peas and more subtle white/pink roses and lots more to enjoy.
Interested in getting the kids out of the house? Got your trowel and wellys to hand? Here’s my guide to get kids gardening.
A small container is a great way for kids to take responsibility for their own space, giving them a sense of pride and accomplishment. We selected a lovely deep raised bed that was looking bare since the daffodils have faded. Nye chose the Calibrachoa Cabaret Yellow, Fuchsia Semi-Trailing Buds of May Jean Taylor and Ivy Geranium Supreme Burgundy White. Alongside these he went for a cucumber plant, which was in need of a new home.
Some of the onions went to seed so we chopped them down and ate them, and they were delicious. The tops of the onions have blown over too now so we have been slowly pulling them up gradually. They have the most beautiful bright white flesh and a lovely strong smell and were just perfect in the 
This week I’ve been working on improving the year round colour and foliage in our garden, starting with the borders which appear to be full of wild flowers.
And linking up with Mammasaurus for the wonderful How Does Your Garden Grow Linky. Last week I loved these 
I am loving the combination of the pink blossom and the yellow rape seed at the moment. I find the contrast crazily enjoyable and kind of psychedelic. Soon the blossom will be gone, (it’s already falling) and then the next phase of growth will come along. There are tulips galore, these are ones we planted when I was still pregnant back in early November. I had forgotten which ones I’d bought and these pink blossoms are very unlike me, however I’m finding them strangely appealing. 
Then on with the next stage of the garden. I think these are my anemones de caen coming through. I soaked the bulbs and planted them months ago and hoped they would grow so I can cut them to display inside. The bulbs seem to have swelled from these tiny corns to gigantic conkers, I’m so excited to see them bloom.
The garden is being somewhat taken over by the field. It’s wonderful having such an open fence but as the wildflowers creep in I think I will have to take some of the garden back. I find myself madly googling what weeds look like in their infancy so I can strike before they grow madly. It is a battle I am loosing at the moment. The ground up there is rather mossy with a couple of old tree stumps and fungus seems to grow in abundance. 
The flower assortment is growing, I just love this unusual double daffodil and the gorgeous tiny flowers on the rosemary. Then there are the big floppy pansies that Nye insists on ‘watering’ by ripping them out of the ground and blasting them with a hose pipe! I’m thinking more and more about flowers now most of my fruit and veg seeds are sown. I recently bought which I have been feasting my eyes on. It’s done nothing for my addicition to buying seeds and I was totally blown over by a bed of poppies, verbascum and astrantia. I’ve bought some similar varieties to grow from seed so we shall see how it goes!
One of the major easter jobs has been re-painting some teak garden furniture we picked up from ebay a few weeks ago. I ended up applying about 4 layers of this blue paint but I am so in love. As I spent yet another afternoon dripping in blue paint I tried to imagine how pleased I’d be when it was finished. I’ll be sharing a full set of before and after pictures later this week.
The veg patch continues to grow, we now have potatoes, big fat onions and garlic, peas and lettuce. I went to sow some more carrots, thinking the first ones had failed, but just as I crouched down I found the tiniest of carrot seedlings sprouting up from the earth. Nye has been trampling all over them, I hope some survive, at least I can be certain that they will be hardy!
Hurrah, the garden beds are finally filling out with lush foliage. Tulips galore in beautiful reds and purples as well as blossom and new leaves sprouting on all the trees. Here’s a snap shot of our April garden, including some nettles as well as a few unknown flowers, and possibly some pretty weeds…
I admit I do love how organic the rocks and plants are looking. The big garden bed has surprised me, after its stillness during the winter it just suddenly exploded into this fleshy mass of greenery. I think I’ll add some more winter plants to add some interest towards the end of the year, but I’ll enjoy what I have while I have it. Happy Easter to you, I hope the sun has been shining down on your garden too.
And then I turned my attention to the rest of my seed packets to find that there were more things to plant so I’ve sown some green headed calabrese, white strawberries (wishful thinking I reakon) hollyhocks, and then thought I’d be brave and sow my carott seeds in drills straight into the soil. As a precaution I have planted a row of onions next to them to try and deter the dreaded carott fly that everyone seems to go on about!
Then there’s all those other exciting things, blueberries starting to flower, sweet peas getting bushy, that black hyacinth emerging, and having a go at regrowing celery from the root.
My toddler just loves to be in the garden pottering. Digging and watering are his loves and these activities have maintained his interest for at least 6 months, so giving him his very own space seemed like a great opportunity to get creative.
To give the garden a fun personalised feel I used some tin cans to add my sons name to the edge of his patch. To do this I simply used a nail and hammer to add letters to the ends of some tin cans and dug these into the soil. You can’t see it but I also added a star, for more complicated patterns it’s probably best to use a marker pen to draw the outline. They’ll look better when the mud subsides and I can’t tell you how satisfying it was hammering holes into tin.
We’ve been pottering about in the garden almost daily, peeking at the seeds to see if any have sprouted and keeping a check on the water levels. We’ve even had our first bbq, although we had to eat off a rickety old pasting table as we’ve not got a garden table at the moment. The above picture shows the progress I’ve made since Christmas on the front garden bed, the new trellace adds some much needed height and I must admit I’m pretty pleased with it.
