I have been in love with the garden and outside since I was small. My Dad kept us in fresh vegetables all year round so there was always something going on in the garden. When my children were small I remembered my love of the garden. Time and a small garden at our last house were the limiters to doing anything more substantial than a few strawberries and some pretty flowers. The house belonged to my husbands grandmother. She had so many amazing plants and shrubs, those plants her efforts and my Dad inspired me to carry on looking after the garden. I have always been sad that we had to completely change the garden from her pretty raised beds and gravel paths but needs must and with small children we had to have something more family friendly. We embarked on a major garden refurbishment project not long after we moved in. We did add a couple of raised beds that served us well with carrots, peas, strawberries and salad crops. We kept the front garden for flowers and even now, some 10 years later, it still has some of the original shrubs. The flowers unfortunately never survived the tenants when we rented it out for a few years.
When we decided it was time to move to have a bigger space for our family the biggest prerequisite was a large garden so I could grow more yummy food for us to eat. The bonus when we bought the house was that it had a green house. I had dreamed of a green house to grow tomatoes and cucumbers and to start vegetables early and grow potatoes in bags for Christmas. I maybe haven’t quite achieved some of those ideals and dreams but we have not only made the most of the garden but have added an allotment to our outside space where I can grow even more fruit vegetables and flowers.
Crochet is 100% my greatest love and will stay with me until I die but I love the garden too and want to share what I grow and what I cook with what I grow. I hope you enjoy the series of posts about my garden life. I shall very much enjoy taking the pictures and writing about my garden and allotment as the year progresses and my crochet projects continue.
When I was little I didn’t appreciate the value of weeding and getting the garden ready for planting. I always thought it was my parents trying to make my life miserable by making me pick rocks out of the plowed dirt. I see now what a valuable skill they taught me and I’m so happy they never gave in to my tears and tantrums about not wanting to help! I can’t wait to see what you grow!! 😀
I love your story I too have a definite love hate relationship with weeding it’s a necessary evil 🙂
I always put my interest in flowers down to my dad too – he was always pottering about in the garden, even though it was only small. In those days I was happy to pick up a worm with my bare hands but I’m a bit more squeamish now. Gardening is always easier for those who have grown up with it from as early as they can remember.
Love the sculpture!
A junk yard find it’s been many things, this year it’s destined to be a cucumber frame 🙂