I’ve been a member of Garden Organic since I got my first garden in 1992. Apart from supporting an important organisation, membership brings a newsletter and discounts on purchases from the Organic Gardening catalogue. In my early years of gardening I learned a lot from the newsletter. You can also take part in members’ experiments, trying out new ideas for organic ways to deter pests, improve crops or keep weeds at bay. I admit to never having taken part, usually because I’ve never had the particular space or energy available at the right time. Recently I discovered that my late mother-in-law ..read more

My tomato and chilli seedlings are coming along nicely apart from the Crimson Crush seeds. These are the ones that are supposed to be blight resistant and did rather well last year. I sowed the rest of the packet a few weeks ago for the allotment as it tends to get blighted with blight more than the garden. Anyway, none of them have germinated, until this tiny prodigal one appeared a few days ago. So far only the one but I’m ever hopeful. The cucumbers that I sowed last weekend have all appeared in just a week, sown in egg boxes so I’ll need to get them moved to larger quarters quite quickl ..read more

Today would have been my father’s ninetieth birthday. Sadly, he didn’t make it to eighty but today seemed like a day to do something to mark his day – the Ides of March, as he always told us. He was a serious amateur actor and knew his Shakespeare off by heart. Apart from the Ides of March and its less inspiring connotations, we’ve always associated his birthday with daffodils and they were out in force today despite some torrential rain. I brought some of the fallen over ones into the house: I was careful to remove a couple of slugs and snails which were lurking in the trumpets. When the rai ..read more

Last week I sowed some seeds and this week I have some tiny tiny tomato seedlings: Barely there but hopefully they will grow big and strong and produce tomatoes in August and September. The chillies, sweetpeas, broad beans and salad that I sowed last week are taking their time. It’s been nasty and cold outside most days so the seeds in the seed palace have not had much to spur them on. The ones in the house have no excuse but I’m patient. Meanwhile the daffodils are coming in waves, starting at the back of the garden which gets the sun first Then the tete a tete round the pond are coming on ..read more

At last things are really springing to life: lots of snowdrops, daffodils, violas, crocuses and some birthday primulas And today I started my seed sowing. I’ve been very patient but now I have some broad beans and salads, sowed in egg boxes in the seed palace and some tomatoes, chillies and sweet peas ,more cosy in various containers in the house. Sorry forgot to take photos – but here’s what I’m looking forward to later in the summer: I also did some tidying up, removing the grass from the raised beds and cutting back the autumn fruiting raspberries. It’s the first day I’ve really spent any ..read more

It’s that time of year when the garden is coming back to life and my seed growing fingers start to itch. It’s too soon to sow anything here though. Anything I sow inside will get leggy in search of light and anything outside will just rot in the cold ground. I’ll have to wait until March but that’s not so long away. Meanwhile I’ve done my seed audit, raking through my trusty seed tin: and finding that I have at least a few of most of my favourite seeds. I have various varieties of tomatoes, peas, runner beans and cucumbers – here’s some of last year’s crop to give you an idea probably enough ..read more

And so we have made it through the dark days of January and into February. Yesterday the sun shone a bit and it almost felt like spring. In the garden the snowdrops are springing up everywhere: A few iris reticulata have appeared in unexpected places. This one in a flash of blue in a pot at the patio door And these ones poking up between self-seeded strawberries and foxgloves I’m not sure I planted them there but I’m happy to see them never-the-less. The faithful rhubarb has sprouted already and maybe we’ll be harvesting it before the stash in the freezer from last year is finished. I plant ..read more

So here we are in a new year and the gloomy rain has turned to beautiful frost. I went out in the garden this morning to see what was happening on this 12th and last day of Christmas. The snowdrops are pushing through and one is almost in bloom – very early for my garden but beautiful never-the-less 2. The hammamelis has produced its first spidery flowers 3. The oak and apple leaves which I’ve left where they fell were looking rather lovely in the frosted grass 4. the frost has been leaving lovely patterns on the uninspiring piece of black sheeting which covers the patio table 5. This li ..read more

And so we come to the end of another year. As I approach the tenth year of this blog – look forward to the anniversary celebrations in the summer – I reflect on the joys of the garden and allotment in 2023, as well as the disappointments and surprises. As always, there are awards to announce, starting with the Fabulous Flowers Award. Fabulous Flowers The spring saw the usual flush of snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils The snakeshead fritillaries were particularly lovely The aquilegias were also rather stunning this year And one particular one, ‘Winky double dark blue’ apparently, went a bit ..read more

The solstice has fallen on either the 21st or the 22nd this year, depending on who you listen to. I don’t really mind which but it it is nice to get to the turning of the year and the possible returning of the light. The 21st was the most beautiful day and coincided with the first day of my holidays, perfect for a long walk along the Water of Leith, delivering a couple of grown up sons’ bikes to the Bike Station, a great local charity which refurbishes old bikes. We’ve bought many of our own and our sons’ bikes from them over the years and were pleased to make some space in the shed by taking ..read more