January, dark, wet, and cold, with wild winds whipping across the fields and racing up our hill. And yet, it won’t really be too long now, before the snowdrops are out, or the witch hazel blooms, maybe spring isn’t exactly around the corner, but the hope of next years garden is already there.
Read MoreSpring is nearly gone by, just like that we are just about to turn the corner into summer. There is quite a lot of energy in the atmosphere in June, the verdant green of spring still lingers, plants growing up seemingly over night, the long evenings and early mornings. But there is a softness to it as well, we are not in the hot, heavy days of July and August, things are still fresh.
Read MoreHere in Essex, winter was relatively mild, we had a bit of snow, and a good deal of rain, some very cold spells and some balmy ones. January was typical I suppose, cold, rain and a bit of snow, a bit warmer than some Januaries, but not excessively so.
Read MoreIt is early August and early in the morning, the sky is still waking up and a faint mist is in the air. Looking about the garden, walking here and there, I am planning for fall and beginning to sow the last crops to go in the veg garden. It is hard to believe we have come to August, the we are at the tail end of the growing season, now we are counting weeks to the first frost, where just 3 month back we were moving tender plants out in the garden.
Read MoreHappy Spring! Winter is behind us, and this last week it has surely felt that way, the days have been warm and the nights quiet mild, we have had some sun, a bit of clouds and rain, but it is Spring!
Read MoreToday, warm breezes and overcast skies greet me this morning with a whisper of the coming spring. But when I had sat down to write the newsletter in earnest, snow was softly swirling out the widow, it didn’t come too much, but it felt like winter out there, overcast, decidedly cold, with a strong westerly wind. The end of February can be like that, snow one day, followed by handful of days that feel as if spring was just around the corner, then of course, back to crusty snow underfoot in the garden.
Read MoreWhile spring is still far off, January and the start of the new year fills me with hope. The days are starting to stretch out, there are many garden jobs to be done on good days and there is all the planning and dreaming of the garden to be done.
Read MoreDecember is a slow month in the garden, I think I do about as much “gardening” this month as I do in a single week in April. That is not to say I am not in my garden, or there aren’t numerous projects we are working on.
Read MoreWe are well into September now, and a though we still are warmed by the noontime sun and tempted into thinking summer will stick around a bit longer, we know it is fading. Leaves have just begun to turn, there is a crispness and clear quality to the air, and a coolness in the morning and evening to calls for slippers or at least sweaters for morning coffee or a late night tea in the garden.
Read MoreAugust is a weighty month, many of the fruit and flowers , perennials, annual and veg are at their height, there is a semi wild fullness to the garden. In short, it is a glorious month. The zinnias, dahlias, sunflowers, scarlet runner beans, cannas, ect, are all putting forward their very best display.
Read MoreHere we are, in the height of summer. The sun is still high, the gardens are a riot of color, and typically it is quite hot (although we have started the month with cooler temps a quite a bit of rain). If you go off a calendar, it will tell you summer has just really begun, but to me, this is high summer. The days are still stretching out long before us, the sun still high over head, radiating heat down upon our bare skin that compels us to jump in the nearest body of cold water. July is sunshine and heat, tall sunflowers, extra watering in the garden, a lot of harvesting, swimming, and lingering out in the garden late in the last of the evening light.
Read MoreOne of my favorite fruit trees we grow are our two Asian Pears. They began blooming about a week ago, and I would say they are in their peak bloom as I write. They have the classic, delicate pear blossom, with bright green leaf growth following behind, then in September, delicious orb shaped pears hang from the boughs.
Read MoreMay is the month of the garden, the month of getting hands in the soil and planting things out! As we finish sorting out the structure in our annual gardens we start planting out, always watching the weather. Slowly we bring seedling out, let them test their wings a bit and covering them back up if it is going to be to chilly at night. We start planting out more and more, and by the end of the month the green house is cleared out of all the tables and trays and instead tomatoes create a jungle inside.
Read MoreApril is a month of immense growth. At the beginning ,the world around us is still relatively brown, the grass is sodden underfoot and many branches are yet bare, but by the end, Spring is sweeping away all the grey and brown, replacing it with a bright new green punctuated with blooms.
April is also a month of busy busy work. Where there is much to do in the garden. And what’s more, things done at this time of year pay you tenfold, the plants simply love having the full season to grow.
Read MoreIn this last few weeks of March I have spot a handful of Cornelian Cherry trees and I have been struck again how beautiful a tree they are. The Cornelian Cherry is actually a dogwood, Cornus mas. In early spring, the tree will be covered in a profusion of small yellow flowers.
Read MoreFor this month plant spotlight I wanted to highlight Bulbs!
Now, to be fair, I am not really highlighting a single plant, but a number of plant, but I couldn’t pick just one. Because there really is no equal to seeing the bulbs come up in the later winter / early spring, at times even through bits of snow. Their presence in the a garden can carry that garden while other perennials are still waking up and annuals are not ready to put out. If you have ever come across a bed full of snow drops or crocus then you know what I mean, they transform the early spring garden.
Read MoreWhen I first started writing this it was decidedly winter out there, the snow was softly falling, and the air cold. But the end of February brought us a week of warmer weather, and March 1st proved one of those glorious early spring days. Here in Essex a light rain fell for most of the morning, giving way to a warm, late afternoon sun. The snow is rapidly disappearing everywhere we look, only the shady nooks and spots where it was piled in heaps remain. Walking through my gardens on the 1st, I did the only sensible thing to do in an early spring thaw, I found a bit of warmed earth and put my hands in, feeling the wet soil and smelling the earthy musk. Stooping here and there, examining the garden, looking for life, I push leaves aside and shift the heavy mulch, revealing the tiny spear tips of daffodils and crocus just poking up through the crust. Snow drops are popping up under the Hazels, just coming up in places, delicately slender, and in others just coming into bloom.
Read MoreThe beginning of February brings us a bit closer to spring, winter has by no means left us yet, there are still many days, months even, to keep a fire blazing in the hearth and to bundle up as we move about the garden. But February always feels to me that we are over the hump of winter, and even if it goes on for quite a bit, there is a steady hope that spring is just around the corner.
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