Yep, that's my garden

My V&A watering can with William Morris Design...
wildflowers and honeysuckles and clematis... that watering can is so well designed...
i bought it at TK Mexx for £12
Have nothing you believe to be not beautiful or useful in your house :-)

Gardening is great. It makes me think about nothing and and everything. I also have discovered that i am beginning to understand plants. I mean understand what they need. Not always right, but it is like through practise, i have discovered what is good and what is not so good for them. Like yesterday i planted the strawberries in a patch and then i looked at the lemon verbana. It really wanted to be there. So i replaced the strawberries with the lemon verbana and planted them somewhere else. In a much sunnier position. My garden now has at least forty different plant species. All native and herb. Well, sixty if you count those that were there before i planted the one which i have. I have also left areas where the creeping buttercup, dandelions, dock and nettles - and plantain - are. It's ok to have them as long as they are part of the planning scheme, not all over the place. 

Strawberries and other herbs

Yesterday i was cleaning my keyhole paths and noticed there was lots of bark which had been kicked over onto the path. Thinking this was cats, i looked closer and saw it was the birds. A bird, or birds had been turning over the bark and looking for insects. In fact the garden is now full of birds. Robins, dunnock, tits, starlings (which imitate buzzards), blackcaps and wood pigeons visit it regularly. The grass, because i am always walking on it is kept low and finally, the seeds... well two thirds of them have sprouted. The others were pushed too far in by Ghin and the beans never made it. Still, it is good to know that it was not the compost. The wildflowers are coming up, and the plants - the honeysuckle and clematis - have taken really well to the place. The roses were fucked when they arrived, because i bought them out of Lidl. I pulled them all out and planted the last of the gladioli and will plant some roses later this week. The climbing roses are still decided what to do. But i have learnt my lesson now. Buyer beware when getting these cheap plants for these pound shops. I also planted the sweet peas out and also did the mint and savoury. The lettuces are doing really really well. They still seem unaffected by slugs. It could be just that it has been so dry that there are no slugs.

Peonies, nettles, pansies and lemon verbana

The soil in the garden is really really good. It is a bit on the clayey side, but really it is fine otherwise. The weeding has broken up the soil, especially nettles which have lived here for so long. They still live around the edges and in patches. But as i pulled them up, they also broke up the soil. Everything has its place.

I have started reading the Agriculture lectures by Steiner. It is really fascinating. Everything which he has said thus far has come to pass. It is also a bit worrying how he seems to be right. Why do i say this? Because some of the things which he says, i don't really agree with. Although i have to say i have never read things which i don't agree with him in source. Just from hearsay. The racist stuff you know. But what he says about Agriculture is completely right. He talks about the difference between 'dead' and 'live' nitrogen. I am sure that science will discover, if they haven't already that nitrogen from the soil is different from nitrogen in the air. They have already discovered the depletion of the soil and how we have royally fucked it up. How it is completely unsustainable and that agriculture needs to change if we are the survive. All this Steiner said 100 years ago. Farmers are just waking up to this now.

Compost area behind with rosemary bush and unseen planted
delphiniums and hollyhocks.

Its funny how i got here really. I come from Singapore and knew nothing about plants and wildlife. I loved it, but i never pursued it. Then i came to Ireland and joined the RSPB. From it i learned about agriculture and the relationship with the wildlife and land. I also learned a little bit about wildlife. I then began working in the school and began doing the school grounds with Kevin. Then it just continued and i learned so much from Kevin. Now i finally am able to do my own garden and learn about biodynamics. I can see that this is going to be the other front you know. The other part of my life... children, teaching and the land. As well as herbology. 

Lettuces - there was a front last night, a bit afraid that they will not survive

I am soooo glad i got my garden designed - if i had not i would still have been faffing around wondering what the heck i would do with it. And also if had not gotten it designed, i would have planted everything wrongly. Having the design and having worked on the school garden for a bit gave me the perfect apprenticeship. Now i think i should be able to get out and do stuff on my own. But i love the design which was done for me so much, i am just going to keep doing it.

More lettuces and here there is the edging made from
branches i sawed myself and bricks we recovered from building the conservatory

I got some lawn edging from a pound shop and it was easy, but you know, it didn't look as nice as the logs which i had cut. So i will take some home from the school which is covered in fallen branches and finish it off. The nicest part - well one of the nicest parts of gardening is repurposing old stuff. Taking things which were discarded or just lying in the corner and giving them a new life. It is so nice to clean up, make something look great and not buy new stuff. Its what i am about i think.

The peas!!! 

 In Red Pepper, the magazine about development amongst other things, they criticise the development model saying that aid is counterproductive. It is the Western developed countries that should be de-developing. It is the only solution we have for the planet. shorter working weeks, more leisure time, more meaningful time. Actually young people - in their 20s are beginning to do this. The Millennials - they are saying, we do not want this crazy life you have. We want what is authentic, what is real. They are getting real skills, they arr swapping with each other, they are healing the Earth. It gives me great hope.