Signs of Spring

February 24, 2025 / Sue Dreamwalker / 75 Comments

The primroses I bought from a garden centre years ago and I have split up to replant in our boarder are bringing colour to the garden.

The Daffodils too are beginning to bloom, as they bring their yellow delights of sunshine into our spring gardens.

Winter I know in many parts around the world is still in full swing, as the snow and ice still blanket the earth… And here in England, I know we still have plenty of time yet for snow fall. I have lost the count over the years, how when the Daffodils are out in full bloom, they are dashed and broken back into the ground by heavy snow. But the flowers remind me of our own inner strengths, as we weather our own storms in life… We push on through, to stand tall, in our resolve to be the best we can be…

And the flowers, do exactly that, showing us their best, despite all that the elements throw at them..

As I walked to the allotments this morning with my hubby, to inspect how things were after some more very high winds over the last couple of days. I spotted near a hedgerow these beautiful snowdrops.

The snow drops are always among the first to push through the frozen ground, and despite their delicate looking appearance, they stand proud and tall. Showing us all that we are stronger than we think, especially when we stand side by side in numbers.. Reminding me of the saying, Together we Stand, Divided we Fall…

The Allotment has the horse manure now sitting on top, ready to be dug in. Here hubby is about putting some of the plastic sheeting back which had blown over in the wind from the neighbouring plot… At last someone has taken this plot next to us, and has covered it to allow the weeds to die back down. Its been empty for over 4 years. we hope the plot the other side of us the people who took it on, take a new interest in it, or give it up so others may make the most of it…

We had some tarpaulin ripped off the shed roof, but there is still a rough layer in place, so that is a job for finer weather. but compared to others we got off lightly.

Some of the seeds are already beginning to sprout through, which are cauliflower, and early cabbage. Hubby has to reset the peas as mice got into the greenhouse and decided to have a feast on them, (What is it with us and growing Peas!… 🙂 ) Lets hope the second setting we get better results 🙂 And once in the ground the pigeons don’t spot them, fingers crossed 🙂

Here below are the broad beans coming through along with last autumns leeks, which we are still pulling to eat.

It was good to get back into the allotments. I have not been in it for a while, as I have been busy with my needle crafts. Which I will share at a later date. We are fortunate, as some in the high storms in the recent weeks, had their green houses totally collapse and smash….

I am looking forward to Spring, and planting time, to get back out into the garden, get soil beneath my nails again.. As we feel Mother Earth beneath our feet. She feeds us, and heals us…

I will leave you with some colour from plants and flowers inside our home… The blooms of roses, were part of a bouquet for our Golden Wedding Anniversary in January.

Happy Gardening Every One..

August Sunshine -Thoughts.

August 18, 2024 / Sue Dreamwalker / 50 Comments

This is a dual post serving both my blogs including Dreamwalker’s Sanctuary. So it may be a little deeper than my normal monthly update here on my garden blog.

After the slow and cool start to Summer, August so far has more than made up for it.. We have had some beautiful Sunny warm days, which has helped ripen, the growing veggies as well as open up the blooms in the garden.
The warmer days have enabled me to sit out in the garden, read several books, and finish off one embroidery table cloth, while starting another.. It has been relaxing and empowering.
For some days I have needed the escapism of the outer world. Being empathic, it is hard at times to separate oneself from the wounds others are feeling, and there are so many wounds that need healing right now in England and around our world. As we are witnessing many turbulent emotions beginning to surface, causing anger and conflict.

“In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect.” – Alice Walker

So finding that safe haven, that tranquil space, while tempers cool, and rational thinking of common sense reaches out to bridge the barriers of indoctrinated thoughts of those time old divisions. Is why I retreat often, into my creative sacred space of my garden and crafts.

People are sifting through their emotions, which recent tragic events on innocents here in England have sparked. These emotions, which were inevitably always brewing beneath the surface, especially in these times of energetic shifts, which flush out and bring to the surface many of our ancestral emotions. Causing both inner and outer conflict. Every action has an impact upon another. As the collective experience reverberates to be experienced in one form or another by all..

I cannot change how another feels or acts, I can only change how I feel and how I act and react. And yes, some days its hard, because we are human, with human emotions.
We vent, and we shout, as we release those pent up feelings, as we witness upheaval and injustices. But if we focus in on that anger and hold onto it, it serves no one. All it does is separate and divide even wider.

“A garden requires patient labour and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfil good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them.”
– Liberty Hyde Bailey

Embroidery Tablecloth: — It takes thousands of stiches to weave a design.. Just think how many thousands of years we have all been weaving in the collective.

The various coloured threads I used for my embroidery, each separate, holding no form or shape, just a long, single thread, a straight line. It is we who have the skills to create, who bring to life, and blend together as we weave and mix colours to bring form to shape and design.

At some point we have to come together, we have to weave and create that which we wish to experience. And I can only create through my own focus and intentions. So I try to concentrate on Peace, and Harmony as I create, be it with needle and thread or my pruning shears. There is much we still need to prune out of our lives, and more still to create, and the more we create Harmony within, the more harmonious will be our experience.

Sewing stitch by stitch, allows the mind to focus. While we can not ignore what is occurring and changing before our very eyes, we each have to be mindful of the parts we each play in those changes. By stepping back within our own creative space, it allows us to see from a different perspective. Like taking a deep breath, before we speak in anger, give yourself space to feel calm, and peace.

We all of us are in need of those feelings of peace, to surround us at the moment. For so many things will be brought to our attention with the aim to cause confusion and chaos. No matter where or who you are, there are always two sides to every story, We are seeing those two sides more clearly now, more than ever before. So when a society feels only one side is being heard, and they are not being listening to, by those who are supposed to listen, then those voices get raised louder, and tempers flare. The tempers were always set to flare, as various sparks were ignited, to fuel the flames of emotions. And Emotions during these current planetary phases are running high.

We each of us right now have to be responsible for our emotions, and actions, as we inner-stand that what we think. so we create, and that we each hold personal responsibility, no matter how our emotional bodies rebel, two wrongs do not make a right.

“The garden suggests there might be a place where we can meet nature halfway.”
– Michael Pollan

So, as you take a deeper breath, be mindful of your reactions, as you first take those inner moments to breathe, let go, and find your hearts centre. Know that we are all of us co-creators, manifesting our future. May it be one that revolves around harmony and peace.
I will leave you with a couple of galleries.. The first is of the veggies garden in the allotments. The second is of flowers in the home garden. Click on each photo to Enlarge.

I hope you all find Peace within your creative pursuits and tranquil gardens and walks.
💚 Much Love 💚
Happy Gardening!

June is here already.

June 4, 2024 / Sue Dreamwalker / 66 Comments

Well you wouldn’t believe it but we are only17 days away from the longest day of the year, Summer Solstice, and then we are on our way back down the other half of the year again.. This year has seemed unreal in many respects, not only in terms of time, but observing nature in general. Everything seems to be also growing at warp speed also..
Weeds as you gardeners always know, thrive no matter what the weather, but our exceptional wet then milder days seem to have given everything a turbo boost.

Most things on the allotments have thrived, all that is except our peas… We had to set twice, I think first time the mice got to them, and while the second setting grew beautifully, the pigeons got to them and demolished them. So we are on our third set this time in the green house in pots, to set out under some netting next time around.

Our allotment sandwiched in the middle. The righthand side not been touched for a few years has reverted by to a field, the one on the left recently been taken over and is trying to kill the weeds with plastic sheeting to smoother them.

Strawberry Bed before and after weeding out . Use the slider in the middle to see the differences

The Dahlia bed before and after weeding. The Dahlia’s were covered over once they had died back through out winter, with a fleece and plastic to protect from the frost.

One really good thing we have noticed is the amount of bees, mainly bumble bees and masonry bees, but our Rhododendron Bush has been covered in bees and so has our climbing hydrangea I took pictures of the bees enjoying them. Click images to enlarge.

Below you will see we already have a cucumber and the tomatoes are also in flower

I am sorry that not all the photos are clear, I reduced their sizes before uploading as room on my media on my blog now is limited. Click to enlarge

Onions and shallots, and lettuce
Brassicas, Sprouts, Broccoli, Spring Cabbage & Cauliflower
Red currants and raspberries
Blueberries and black currants
Broad beans to the left, Parsnips, beetroot.

I will add a couple more photos of the yellow Iris’s in our home garden

The Rhubarb has now gone to seed, but I have had lots off it and given plenty away also to my daughter who I have this idea to thank, .. I didn’t make it exactly as she did, as she is Vegan and used a vegan recipe, but I cheated and used ready puff pasty and lightly stewed the rhubarb in a tiny bit of water and some maple syrup to sweeten.. This was the result..

I hope you are all enjoying Nature and your Gardens… Remember to make the most of every day, come rain or shine. On the wet days, I have been dabbling in my watercolour art… Creating a little bit of fairy magic.

🌱 Happy Gardening… Until Next Time. 🌱

How does your Garden Grow!

May 16, 2024 / Sue Dreamwalker / 47 Comments

May is already speeding and breakneck speed as we are already at the midpoint. We have had some beautiful weather last week here in England, which has encouraged the flowers and blossoms to bloom.
So I thought to share a few Garden quotes with a few images Along with part of a poem I wrote some years ago.

The first image being Biscuit our Cat enjoying the warmth of the Sun.

Click the Images to enlarge in the gallery.

**Yesterday’s flowers are today’s dreams. – Japanese proverb**

“The soul cannot thrive in the absence of a garden.” –
Thomas Moore

“A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.” – Zen Shin

Oneness is all I feel
As into my garden I gaze surreal
Tranquil thoughts as nature Blends
My thoughts of Peace are what I send

Gratitude in colours untold
All within my garden hold
So thank you my garden for this quiet time
As I watch the clouds as I recline.. 
© Sue Dreamwalker  2011 -2024

I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow. – David Hobson

Enjoy the rest of May, and your time out in your Gardens and within Nature.

💚Until Next Time 💚

June’s Harvest and Garden Delights.

June 23, 2023 / Sue Dreamwalker / 55 Comments

June is turning out to be an exceptional month. as the fruits of our labours bring us rich rewards. While its been dry for many weeks in a row.. These last few weeks have given way to thunderstorms and heavy downpours of rain, which the gardens have drunk thirstily.. I love watching a good storm.. So everything got a boost, along with of course the mighty weeds, always in competition with what we plant, so keeping on top of them always an ongoing process.

So above you can see the Gooseberries, and still more to pick.. I will be making a Gooseberry Crumble at the weekend with some of these, the rest I have already frozen for later. The Strawberries, I am pleased to say the mouse only nibbled at half a dozen 😉. The Redcurrants also doing well with more to pick. And as you can see the Broccoli all coming at once.. These are a little past their best as they are starting to blow open.. But I made some delicious Broccoli and Stilton soup out of them.. The recipe for broccoli soup can be found here on my recipe pages. I used the whole Broccoli not just the stalks as in the linked recipe. and added some crumbled Stilton Cheese to your taste to melt at the end of cooking. The Cauliflower too was starting to blow open, but saved well in the fridge until I was ready to use with a meal.

The Home garden has been full of colour.. All the hot weather has suited the plants, so long as you water regularly. So I will just update with a few pictures of what is in flower in and around our home garden this month.

Click an image to enlarge it.


MY GARDEN

I  look around my garden 
What wonders do I see.
Neat flowers in the borders
All visited by the Bee.

The shrubs all gently swaying
In the afternoon hot breeze.
The birds sing out their warning
As my cat stalks beneath the trees.

I’m so lucky to have a garden
In which I find much peace.
To sit and ponder life’s problems
And wish all wars would cease.

We all think that we’re hard done to.
Never satisfied with our lot.
But I’m so thankful for my garden
Lord, help me settle for what I’ve got.


Written 26th June 1994.  
By Sue Dreamwalker

Today, I came across the poem above, which I had written in 1994… While my Cat I spoke of here, is not the same cat I have today, I still appreciate my garden, and my four legged companion of today who sits with me in my garden. Suning himself with me.

Enjoy your Summer, find time to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labours. Until next Time
Happy Gardening

June~ Nature to Nurture.

June 10, 2023 / Sue Dreamwalker / 53 Comments

Lupins in the vacant plot next to ours These were seeded from the seeds blown over from the plants we had the other year. Nature left to her own devices is remarkable. This plot has not been worked in over two years. It doesn’t take long for nature to reclaim back what man wants to put in order.

Nature has a way of always thriving and if you wanted to plant a meadow yourself, no doubts it wouldn’t turn out as beautiful as this. Allowing Nature to do her thing often shows us how beautiful she can craft a meadow when left alone to do so..

A garden meadow with lupins, poppies and cornflowers, next to our plot.

Those of you who plant veggies, know this is a busy time of year, as seedling get planted into their permanent positions, and greenhouses get filled. That is just the beginning of it, for then there is the watering, especially if its been dry like this last month here in England, no rain to speak of in any great quantities, just a few spots of drizzle here and there. So watering the allotments is a big part of every day. Along with hoeing, and keeping on top of any weeds, which seem to thrive in All weathers…

But Summer is also a time to enjoy.. So we often walk down of an evening and sit. Our Cat, who we named Biscuit we found on the allotments in 2019, skinny, neglected, and wanting a home… We did trace the owner, who told us we could keep him, she told us his age, he was then 9, and he has made his home with us ever since.. He is a great mouse catcher and I have lost count of the gifts he has brought us, Sadly for the mice, but he is doing what comes natural to him. And keeping the rodents down. Though I do have a little mouse who is happily nibbling away at my strawberries which have missed his gaze! 😀

He is the only cat we have ever had that follows us around like a dog, very intelligent, and my hubby and he have a special bond, they seem to know what each other think! 🙂 … He walks with us to the plot and comes back with us, if he feels like it. Now most of the Allotment holders know he is ours and ask where he is if he happens not to be with us.

Thirsty work this gardening! And don’t worry we use a different watering can if we put feed in there and we don’t use chemicals on the garden. The water is uncontaminated.

So while while Biscuit was off hunting.. I decided to put fleece under the strawberry plants.. I really should have done the old strawberry bed sooner, before the plants got too large.. It would have saved me a lot of back ache… And a friendly allotmenteer I have to thank for the fleece… I was going to put straw around them, but he gave us this roll of fleece to try and didn’t want anything in return… This is community spirit among gardeners.. 🙂

I decided to put fleece under the strawberries instead of straw this year, We seem to have some mice who are enjoying the ripening strawberries .. Not much we can do, but share.
I finished weeding and and laying fleece on these young plants from last years runners.

Things are growing fast and I will add another slide show so you can see for yourself how things are growing.

From left, Potatoes, Lettuce, small row of peas, parsnips, Beetroot onions, and shallots.. Dwarf beans are going in the space near the short pea row
Parsnips, beetroot onions shallots and peas closer view
Brassicas and Leeks and that is Horse Radish the green on the corner
Garden Onions Peas and Brassica family

Here you see Hubby has been busy putting up a frame that netting is now over to protect the raspberries and redcurrants from the pigeons.. This will be tall enough for me to walk inside to pick them.

I also planted some Mint… Remember if you plant mint, to do so in a container.. Mint spreads. I Love it to make mint sauce and Mint Tea.

Speaking of Tea, Now the nettles are totally dried after hanging, until completely brittle, I crushed and put Nettle tea in airtight jars . It made me 3 large jam-jars full.

And remember, while gardening is hard work, it is also good to sit back, and relax and EnJOY them. So Happy gardening… And I will leave you with some pictures of the home garden. Have a Wonderful June.. And Summer..

“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.”
– Alfred Austin

How Does Your Garden Grow?

July 24, 2022 / Sue Dreamwalker / 46 Comments

So how have your gardens faired during this hot dry spell? I know we have been flat out early in the mornings, sometimes Hubby has been on the plot at 5am watering while I join him a little later. Watering is a two hour process most days, carrying watering cans back and forth from the cistern tanks that are placed at 100-yard intervals down the length of the allotments. It’s exhausting work.

But together we have managed not to let too many things shrivel up in the unusually hot Summer here in the UK… Not to mention those driving HOT winds?

Farmers in Lincolnshire have said how their potato crops are dying. And despite our watering our potatoes they are now starting to die off early and the main crop hasn’t even flowered yet.

It’s the same all around the globe for one reason or another it seems there is an assault on crops, and whether it’s the transportation or the chemicals used to grow them, it seems that shortages are a real threat.

People who have any sort of land I feel in the future are going to have to think really hard on how they are going to grow their own food supplies and look at ways of sustainability. We can already see a recession looming on the horizon as food prices shoot through the roof along with Energy Bills which are set to quadruple, they have already doubled here.

So new initiatives will be needed I feel as people I see are already coming together in small groups of pooling ideas of community gardens and ways and means of pulling together resources.

One thing that have flourished is the Gladioli. We replanted them the other year to form a line near the cold-frame which has afforded them some shelter from the winds we get that blow across the valley.

Here is a vase of freshly picked Gladioli, along with some of the Dahlias.

Our Cat Biscuit is at home here on the plot, he follows us there and back most days and it is his hunting ground for mice. Very often we will have two or three gifts waiting on the patio in the morning as he brings home his hunting trophies.

I will leave you with some more images and hope your Gardens are surviving and thriving.

Click the Images to make larger:

The waterlilies in the small pond with have with our fish, have done well too. Click Images to Enlarge

Our gardens take a lot of effort to maintain, but the joy in abundance and pleasure they bring is worth all the aching muscles and hard work..

The green thumb is equable in the face of nature’s uncertainties; he moves among her mysteries without feeling the need for control or explanations or once-and-for-all solutions. To garden well is to be happy amid the babble of the objective world, untroubled by its refusal to be reduced by our ideas of it, its indomitable rankness.
–Michael Pollan

Happy Gardening

Dandelion

July 16, 2022 / Sue Dreamwalker / 51 Comments

With Locks of Gold today;
Tomorrow Silver Grey:
Then Blossom-bald.
Behold,
O Man, thy Fortune told!
J.B. Tabb~( 1845-1909 )

Most of us will know what a Dandelion is, many see them growing wild, they are also found in our gardens, especially our lawns.

We are often encouraged to kill them in those weed-killing adverts, as they show us how to zap them dead with one squirt of poison.

Hare and Dandelion painting
~Sue Dreamwalker

Yet the Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) has tremendous health benefits, perhaps that’s why big pharma linked with the chemicals companies of weed killers want you to keep zapping them. Because it grows in abundance and is free and it aids our health.. Like some other plant-based medicines I could think of.

The dandelion root has been used for hundreds of years to treat a wide range of health issues, so it is no wonder that it’s regaining popularity as people discover how easy it is to grow and harvest.

The Dandelion has many health benefits, the root is where most of the medicinal properties are. But you can eat the leaves and the flowers along with the stems, they are all edible, and can be added to salads and stir fries. Or you can dry it out and use for making tea.

Here I hung out Dandelions Drying for making tea

Dandelion derives from the French ‘Dent de lion’ ( Lion’s tooth ) a reference to the jagged leaves pointing backwards. Which to the imagination look like a lions jaw.

Dandelions contains 12 times the amount of vitamin A than a lettuce, and about 3 times its vitamin C.

I pick younger leaves as the older leaves tend to be Very, very bitter if using them in a salad. Or steamed like spinach.

Note: Make sure that your Dandelions have not been sprayed with any chemicals or weedkillers, and are picked away from the roadside where they will pick up contaminants from vehicles exhausts etc. Wash well.

You can also make Dandelion Wine I am sure many of us can recall the taste of Dandelion and Burdock Pop or cordial … One of my favourite fizzy drinks as a child and still is…

https://www.twineagles.org/dandelion-wine-recipe.html https://www.twineagles.org/dandelion-wine-recipe.html

Studies have been found Dandelion is very good for our hearts, and can lower bad Cholesterol, it can fight Free Radicals with its powerful Antioxidant properties, called beta carotene.

It can help stabilise blood sugars, and some research suggests it may be helpful in treatments of type ll Diabetes.

Also Blood Pressure can be lowered naturally with dandelion root. Potassium has been proven to help lower blood pressure and dandelions are rich in potassium. Also Potassium increased in your diet will help relieve muscle cramps, you can also get this from Banana’s too.

Potassium also helps osteoporosis and kidney stones too, so a cup of dandelion root tea every day will provide the potassium your body needs to stay healthier.

Dandelions have antimicrobial and antiviral properties in them, that work to strengthen the immune system. Vitally important at the moment to keep our immune systems topped up. I also use Echanechia drops this helps our immune system fight cold and flu symptoms!.

What is there not to like about the Dandelion, for they improve digestion, help reduce inflammation, which is why I drink dandelion and root tea on a regular basis, along with nettle tea, I will go into the benefits of nettles another day. Dandelion leaves are rich in vitamin A.

Here I picked tender young leaves and roots from my allotment, I washed and scrubbed the earth from the roots and then hung up to dry, once dry I then crushed to store in an airtight jar to use as in a tea. Lots of methods can be found on the internet of how to prepare and add to recipes.

So next time you think of zapping a dandelion or pulling it up from your garden…. Think twice on how it may aid your own health and benefit you,… all for free… 😊

I will add a link here so you can see for yourself all of those health benefits

DANDELION – 18 Health Benefits Backed by Science

Happy Gardening!

Rich Pickings

July 3, 2022 / Sue Dreamwalker / 89 Comments

June all too soon flew by, as so many of our days just lately seem to be wisps of memories as we no sooner rise, that we fall into bed. Making the most of our days and being present within the gifts of our NOW moments brings so many rewards as we are grateful for all things great and small.

It’s remarkable to see how the Universe listens and provides… and how manifesting truly is working all the while, if you learn how to see into its synchronicities. For nothing is by chance…

My husband always planning ahead had been wanting to create some new raised beds for next year and had been thinking on needing wood to do this. Also a wooden post and a broken panel of fencing we had installed at the side of the green house on the plot, to ensure no one accidentally tripped from the grass pathway into the greenhouse. This had disintegrated in the high winds we had back in Spring. So my husband had also been thinking about this and needing to get wood to use as stakes for posts as the older ones had rotted.

So imagine my husbands delight when a neighbour was throwing out good quality wood he no longer needed.. He told my husband help yourself, to any of it as its all going to be skipped. Pieces that were just perfect for the jobs he had been thinking on. Manifesting in action!.

Last year we replanted many of our raspberry bushes which we put in line with our Redcurrant bush. My idea being we could then put large posts in corners and then cover with netting so I could walk inside to pick berries. At the moment we have a net loosely tied over them which I have to undo and scramble underneath to pick berries. So these longer pieces of wood ideal for the jobs we had thought of.. We want to allow the bees and insects in, but keep the pigeons out… They are our main problem on the allotments.. they can strip a bush of berries in no time and decimate the brassica family by eating leaves.

The Red Currant bush is now taller than I am, and produces lots of berries, I eat these with my breakfast and yogurt and freeze some for pies or trifles. They also make very good Red Current Jelly.

Cleaning Red Currants I soak for ten minutes in salted water with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda and rinse thoroughly. If I freeze them I allow to drain, air dry for a while and then freeze on a baking tray trying to keep them as separate as possible. Once frozen I then put into containers.. This way they come out of the container separate and not a solid lump.. I do the same to Raspberries and Gooseberries .

Rich Pickings out of the Allotment this week, have been broad beans, peas, lettuce, courgettes, Lemon Cucumbers, Spring Onions, Rainbow Chard, and radishes.

Raspberries, Lemon Cucumbers Redcurrants, Dahlias and Sweet-peas

A selection below of the flowers in bloom at the moment.

Click the images to enlarge.

With all of this, my life is Rich…. and when we choose to Pick out and nourish our body and our soul in aligning ourselves with wholesome foods, and wholesome thoughts.

Life brings us gifts in abundance..

“Gardening adds years to your life and life to your years.”
~Author Unknown~
“When gardeners garden, it is not just plants that grow, but the gardeners themselves.”
~Ken Druse~
“To forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves.”
~Mahatma Gandhi
“I am a gardener. What’s your superpower?”
~Empress of Dirt~
Happy Gardening!

Autumnal Work On The Plot

September 30, 2020 / Sue Dreamwalker / 73 Comments

I am always saying how time is flying faster than ever, but no sooner were we into the beginning of September than we are nearing the beginning of October. The days in between just seem to be a blur. As I took myself away from the technical world, to dive into some reading as I opted for fantasy world for a time… Which at times seemed the better option than the madness we are witnessing in reality. We have had some lovely Sunny days intermingled with some Wild Winds and rain…. This week has seen the temperatures drop, rise again, and then fall again. So that Autumn nip has most definitely been in the morning air

Harvesting by the barrowload

Perpared SweetCorn

This was just one of the barrow loads that were prepared for the freezer . I also gave quite a few cobs away to neighbours and friends.

Above you can see the old sweetcorn sticks now fully dried out, the plastic bottles! you may be curious about… These were planted into the ground near our courgette roots… The leaves grow so intense and thick with the courgettes we use as markers, that we then pour water into the open bottles so as to get to the roots , so as not to waste water. The bottles on top of the sticks is to prevent me poking my eyes while weeding… Despite wearing glasses, I have done this often and you do not see canes as you reach down to weed.. So this is a safety precaution.. The plastic bottles all get recycled after use also… I had cleared a lot of the mildew leaves away in the above photo shot.

Cleared Sweetcorn and digging over the ground

While Hubby was busy spreading muck/manure over where all the potatoes had been harvested, I set about clearing and digging where the sweetcorn had been… Even as I write three days after the digging my calves still ache from using the spade and turning the earth over… It was tiring, but, I enjoyed the hard work and despite the wind, managed to clear and dig what you see below in two and a half hours.

I dug all of this in two and half hours phew! Getting more grass twitch out in the process.

Sunflowers

Our Giant sunflowers have been a huge attraction to the biggest bumble bees… These now too have dried out and we have put the flower heads in the shed to try out the seeds… These we will use for bird seed in the feeders rather than for ourselves…

The Onions too are all safely gathered in and they are drying out in these baskets ready for storage.. This year we have had a good crop of onions… I cannot say the same for our Leeks… For it is looking like they have been infested with a grub…. One patch of leeks we have already had to destroy as they were withering our main crop of leeks are not looking so healthy either.. This is due to what I have discovered is the leek Moth… More information on it can be found here at this link https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=652

We also need to remember even if we haven’t got a garden… We can get out into nature, sit beside a tree or some water and absorb inside of ourselves all that Nature has to offer…. Its no coincidence that Nature holds similar letter as the word Nurture… For that is what Nature does… It nurtures our spirits..

Hard to imagine this place was once a huge slag heap from the local coal mine.. The pit head stocks can be seen over the trees, The Mine shut down years ago and the whole area was made into a nature reserve. Which just goes to show you no matter how dark our ugly things look now..

Things Can and Do change for the better…