A Windowsill of Promise.

Here, on the tinyholding we are still living in garden limbo.

Full of promise!

DD has been taken away from home for the last few weeks with pressing work matters.  I know, I know, work doesn't matter!  However, we all know that work does matter and without it there would be no tinyholding.
This, in itself, has not stopped my planning. Nor has it stopped the growing.
We currently have a dining room windowsill full of promising seedlings and new young plants.
Upon the windowsill itself we have the beginnings of our herb garden. There is thyme, rosemary, parsley, both flat and curled, coriander, chives and many more.
Upon the top of the freezer, next to the window, there are pumpkins, courgettes, chard, lettuce, tomatoes and others.
I have seed trays and have been saving loo roll inners to pot up peas and beans.
There are pots to start off sunflowers, marigolds and nasturtiums.
In such a tiny space there lies such promise.
However, the promises are treading water. DD and I are struggling to find time for operation garden revamp. It will happen but we are slightly behind schedule.
I am thinking about redressing the situation. Perhaps this year we will have a mainly pot based veg garden. The important thing is to not lose the plants we have.
We have already had one major mishap. Buffy cat has proved herself persona no grata. She insists on making all windowsills her own. She takes no prisoners and you can often hear an annoyed exclamation from DD as she dive bombs the desk to get to her space. It is not making her a popular puss! To add insult to injury, last weekend Boglin got up in the morning and went to feed them. (First up, first job!)

Buffy and DD get their way!

She came creeping into DD and I with such a look of worry and horror. All of the plants were in a higgledy piggledy mess upon the floor. Buffy had struck again!
Fortunately Boglin had picked most of them up and not too many were terminal. We have lost a pumpkin, a tomato and the sweetpeas. Luckily I have more seeds and can replant. However, I was more than a little cross.
DD and I are currently in disagreement over the puss cats. I am a firm believer in putting them out for the night during warm weather. Particularly if they are causing problems. DD is far more soft hearted than me and wants them to be allowed in. He has his way for the time being but mark my words Buffy, one more stunt like that and you will be out!

Sweetpea growing and greenhouse lust...

our idea of heaven!

Yesterday saw the beginning of "project garden".

While journeying to worship at the great god "Sainsburys", DD and I pass B&Q. Of course, with the sun shining and the garden plans fresh in our minds we were never going to be able to resist a quick drop in to look at greenhouses. We had plans for a modest, yet functional greenhouse. Well suited to the size of the tinyholding.
Within ten minutes DD and I had revised our plans to incorporate a huge 6x8 haven of glass and tempered metal. We looked at the perfectly functional polycarbonate numbers. We toyed with the idea of  a narrow structure. We then threw all sensibility out of the window (excuse the pun) and priced up a beauty. We plan to have it freshly dug to the left and right. A large variety of edible tender plants and of course a small potting bench. Duck boards running through the middle, to be sun warmed and ideal for bare toes. There will, obviously, also be lighting and heating in there.
We sigh dreamily, conjuring images of summer evenings to come. The sun setting over our verdant greens and a warm glow as we sip chilled white over a seed tray and kisses.
In truth, it is more likely that we will be sipping wine while not getting much done and swearing at the slug population that are decimating out broad beans. But we all need a dream! And ours is of a greenhouse. We are clearly simple people with simple needs.
There is little chance of myself wandering around a garden centre, diy shop or even the dreaded Tesco without eyeing up the plants and garden goods. And so I confess, m'lud, I did buy a few plants. I was a very good girl though and didn't spend all of my pocket money. I am now the proud mummy of six pepper seedlings, 2 chilly seedlings and a pot full of sweetpeas.

Everlasting showoffs!

Around our courtyard we plan to mix edible peas with sweetpeas. I personally, love the showiness of everlasting sweetpeas. However, what they give in bucket loads of appeal with their flowery goodness they do lack with their scent. So the obvious answer? Well, MORE sweetpeas of course!
There were also pots, troughs, benches, water features, tables , chairs and BBQs! All of them I wanted there and then.
On the other hand, I do believe that absence makes the heart grow fonder. It is well worth the wait and in time we will love the garden all the more!
Roll on summer!

The calm before the storm

The site of the chicken bordello to be.

Because it's going to take something like a storm to make a difference.
Currently the chickens are happy pecking away in the devastation that is our excuse for a garden.
I first need to have a general tidy up. The place looks a bit like a scrap yard.
There is the broken bench that they like to hold their knitting circle on. that is going to be taken apart, painted and repaired. Then it will be fit for tinyholder's bottoms and not just a chicken perch.

the knitting circle will have to find new digs

There is also a matching char that will be getting much the same treatment.
I am in two minds with what to do with the broken branches that had been cut out of the hedge last year. Should I break it down, bag it up and keep to burn on chilly summer evenings?  Or should I just put it into the green recycling? The largest branches I will keep to put into the new chicken bordello we have planned. I don't wish the girls to be too put out by their smaller environment so I plan to build high as well as wide. With this I can put in a variety of branches and perches. Maybe a couple of high up nest boxes for them to lay in.
Then there is the Somme like garden itself to turn into a haven of growing.  A good dig over and loosen up of the soil should just about do it.

a courtyard to be.

There is also the garden path to clear off. this will be a back breaking task in itself. Although we do plan to replace the path in the near future it is unusable at the moment.
The court yard will benefit from a good tidy and a hose down and it is fit to go. In  time the walls and fences will be utilised as a structure to grow things up. But with a tidy up it can be used as somewhere to sit now.

It's going to be hard work but so very well worth it.

Start at the very begining.

I long for something like this!

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the egg laying committee is in full swing. It is time DD and I got our butts in gear and started to turn the Somme into a garden haven.
We have such grand plans. However, they all seem to stem from a glass of fizz while standing in the sun with a bantie on a shoulder. We are clearly some sort of booze swigging, land locked, pirate wannabes.
Last Sunday saw such an event. We have now revised all our plans. A pneumatic drill is being hired and the garden path is coming up! *happy dance*
There is nothing more boring than a regimented garden with a straight path. Veggies organised into neat rows and clean washing flapping in the breeze.
Well not for us. We have decided we will stagger the garden constructions (shed, greenhouse and the chicken bordello). This will enable us to utilise as much of the sunshine in our east facing garden. The courtyard will become a white washed sun trap. Covered in pots of aromatic herbs. I have some fab ideas regarding growing vertically as well as on the ground. No post, wall or bit of fence will not have a purpose.
Peas, beans and even cucumber will thrive (I am sure of it).
We have pinched the idea of covering the small area between the kitchen wall and the fence with some corrugated plastic. Affording a sheltered area for bikes, a small bench and table and some quail in a covered run and house.
However, as exciting as these plans are, we first need to clear the garden, and that will take a lot of time, strength and a large skip. The old nazi shed has to go. It was put up by the previous owners. Odd people, they had planks of nails along their fence to stop cats walking on it. The carpeted, curtained shed was, I feel sure, the Old Man's safe haven from the Old Dear. Or perhaps she would lock him in there for punishment for not bringing her the local puss population to boil into stew.
Anyhow, all this has to go.
Frankly, I can't wait.....