Been a little bit quite around here, hasn’t it? With all the excitement/exhaustion involved in moving house, I missed July’s Garden Share Collective. Although at some point soon, I’ll be finding time to visit the other gardeners who did make the deadline and see what’s happening in their gardens around the world. Why not pour yourself a coffee, pull up a chair and join me in a bit of horticultural globe hopping?
Now that the move is done, something approximating to normality is starting to settle in again. Normality in a new house and a new garden. Would you like a wee look at the garden? There’s plenty of scope for new projects and trying new ideas.
There’s a lot of grass… and a lot of conifers. Some of each will stay, some of each will go to make, space for my favourites – nectar rich flowers and edibles. This is the veggie patch at the moment –
Check back next year for progress. If nothing else, I should have cleaned the windows in the greenhouse by then.
At the very end of the garden there’s a small orchard. Apple, pear, plum and greengage trees. Some are looking fine and healthy, others look like they’re struggling a little – these may well be moved to see how a new position suits them, and to make space for some of the plants we’ve brought with us to add to the orchard. As soon as the old house was under offer, I potted up a couple of small cobnut trees, a damson tree, some raspberry canes and strawberry plants. The chicken run is going to be ‘repurposed’ as a fruit cage to keep the blackbirds off the blueberries, redcurrants, raspberries, blackcurrants and strawberries… our remaining two hens have gone to live as part of a flock of free range hens and are a whole lot happier now.
A priority in the new garden is to find a space for my herbs. Somewhere close to the house, sunny and well drained will be best for most of them. I have a whole collection of pots with rosemary, thyme, chives, sage, sweet cicely, marjoram and mint all growing well and ready to be planted out… except perhaps the mint which will take over the garden if it manages to get its roots into open ground.
Over nine years my last garden had grown to reflect my style of gardening… messy and unorganised. Not the kind of garden that everyone would be happy with, but it worked well for us. In the new garden I’m hoping to create something a little more planned and less chaotic, but still bursting with flowers and providing fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs for the kitchen.
And speaking of the kitchen – here’s the biggest challenge of all at the new house…
That’s right, there’s no proper cooker. Just an Aga. I’ve tried cooking on an Aga once before in a house we rented for a year… they take some getting used to. So far I’m not loving the whole Aga experience. A quick tea the other night took three hours to cook because the oven temperature plummeted when I tried to use one of the rings to bring some potatoes to the boil. The Aga may redeem itself when I get some time to try baking bread – that’s its final chance. If the bread is anything short of perfect, you’ll soon be seeing an advert for a second hand Aga for sale on the blog…
Meantime, I hope you’re all keeping well. I’m looking forward to getting around to visiting all the blogs I’m missing soon… just a garage full of boxes still to unpack and we’ll be done.
The Garden Deli 
Love your garden, it’s so beautiful and I had Aga envy until I read what you said about it, then not so much, I do hope it starts working properly for you. It
s such a beautiful stove and should work perfectly. They have an excellent reputation for being really good.
I think there’s a knack to cooking with an Aga – one I still have to learn. The lady we bought the house from was dreading having to use a ‘normal’ cooker.
The space you have to work with for your new garden is spectacular. I am anxious to see what changes you make with maybe a little of your thinking on choices and direction. Sad about the Aga, I hope it works out for the best.
Thank you… the garden is going to be much easier to deal with than the cooking arrangements!
Congratulations! Glad you managed to capture a bee in the new garden. Is that big clump in front of veggie patch rhubarb? If so it is massive! Look forward to seeing the progress. 🙂
It is indeed rhubarb, and it is indeed massive… rhubarb and ginger jam is top of the list of things to make.
Congratulations on the move! Looks like you’ve inherited a lovely collection of fruit trees – can’t wait to see these feature in future recipes 🙂
The fruit trees are fantastic, and there should be lots of plums and apples in a few weeks time.
A lovely challenge structuring your new garden and orchard! It looks like a nice space and I envy you the possibility of a fruit cage. Many kitchens here in Sheffield that have AGAs also have smaller conventional cookers – but that requires space that you may not have. The AGAs are used in winter only and from what I understand require a whole new approach to cooking. Good luck!
A conventional cooker for summer use would make a lot of sense – the kitchen is very, very hot with the Aga on constantly!
Everyone seems to be moving house at the moment – it must be something in the air! I shall miss seeing your old garden – it must have been a struggle to leave it but I am looking forward to seeing what you do with your new one – to put your stamp on it. Good luck.
Thanks Elaine. It was hard to leave the old garden, especially at this time of year. But we have more space here, and I’ve brought a whole load of cuttings, seeds and dug up plants with me to get things started.
The new garden looks exciting! How wonderful to have a new space to plan. I’m sure you don’t lack inspiration but if you want some ideas of how to make the conifers look more lively check out Arian Blooms garden in Diss, he uses conifers but mixes them with beautiful grasses which adds movement; I think you’d like it.
Thanks for the recommendation Christina – I like the idea of using grasses to add life to the conifer borders. Some of the uglier conifers will be leaving the garden (very soon!), but I’ll need to keep some for screening and structure.
How exciting, it all looks wonderful. It’s good to hear all of your plans. I’ve heard AGAs are tricky, I must admit I don’t think I’d manage with one, I’m too impatient. I do hope you get to grips with it though. CJ xx
Thanks… tomorrow will be a big test for the Aga, we’re making pizza. If they turn out well, there may be hope for it yet!
Your new garden looks a delight, with its orchard and veg garden (if not all those conifers) and it will be fun to put your own stamp on it. The best thing about cooking with an AGA is that bread goes on the floor of the oven so no baking tins to wash up or oven to clean and the bread is fab too. I must admit I wouldn’t be without mine because I’m too impatient to wait for an electric oven to heat up. Good luck.
Thanks Anne – good to hear something positive about the AGA. After years of cooking with a conventional cooker, it’s hard to imagine just putting the bread on the floor of the oven. But I do like the idea of not having to clean it…
Welcome to your new home! How exciting to have a new garden to plan. I look forward to hearing your progress. The aga looks wonderful, but I would have no idea how to cook with it!
Thank you! The new garden is exciting – lots of space to work with and plenty of scope for new plans.
Glad the move went well and you are settling in… good luck with the aga! I always think of “The Good life” comedy series when I see one… A new garden to play around with is wonderful, and I think the herb garden is a good place to start planning. You seem to have plenty of space for veg and fruit. Look forward to hearing more!
Thanks Cathy! I hadn’t thought of The Good Life… we’ll be making peapod wine and keeping pigs in the garden next!
How exciting and how wonderful to have some established fruit trees, a greenhouse and a vege patch already! You can slowly make your own changes and herbs are definitely a good place to start 🙂 Enjoy!
The fruit trees are great – heavy with fruit too.
What a beautiful looking new garden. So much space to play around with. I am sure you will create more of an insect friendly habitat but there looks to be space for that and formality. Good luck with the Aga, they cook things so well but they do take a bit of getting used to. Enjoy yourself settling in!
Thanks Laura. The Aga is getting a little less intimidating every day – but we’re still eating a lot of salads!
OHHHHHHH! now your comment on Agas on my blog makes sense! oh noooooo!
but let’s move quickly on to the garden. it’s going to be fantastic to see your before and afters, how you progress (we’ll be waiting for the washed greenhouse, GD). too many conifers for my liking – they are my least favourite tree; i’d be ripping them all out! you have so much space for whatever your heart desires. very exciting!
I like the idea of before and after photos… my blog might start looking like one of those professional garden designer websites. Or maybe not!
What a wonderful space to have to play in! I’ll be looking forward to seeing how your new garden progresses month by month, especially how it looks once a few of your conifers have gone. Love the idea of mixing some grasses in to lighten it all up. Exciting times ahead!
Absolutely – and the first conifer has already gone… Just need to be a bit careful – the previous owners are coming over next week to pick up a few things they forgot, don’t want them returning to see lots of holes where the conifers used to be!
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