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redofromstart

I sometimes wish I hadn't got so much garden to look after, the amount that needs doing can be overwhelming. Just got to keep chipping away at it.

Lovely sunshine this morning, too stiff to do much so a bit of outside tidying and the boys mowed the lawns. Good to have all of the windows open for a few hours too.

WM, TD and DW have all been in overdrive, and I did bread, a turkey roast dinner, and made some lemon and coriander chicken for snacking/lunches so the oven was maximised too.

greenbee

I feel like that about the garden sometimes as well, and mine isn't as big as yours. Neither do I have anyone to do the mowing, which I must try to make a start on soon. Having said that the lawn is mostly moss.

A friend dropped off two fruit trees (possibly an apple & a pear) which she's dug up from her garden. They're a decent size, so I need to find them homes and dig some holes. She also brought a whole lot of rubble (and has more) so I've added to the construction work in the stream. And I reset mole traps, pulled a few thistles out of the 'lawn' and cut lots of sprouting bits off the trunk of the wild pear while clearing up after the tree surgeons. Oh, and gave the hedge a light trim...

Well done on the roast dinner. I have two turkey crowns and 2 huge hams in the freezer which I really need to use, but really can't face it in this kitchen. However, I'm not going to get anything more done on the house until I know I've passed my probationary period and have some savings stashed away just in case as well as having the money to pay for the work. Which reminds me - well done on using all your contract money for savings and debts - it's good to know that despite all the additional expenses (dentist, car etc) you can manage on the one salary. I hope you have a reasonable period to rest and recover before the next contract.

Sun_Addict

I like the idea of gardening but it's just so much effort and you need to know what you're doing. I just buy random plants and hope for the best. I don't have the gardening gene from my dad's side of the family sadly.

I love Thai curry, made a red veggie one the other week - lovely

redofromstart

greenbee wrote: »

Having said that the lawn is mostly moss.

Same here! I thought about weed and feed but there would be nothing left.

Sun_Addict wrote: »

I just buy random plants and hope for the best

And me. Its too easy to get sucked into spending a lot of money as well. The best advice I was given was to buy something in flower every month, then there will always be something flowering in the garden. I like this theory and have lots of scented winter flowering things as a result, which all seem to have thrived on the neglect of recent years. It's the summer pretty flowering perennials that have long since been choked out by nettles and brambles.

I tried quite hard in spring last year, but then took a contract/hurt my ankle/built and painted the log cabin which left no time for the actual gardening other than planting round the cabin. We did very well for radishes and peas from the poly tunnel till we went on holiday and SS neglected to actually water anything so it all died, including all my lovingly potted on plug perennials. I hope to do better this year. it should be low cost as I have leftover seeds, compost, etc from last year. Anything edible I grow is a bonus.

OH helped me to move the old metal climbing frame to the veg plot. It'll be perfect for runner beans with some extra wire on.

I finished reading 'Rebecca' last night - thanks Seaside for the reminder, had forgotten what a good book it is - so will head for my go to generate enthusiasm for gardening author of choice: Christopher Lloyd. What is great is that I remembered to check the library reading apps, and the kindle unlimited one and can access gardening magazines that way so not getting suckered into fritter again

redofromstart

Also:

Today I have had:
Mushrooms
Tomatoes
Celeriac (freezer)
Parsnips (freezer)
Peas (freezer)
Cabbage
Carrots

which is pretty amazing for a veg dodger like me. And some sultanas. I would have had some pineapple too but the dog stole it.

greenbee

Well done on the veg

Clearly the answer to gardening is not to go on holiday...

Seasidegal58

Well done on the veg consumption! - shame about the pineapple eating canine though!:rotfl:

greenbee wrote: »

Well done on the veg

Clearly the answer to gardening is not to go on holiday...

My ex-OH's father had a beautiful garden. I asked him the secret once- he said that keeping a lovely garden is a full time job, which was what his was now that he had actually retired from his "proper" job!

Glad you enjoyed Rebecca redo - I tend to read it once a year! Funnily enough there was a documentary from 1971 on Daphne du Maurier on BBC iplayer - under "Archives". It was really interesting, filmed at her home in Cornwall and I think the only televised interview she ever gave. At the time she had just published "The House on the Strand" which I haven't read for years and which I am definitely going to do again now as I remember I really enjoyed it.

redofromstart

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

I asked him the secret once- he said that keeping a lovely garden is a full time job, which was what his was now that he had actually retired from his "proper" job!

He was very right. When we bought the house I only worked two days a week, and it was before I was ill. The first few years we invested a lot of time and money but then I got ill, increased my hours and went with the complete neglect option.

What I need is a flylady for the garden. 30 days to a tidy and productive garden, etc. The books I have have a few paragraphs on plot clearance but very little practical advice on rejuvenation. They also assume a degree of knowledge. How to prune X is great if you know what it is. 'Greeny green thing' dammedifiknow isn't listed. If any one knows of a great step by step garden rescue for tired but enthusiastic potterer then I am very interested.

Anyway, I'm still hampered by the cold, I can manage half an hour before I have to sit down so I did a few short bursts in the front again.

Dinner was a cobbled together chicken and mushroom sauce, served with endame bean pasta.

Browned some chicken, then added some sliced mushrooms and then a little chopped garlic. Added a dash of vermouth. Added a spoonful of flour to soak up the juices, and then some chicken stock. Gave it a few minutes till the chicken is cooked through and then added the dregs of a tub of cream and some grated parmesan. Let it bubble gently while the pasta cooks (4 minutes for the bean one - tasted more like noodles than spaghetti) and then stir it through your drained pasta. It'd work well over broccoli stems rather than the pasta.

sashybo

Flylady for the garden sounds great, I can only do short bursts for now as DS gets bored sitting in the pram & can't run about or play in the mud yet as too small and it's too cold!

Dinner sounds yum, DS & I ate dhal from the freezer with cheese and spinach muffins. DH is working late shifts so we have some weird & wonderful concoctions from the freezer. Poor DS. :rotfl:

Seasidegal I remember being shocked at how different "The House on the Strand" was from "Rebecca" (also a fan) but I really enjoyed it, despite it being nothing like I'd thought it would be.

greenbee

Maybe you need to write a flylady for the garden book? After all, I ask you for advice

One of my neighbours says to do a bucket of weeds/pruning a day - I started that on Sunday, and think it might make it manageable. Mind you, after all the log chopping on Sunday I'm feeling a bit creaky

I have a terrifying amount of work to do before tomorrow morning...