Ravendale House

First of all I feel I should come clean and say that I’m a bit of a ‘bah humbug’ person when it comes to Xmas. I think it’s probably the result of having no children and no close family. Don’t get me wrong, I used to love it, but as I’ve got older it has become less and less significant or meaningful.

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If the last 13 years have taught me anything at all, it’s that you should work with nature not against it, particularly if like me, you’re a lone gardener most of the time, who is no longer in the first flush of youth.

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I know I’ve been a bit absent recently, that’s because I’m helping Peter build a new website. But don’t think I haven’t been busy gardening too. (more…)

A few days ago I did something really silly, and fell very heavily on my left knee. I won’t go into detail, lets just say it involved black bin liners, but I’m lucky not to have broken my knee cap, as I crashed with my full 9 stone on to the concrete.

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Have I spoken too soon about getting rid of the old tree? I do hope not, but it’s now 10 days since I was feeling smug about it, and no sign of further progress.

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Sweetcorn is such an amazing crop to grow. I sowed 33 seeds on Thursday and by yesterday morning 9 had germinated. This morning there were 26.

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They say ‘one swallow doesn’t make a summer’ and I’m sure ‘they’ are right, but we saw our first one today and it felt good. To be honest, ornithologically speaking, I don’t know if they’re swallows or swifts that we get in the garden. All I do know is they turn up each year without fail and are a joy to watch.

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It’s now almost a week since the plug plants arrived, and to be honest the jury’s still out. The begonias certainly look better than they did, but neither they nor the geraniums have done much in the way of growing. Perhaps I should just be glad they’re still alive.

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Another sunny, if cool day and I did one of my most favourite gardening jobs. Planting things that I’ve grown from cuttings or seed out of their pots and into the ground.

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Today my plug plants arrived, 40 begonias and 40 geraniums. First impressions were good, well packed in strong cardboard boxes, 84 little modules. (They send extra to allow for casualties).

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