Who knew Cat Stevens was singing about mowing the lawn? It’s true, the first cut is the deepest. As you can see, I’m thoroughly enjoying my gardening leave. Beats sitting at a computer all day long. Maybe it’s best to do what you love as a hobby after all, and leave work in its own …
Start from the front and work backwards.
With every storm, we ask ourselves the same question. Why do we construct fences around our gardens and not walls? Having only just finished fixing fences along one side of the garden, I peer out of the window to see panels blown down on the other boundary. Up and down, it never ends.
A fine day to resume my role as tree surgeon. Today’s job taking on the hazel and cherry trees blocking our view. Argh, nobody told me I’m going bald. Ignore that. Look: I’ve got myself a new gizmo. It’s at this stage that I wonder what I’ve done. How on earth am I going to …
A sign of how unfit I am. Just a single day’s gardening on Saturday has overwhelmed my body, gifting me heavy sleep and aches all over. Now I’m thinking what I actually did to warrant this response. I cut a couple of hedges, cleaned the patio, and cleared the rubbish away. Nothing overly taxing. So …
Produce of the casual English garden.
In amongst the tangle, hanging bunches of ripening micrograpes!
The first of September carries me into the garden to begin taming the rambling jungle that has sprung up in our absence. It always gets worse before it gets better. Therapy for the soul.
Not only karayemiş, but also grape vines for making sarma.
Why do we have a feeling of some kind of destiny? Because we moved into a little house in the Chilterns two decades ago and discovered that in its garden karayemiş grew. In my wife’s mother tongue, this bitter black fruit is known as zevar (spelling uncertain). Others call it Laz üzümü, or Laz grape. …
Just picked from the garden.
Fruits of the English garden. Purple clematis weaving through the karayemiş. A tree full of ripening plums left untouched. Plentiful grapes winding through the hazel tree. Home from home.
If at first you don’t succeed, try again. No new garden gadgets needed after all. Just persistence.
