Green fingers…again

Time just seems to be flying by, weeks disappearing into months. One happening that remains constant are the cycles of life and also natures ability to recover. Back in April, the lady who owns the place we live asked if I would like to build a vegetable garden where some old decking lay. An unusable part of the garden that needed a facelift. One thing I seems to do is bring back old gardens and give them new life wherever I have lived, be it here in Ireland, in Spain and in Morocco. I was up for the challenge. While the space was being cleared and new soil added, it was time to decide on a plan. The property was scoured for reusable resources. old fencing posts, old decking, tree rings, stones etc. Willow twigs were cut to make fences and plants were bought from garden centres. Hopefully my choices will grow into an amazing colourful feature.

The old greenhouse was cleared out and all the broken glass removed. No glass meant it was open to the coastal winds that blow straight in off the Atlantic. I made a makeshift polytunnel inside with black piping and plastic, covered the front with tarpaulins and she was good to go. Old crates from food deliveries make for excellent seed trays. Seeds were ordered and once arrived we set to planting and deciding what would go where.

Potatoes and onions set. The weather here has been unseasonably cold and wet so everything was late getting going, in my favour really considering we were a month late starting off. I had to relearn how to garden in northern Europe and have been frustrated at how slow everything is to germinate and get going. Coriander in particular would have been seed to table in a few weeks in Morocco, here a few months!

It is now at a point where I can stand back and smile at the progress. We are eating from it already! There really is nothing better than picking and eating your own produce. Lots of plants for the bees and I am growing a few edible flowers which will go to my son’s restaurant as they will be opening up again next month. Masses of herbs… you can never have too many! I love herbal teas and fresh herbs just impart such a massive flavour pop.

Enough about the garden for now, back to the indoor creations… usually my work is pretty 2 dimensional, I am currently being challenged to take it to another dimension… wait till the next post to see the finished article!