"Make Your Garden Plans"
..well, ye-es, BUT sometimes we go overboard with our planning and when it comes to the garden, we can let nature take it's course sometimes, if we kind of 'keep an eye on it':-)   When my partner and I took on an acre of bramble / woodland that hadn't been tended for more than forty years, garden plans didn't come into the equation.After using an earth mover and creating a rough drive and parking space for our camper van, the budget ran out for 'the garden'. We took on the challenge metre by metre and discussed - sometimes for hours, days and even weeks - a particular nook or cranny, tree or flower bed. Garden plans were being made - piece by piece...but this helped us to really get to know our space. It's impossible to get the most out of your garden if you have no idea where the sun is fullest and at what time of the day. Every aspect is different. South facing gardens are not necessarily in full sunlight all day. Walking around, or fighting our way through the brambles as we so often did, made us aware - without really knowing it - where the darkest, sunniest and even breeziest parts of our garden were.Our biggest decisions in our giant bramble patch were getting the lines right. The land sloped severely in parts and had to be cleared to be safe - it took us almost two years to get an exact 'lie of the land' and still we were making plans. With such a natural landscape, untouched for so many years at our disposal, we instinctively worked with the land rather than against it.
Through trial and error, we found that keeping the vegetable plot as defined and organised as possible made it a lot easier to keep an eye on any pests in the garden - caterpillars, slugs, mice etc; keep up the morale with the digging chores. It's much more emotionally acceptable to tackle small plots rather than one large one for example! Keep up with weed control And most of all, the more organised we were, the better our harvests! Planning the vegetable garden is a must! For the rest of our garden, we were finally coming up with a design we enjoyed - we built a wooden house to live in, and made some of our garden plans around that! Here are a couple of photographs of our garden in France. We long ago realised garden plans should never be considered 'finished'. Even if you don't make any further moves, the living plants in your garden will have garden plans of their own, believe me! Take your ideas and designs and make your garden plans slowly and surely. The benefits are enormous. Not only for your land, but also for your well-being. Letting your creative imagination flow with nature uplifts your spirit and kicks 'stress' and 'depression' down the drain! Try it...it works :-) Happy Gardening!
Grow Your Own Winter Food: A good diet incorporating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables is a must if you want to stay fit and healthy and keep the bugs at bay during the cold winter months.
Growing your own winter food is just one way of ensuring you get the freshest, tastiest produce packed with goodness straight from the garden to the kitchen table. This easy-to-follow self-sufficiency book shows you how to grow your own fruit and vegetables for winter use and includes facts on each fruit, vegetable or herb as well as nutritional value, recipe ideas and storage suggestions.  Grow Your Own Winter Food is perfect for those with limited gardening experience, with gardens big or small who are looking to become more self-sufficient. Order it now direct from the publisher... Grow Your Own Winter Food Grow It, Cook It!: Many crops, including herbs, can be produced in a relatively small space with a little pre-planning and organizing: in containers, on a balcony, and indoors. Herbs are perfect for enhancing the flavour of cooking, treating minor ailments, and preventing colds and flu. Your own back garden will not only produce the best food on the planet for you and your loved ones, it is also economical, environmentally friendly and more fun than shopping. Gardening is more than a hobby; it's a way of life. .  This book provides all the information you need to keep your family and friends healthy, fit and enjoying life to the full. Order it now direct from the publisher... Grow It, Cook It! Grow Your Own Pharmacy: If, like me, you want to be able to eat the best food on the planet, grow your own!  • Clear instructions on planning, planting, growing and harvesting the fruits, vegetables and herbs required for a healthy vitamin intake. • Recipes and menus to help incorporate the fruit and vegetables into your daily diet. Grow Your Own Pharmacy Herbs and Spices: Some herbs grow vigorously, some are tender and need special growing conditions, some are annuals, some perennials, some you can grow indoors, all can be grown in pots or directly into the ground. There are also certain spices, such as chillies, that can be grown in temperate climates.  This clear and concise directory of herbs and spices provides all the essential information to help you grow a selection of these flavour-enhancing foods in small or large spaces. Ideas for which herbs and spices go best with which foods also accompany each description, so that you can really enliven your repertoire of recipes. Order it now direct from the publisher... Herbs and Spices Granny's Book Of Good Old Fashioned Common Sense is packed full of great ideas and tips. Granny brings traditional home-making up to date with cooking, gardening, needlecrafts and even games to play with the kids...Click on the link below to order your copy.  Cooking doesn’t have to be a chore and preparing nourishing home cooked meals for the family will certainly keep them away from the goodie shelf. Gardening encourages physical exercise and a good healthy dollop of fresh air. And you can get the kids involved too.
Before the days of computer games and electronic pets, children used to have fun without rummaging about in the fridge every five minutes. Enjoy a few rainy-day games and crafts of yesteryear with today’s kids. They’ll love it and so will you! Granny's Book Of Good Old Fashioned Common Sense Back To Garden Tools Back To Flower and Garden Tips Homepage Click Here To Subscribe to "Creative Gardening" - Your FREE monthly ezine! www.flower-and-garden-tips.com/gardenplans.html |
We decided to use laurel hedging around our vegetable garden. The hedgerow protects against many airborne pests and viruses, and it makes an excellent windbreak.We collected the small laurel saplings coming up around the older laurel trees and replanted them. Within eighteen months we had a solid hedgerow.
Behind the hedgerow, we have a long terrace. We thought this path was a metre wide when we first started uncovering it. Turns out it's big enough for badmington, paddling pools, toddler trike racing and all sorts!
Peppers 
Corn 
Tomatoes
radish 
lettuce 
Carrots