Back to the front garden

Front gardens are undoubtedly a collective eyesore on many streets in London. They are have been downgraded to become unloved and functional places people park a car, store bikes and utilise precious (expensive) space for the much-needed multiplicity of recycling containers. That’s why it’s such a sad state this so-called ‘nation of gardeners’ have let their front gardens get into. Nearly  1 in 4 gardens are paved over to have more utilitarian uses. I understand this completely given high population density spaces we find ourselves in. All space is at a premium. However there are ways of having parking and plants – horticulture that brings us not just an aesthetic cheer, but also supports wildlife and pollinating species. That’s why the RHS Greening Grey Britain campaign really gets to the heart of the problem and gives inspiration to help us all green up our streets. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/144180115@N07/28827153315/in/album-72157669655524235/

My own front garden was no exception – when we moved in it was an unloved 3 x 2 meter plot of ripped plastic lining and old stones, weeds and paving slabs.  2 years later, the house redecorated and back garden restored, but the front garden had only been stripped back as far as removing the stones to a bare patch of earth – albeit with its own permanent population of dandelions. Hardly the nature reserve we wanted!

2016-08-07_05-06-55.jpg

But with a bit of planning and graft we’ve transformed the space – all for less than £400 on materials and plants.  We started with a few basic ‘back of a fag-packet’ plans and wish lists for the look and plant types – the challenge will always be the outlook as its north east facing – gets 3+ hours of early morning sun from May onwards but will be in total shade in the winter months. Finally deciding on one large planted section, and pots that can change with seasonal interest.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/144180115@N07/28392055070/in/album-72157669655524235/lightbox/

2016-07-31_05-15-06

The main investments were the weed lining, shingle and path edging – as well as hardy plants such as an acer palmatum, cotoneaster ‘Coral Beauty’, as well as a  couple of low growing evergreens and a sambucus nigra. All of these will be maintained and kept neat (hopefully). I’ve planted in cosmos and red new guinea impatiens for colour. By a stroke of bad luck (or labelling mishap) the red cosmos all turned out to be deep pink – so we have a kind of brave colour scheme in the front – but hey it’s bright and bold, without any concrete grey in sight!

The pots were all painted blue with spray paint for that overall Grecian appeal. I also arranged a hanging basket with bright blue and purple lobelia, intermingled with highly scented petunias. There are three terracotta wall pots with a mix of the impatiens, lobelia and orange trailing begonias too.

2016-07-31_05-28-09

Now in early August it is really coming into its own and filling out the space with flowers attracting playful bees and butterflies.

The perfect thing has been that the front seems to have escaped the overwhelming invasion of slugs and snails currently wreaking havoc across the veg beds out back. But with time I’m sure they’ll discover it soon. It really has made a positive impact on how we see the house, as well as providing a little cheer for the street. I met at least three neighbours on the weekend we planted it – faces I’d seen but never spoken to in the years we’ve lived here. It’s true – plant something colourful and it’s not just for your benefit, the world wants to say hello and enjoy it too.

If you ever needed an excuse to get outside and bring some cheer to your street, join in, read this for inspiration and get Greening Grey Britain! 

Inspired Greek Cuisine from the islands

As a committed Grecophile and taverna cuisine aficionado – ha! who am I kidding! In all reality I love Greek cooking, it has a basic premise that is heartfelt seasonal simplicity and I love cooking up a storm (translate = chaos!) in the kitchen. This weekend I had a friend over for dinner so decided to get stuck in and prepare a meze menu for sharing.

I read through Belinda Harley’s ‘Roast Lamb in the Olive Groves‘ for inspiration . I have struggled to find many Greek cookbooks – so let me know if you come across any treasures. It’s a very skilful modern take on some of the wonderful and traditional recipes she found during her time spent on Paxos. The island is a true jewel in the Ionian sea – we visited Paxos a couple of years ago and had enjoyed two weeks of pure bliss, walking, swimming in deserted beaches and enjoying some of the finest local cuisine. The island is a treasure – recommended to me by my parents who have only visited it in 1976, it was their first taste of what turned into a long term love for Greece. I have inherited their adoration of helios and retsina, and convinced myself in the 30 odd intervening years Paxos had changed only a little, with just the modern conveniences of wifi and imported gin as the real markers of time. But I do want to get round to writing a longer post on Paxos as it is a small island that deserves a full exploration. Watch this space

But in terms of my menu plan, the island inspired me to cook Spanakopita – a deliciously buttery feta and spinach pie.

12741956_10153756523531273_6109616586420747406_n
Spanakopita

Using Harley’s recipe for a colourful panzarosalata (beetoot salad with radish and feta) with it’s peppery taste to liven up the palate and offer a colourful visual for the meal. In my humble opinion any Greek menu is incomplete without a good basic tzatziki, served with bread and olives drizzled with lemon oil and thyme.

12741886_10153756523296273_7078518455160600057_n
almost ready – midia saganaki
12733490_10153756524911273_4216898972356396744_n
My love of olives

To add a little texture and taste I cooked midia saganaki – which is mussels in a winey tomato sauce, with an added shot of ouzo, sprinkled with herbs and feta. It’s a perfect sharing dish with the sauce just crying out for soaking up with bread.

I also grilled some simple pork kebabs seasoned with herbs and lemon,  a Greek salad – drizzled generously with wine vinegar and topped with feta. There is a love of cheese throughout this menu, so I went all out and grilled halloumi to serve drizzled in honey and sesame seeds.

12717739_10153756524026273_8692771704209467553_n
Just like a taverna

All served with a bottle of Retsina salvaged from Sainsbury’s and chilled to perfection. It may have been February in Kent, but we all agreed it was a Greek summer in our bellies…

Setting off the seeds

In an effort to give the garden a chance to come into its own this summer, without having to rely on buying in too many annuals, I am starting off some flowers from seed earlier this year. I also like to complement the flowers with the challenge of growing herbs and veg from seed too. I’m learning lessons along the way – but here is an update on my first seedlings of the year:

12743496_10153742299376273_6628679909055112553_n

Herbs
The first action I took in January was to sow sage, rosemary and oregano for the windowsill – last years oregano and parsley has just finished. So it’s a good investment to start them off now and have plentiful fresh herbs to enjoy throughout the year. Supermarket pots of herbs are disastrous – they are overfilled seedlings in tiny pots which the only way to make them last longer than a week or is to separate them out into 5 or 6 pots and give them extra soil and space. Once I realised how rewarding it was to grow my own herbs I promised never to buy supermarket herbs again…(I’ve relinquished on this on occasion when a whole batch of coriander was needed for a recipe, but as a rule..)  I will start off basil, coriander, parsley and thyme in the coming few weeks. But space is a premium in the propagation station (aka kitchen windowsill) this all needs a careful rotation plan. 

12096477_10153742299316273_6016309414499980558_n
Sweetpea – from seedling…..
12744045_10153742298911273_5843653038285855485_n
to 12cm tall in 14 days

Flowers
The first seed (and my favourite) flowers to get sowing in the 3rd week in January were the heady scented Lathyrus odoratus (sweet peas!). This year I’m trialling a couple of varieties; ‘singing the blues’ ‘skylark’ and ‘cupani’ which is one of the oldest heritage varieties found in the wild Italian hedgerows apparently. All will liven up the fence space and walls from May onwards. But I also plan to sow perennial ‘everlasting’ varieties later in the year which should flower next year.

The first week in February I started with some more traditional sowings of summer annuals that are new to me. Sweet Williams should work well as gap fillers in baskets and borders, (to add to my self seeding ones springing up over the winter), likewise the fluffy flowers of ageratum will work well for cutting in borders and I’m trying out Aster duchess for late season colour and height. To add some structure I’m adding some verbena bonariensis for added purple colour and spiky height which should be hardy enough to stay through to autumn. Im also trying out some heliotrope dwarf marine, which is a half hardy perennial and given its nickname as ‘cherry pie’ it’s a scented attractor for bees. Most have set off quite well the ageratum seems to be struggling in the propagators so I’ve given its tray the special treatment (a sealed sandwich bag!)

12742259_10153742299206273_3647982147197424948_n
Broad beans – reliable germinators

Veg
The broad beans went in pairs into each pot without a cover and all 8 sprouted within a week. In my experience (from last year!) they are the easy wins of the veg plot. I’ve started off a couple of pots of heirloom tomatoes ‘tigerella’ and ‘red pear’ – less is more this year and will concentrate my efforts on quality tomatoes rather than an over abundance! I’ve also started aubergines from seed. It’s a new one for me so I’m looking forward to see how challenging and fruitful they are in containers. In the next few weeks I will start to plan out the veg beds in detail – looking at best places for carrots and parsnips, runner beans and sweetcorn.

Until the weather improves I am only admiring the garden from afar but the daffodils are cheering everything up. It seems like the 2016 season starting off rather well. Long may it continue.

Is this Spring?

cheery cherry blossom

       I asked myself this as I walk around the garden on the last weekend in January. The cherry tree has burst open the first pink pops of blossom and there are more signs of the season changing on the way.

A few daffodils are out, this seems to be fairly universal across London. On my new route through St James’s Park, the immediate horizon of the path changed this week from grey and green green, to a sea of waving yellow heads bobbing in the wind and rain.

Although disappointed by the lack of expected order, even if it is unpredictable, I can never be disappointed to see flowers at this time of year. I expect a hierarchy with snowdrops and crocus being the early stars, followed by blue iris and grape muscari , then the attention grabbing daffodils and narcissus, with the proud tulips closing the Spring season.  This spell seems to have been broken in my garden this year at least, with daffodils in January and blue iris flowering 2 months earlier than last year.  But these days are so short and dark- I always feel thankful to see anything burst into flower – reminding us that winter is fleeting, soon warmer days and clearer skies will return.

12654383_10153718067321273_3417385395597866227_n 

There has been much in the garden out of sync – the anttirrium still haven’t died back. The fuschia have started new growth shoots and clematis are starting to bud. There is a bleeding heart flowering from the central clump of its woody form.

12644946_10153718067671273_1117899139504920765_n
Bleeding heart persists in the winter gloom

12642627_10153718067601273_2062542419990823524_n

There is also basil and chives re-sprouting in the pots I left in the mini greenhouse. In there are the sweet william that has managed to self seed into the container we grew beetroot in last September.  Nature finds a way to root through and satiate itself in strange conditions, its reassuring and reminds us about adaptation to new environments – a state we all face.

12651208_10153718070751273_1254160453718321678_n 12669505_10153718067751273_9170070349905002919_n

To respond to the seasonal shift, I’m ignoring caution and setting off some sweet peas, broad beans and chitting some swift early-crop potatoes. Let’s hope it pays to follow the lead of the early spring…

Rooted in the soil

Gardening for me has been a way of grounding myself in the world. It has been a way of understanding my history, my family and the necessity of the natural world. 

My gardening CV isn’t up to much – it wouldn’t win me any awards in a village fete and I certainly wouldn’t feel confident in sharing wisdom to strangers. But it’s a journey and I am taking my time. Like the Greeks say ‘siga siga’ (slowly, slowly) you can’t rush nature, whether it’s waiting for a seed to germinate or the season to change, all happens in its own time. It has taught be me to be patient, slow down, savour the effort you put in, there will be frustrations, but the rewards are bountiful.

Last year I had many failures, seeds and tubers that just disappeared into the earth, no shoots, a sad nothing. I had tender seedlings that died in April, they were out too early and the weather was unpredictable cold. These things happen and you learn from them, The weather is simultaneously your best friend and enemy, I’ve learn to go with it. Take risks and know that the rules of garden wisdom are meant to be heeded!

We all have personal  memories of a childhood garden, my own are probably no different. Growing up in market town, cul de sac house, quite a big garden to run around and play in, But I loved the mud, getting dirty up to my elbows in the soil and making piles, collecting worms, ripping petals from my dad’s roses and making ‘perfume’. Summer was heaven, long days of sunshine stretched before me – a 7 year old has no sense of time – just the endless hours to fill with play.

Although childhood feels like forever, its really a short part of your formative years and as a young adult those student shared houses were no places to be green fingered. But when I moved to Oxford to take up my first ‘proper job’ that changed. I lived in a house with a mature garden that the landlord wanted us to look after, so I took on that challenge, spending hours after work and at weekends cutting back the overgrown jungle!

I have always had an interest in cooking and food, the mechanic of food production never fails to scare me. Although I like nothing more than stalking round a supermarket,picking up ingredients and comparing the vast array of produce on offer,  I do worry about the monster of food production on a global scale, the sustainable impact of what we eat and where it comes from. I don’t want tomatoes from a poly tunnel in the driest habitat in Morocco. I want them grown in a wet hot landscape so they make sense to me and the environment. Food should be in season, unadulterated and not always available. Every child should learn about food. I did. It roots us in  the simplest human instinct to provide.

Nothing gave me more joy last year than growing vegetables for the first time. 18 months after moving in, we had finally got the garden to a state where this was possible. From the small scale like beetroots, radishes and lettuce leaves. To the garden staples like broadbeans, tomatoes and onions. But surprises cam in strange shapes. Like the cucumbers which were such a curveball, late sown, free seeds from a magazine and boy did those ‘Market Mores’ live up to their name! We had a glut that kept on giving! I learnt so much last year about planning and seedling management. I couldn’t bear to dump any of the viable courgette seedlings last year so we had 5 very fruitful courgette plants. At least 4 courgettes a week in August was way too many or a household of two!

So this year, its taking all the learning from last and building on it…onwards and like the sunflower, always upwards!

IMAG2238 (1) - EditedIMAG3987 (1)