Well, well, well – we’ve had a busy old time of it, here at Chook Cottage. So much so, there’s been barely time to put pen to paper, or indeed, fingers to keyboard…
The first big change is that we should purely be called ‘Cottage’ from now. The chooks are no more. Looking out on the garden a week or so back, I decided to re-home Liza and Judy, the faithful old chickens. The garden isn’t ideal for them to roam free, and they tend to trash any areas they are on rather rapidly, so I put a few feelers out and they’ve now gone off to a lovely new place with lots more chickens for company. The patch they were on would also make an ideal little vegetable plot: lovely and fertile, and close to the house. I’d originally planned to grow a few vegetables in amongst the borders, but this has failed dismally. The flower seeds planted at the beginning of the season have literally burst into life, and hence tended to smother anything in their path.
On the upside though, all the new flowers and foliage appear to have attracted insects into the garden, so we now have a thriving population of bees and ladybirds. The ladybirds are keeping the greenfly at bay, so I’m delighted to say that it’s a win, win all round.
The next change is that the little patio at the end of the garden now has seating, so we can enjoy the last rays of the sun. The first plan was to put a little bistro set on there, but I figured if you moved your chair back and fell off the edge, it could all end in disaster. So I plumped for a sturdier option: a wooden love seat – two chairs with a table attached between. This was ordered online and arrived the very next day, so without further ado I whizzed off down the garden to assemble it. After a couple of hours wrestling with numerous bits of wood, random screws and allen keys, it’s now in situ and we’re looking forward to many summer evenings out there.
I’ve also decided to install an arch at the top of the garden to frame the entrance, which should be delivered any time soon.
With the new design in mind, this weekend was spent humping slabs about and defining the borders ready for the new arch and vegetable patch. After a sweaty old afternoon digging and raking the area, a quick rummage in my seed collection produced several varieties of carrots and beetroot, some mixed salad leaves, radish, fennel and celeriac. I’ve never eaten celeriac in my life, but if they do grow, I’m sure I’ll find a good use for them.
So now, with the hard work over, it’s time to sit back and watch the fruits of my labor. Preferably with a glass of something yummy. The only big dilemma is which patio do I sit upon?
Garden patio with love seat