The conversation with nature

Yesterday I observed the birds in the garden and apart from them picking up little twigs and breaking my wool mat to bits, they were obviously building a nest.

Then there was a bluetit that kept going to my blackcurrant bush and I thought he was destroying it. However on closer inspection, there were little green flies on it meaning the bluetit was doing some work in my garden.  Sometimes we just have to observe and notice that a garden is created by all of nature and not just us.

Black Gold

Today’s task was to harvest the homemade compost and to start the new compost heap with the resources available in the garden. The heap was emptied and started again with layers of leaves collected and started in a black plastic bag, rabbit poop and bedding ( available locally), earth from pots from last year, grass clippings and kitchen waste. It then was sprinkled with water and covered with a layer of the leftover wool material that had been pecked at for weeks as nesting material for the birds. The area is not wheelchair accessible but in the corner is a broken plant pot allowing me to deposit waste collected that will be added weekly. The compost available now is black, dry and liquid gold for the garden.

Painting with plants

Exactly what I am doing with the garden? The aim is for it to be beautiful and edible. I will be sharing and caring for wildlife hopefully creating mutual beneficial relationships.

My resources in space and energy are limited but that does not mean I cannot garden, preserve and champion.

The front garden is a typical country cottage garden but instead of seeing the garden from the outside to its best advantage, it’s at its best looking from inside because that’s where I am mostly. 

Last autumn my helpers planted over 200 bulbs and it’s a spectacle to behold. The bees have plenty of flowers to visit while I plan additions to the garden that will be edible. So far amongst the flowers we have rhubarb, artichoke and rosemary but more planned. 

The back patuo which is accessible provides a salad garden mostly with edible flowers. Going around the space in my wheelchair provides exercise, fresh air and sunshine. Everything we need to grow.

Compost bin part 1

Today’s gardening task with help is going to be crucial to continue to reduce the waste from the garden as well as home  and decreasing the waste produced and sent away. The compost heap. It’s small but bijou. My grow beds will get a top up on a regular basis and I intend to put waste to better use. Secret to good compost seems to be in the planning: brown and green waste. Seems I have a variety of that so walk with me.Bacteria are the future !

Rhubarb and Date chutney

Since having lost a few motor skills I can no longer make big batches of preserves but that does not prevent me from starting a little chutney. It took all day but once it was on the stove I just needed to stir it occasionally . This chutney will need to ripen a few weeks but it’s full bodied and a nice dark colour. Recipe from Rosie makes a Jam http://m.rosiemakesjam.com/recipes/howtomake/rhubarb-and-date-chutney/index.asp#.XK4QORbTUlT

This handy website lets you enter a quantity of one ingredient and will calculate the recipe. I went for 1 lb of rhubarb. 

Will be adding that to the pantry.

With a little help ....

A few days ago I had the idea to put some marigold seedlings out into the sunshine. To protect them at night I gave them a blanket, the insert of the packaging received from  www. Pipersfarm.com .  ( one of us  eats meat and buying it from pipers farm means it’s sustainable, grass fed and they even have packaging that can be recycled) so, having recycled the cardboard, inside the refrigerated packaging this wool blanket kept things very cold) First I thought it would be an ideal cover for the compost bin but then I had the idea to insulate my seedlings that may not be completely ready to be planted out.

Upon waking I wondered why it was falling apart but in observing the comings and goings of various birds one little bird must have told another  : ‘hey if you are looking for warm suitable nest material, look no further, that tiny garden there has some for the taking.’

And there I thought recycling was my responsibility solely but I find that with a little help from my nature friends, it’s happening naturally.

Through the misty glaze

Lost

After visiting my Aunt and taking part in my Uncles funeral , my daughter and I got back to our hotel. We stayed in an old convent that offered basic accommodation but after all we just wanted a bed.

In the morning, the day of our return, I seemed to have difficulty eating, walking and even remembering my card code to pay. We decided however to take the journey back slowly, one stage at a time, taking our time. I felt myself slipping away and entering a sort of mythical kingdom, my thoughts interrupted by my daughter asking me to count backwards from 100. On the train I munched on a sandwich but it appeared it took me a whole hour to deal with this sandwich. When she had to leave the train at her station she made me promise to look for my husband who would be there. She tucked me in and pinned a note to my coat. I however was in my mythical calm kingdom, lost to myself. My husband did indeed find me at the station and took me straight to hospital where I did not have to wait but got whizzed into emergency. My parallel magical kingdom kept me in a safe bubble. A nurse explained to me to imagine a crash on the motorway. I was observing she said, from my mythical kingdom, there was a lot of debris, it would take time to clear however to be assured that the road was still there.

Then I slept for 36 hours and when I awoke,  calmly I realised that I was quite safe in my mythical kingdom but that I had had a stroke and would gently have to find my way back. But the road was still there. The note pinned to my coat had read : please look after my mom.

New home

We moved to our little cottage because I was unable to live in the previous house as my new reality means getting about in a wheelchair. I live in 3 rooms, the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom and my living space expands into the garden in summer. As a ramp has now been installed I am getting out a little in the garden and creating a growing space there.

A lot has happened to dampen my goals in life however, after 7 years I am back in the land of the living. My life was devastated by a neurological condition leaving me wheelchair bound and ill for a very long time. I had to move and adapt to living with a damaged body and I have become differently able. My goals are still the same, my direction is still the same and whilst my options are seriously reduced I am adapting to a reduced energy life. I am finding alternatives. I continue to grow food and explore available options but ' life is not as we knew it' Pointing north this platform will document my process. Thank you for being here.