All it took was one question

One simple question asked on Twitter has snowballed into something wonderful!!

It was asked out of frustration and bewilderment. A sunny day called to spend some time in the front garden. Out came my handy tools and the weeding began. It was full of them, but it didn't take long for them to be turfed out. That's when the horrible, gut sinking feeling began. I tweeted the above question and the response I received was just EPIC!!

This is the main part of my front garden. I took this photo approximately 2 years ago. It is so bare in the borders, its quite pathetic really. It is crying out to be loved and filled and that's where all the wonderful advice I received will come into play.

So many of you took the time to make suggestions on types of plants, where to bag the bargains and some even suggested some layout changes, note: layout changes will happen eventually but I am building up my arsenal of plants first so I can use them to play. This is where it gets even more fabulous though............

Off the back of the suggestions I was kindly offered some seeds and plants to help kick start the borders becoming filled. Some came in the post thanks to @unfurlingnet & @jw4926. I was contacted on Instagram by a lady called Helen who lives a short distance away from me and kindly invited me to her gorgeous allotment where we had a cuppa & nattered like we had known each other for years. Two and a half hours later and after a tour of the site she filled my car boot with lots of goodies to add to the others. I then visited a gorgeous open garden day that belongs to the lovely Joan & Geoff. I knew this lovely couple through the Gardentags app originally. They had a plant sale as part of the open garden to help raise funds for a local school adventure to Nepal. They had plenty to offer at fabulously cheap prices, but it was more wonderful knowing I could have a little piece of their magnificent garden in mine.

Which brings me nicely on to what I want to reveal.

I'm naming the garden, Le Jardin du Chalet des Medias Sociaux.

Sounds posh I know! I thought I would bring a little French to this part of the North East :P. It translates to The Social Media Cottage Garden. To some it might seem strange or bonkers. Why name it though?, I hear you ask. Well, I am genuinely overwhelmed by the generosity from the gardening community. The most valuable part is the wealth of advice and knowledge that is shared for all to take something from and in turn that can help others out too. There is going to be a piece of everybody in this part of the garden because it's going to be built up on the responses to that original tweet.

Also I'm hoping in time as plants establish, I will be able to share out seeds and cuttings for others who are in a similar position or if I just happen to have a bit of what is needed.

This is where gardening really does come into its own. There is no other community like it. Inclusive, helpful, friendly and full of kind hearted folk. It's the nicest hobby one could take up and I for one will be eternally grateful for the appreciation it makes me have for the smallest things in life yet mean the most.

So here is to you, the gardening community.

Until Next Time

xNx

NOT a New Year's Resolution post!

Wait, it's the new year shouldn't it be all about resolutions? 

Keep reading and it will make sense ;)

It was such a lovely way to round up a busy 2018 of new jobs and a new baby (my niece Nancy) by taking a little wander around the garden with Max spotting signs of new life. A good spattering of bulbs poking their sleepy heads through the soil to greet the low winter sun which are then rudely interrupted by our human faces inspecting them with a little prodding to make sure they are definitely waking up (sorry about that plants!).

I then got super excited about my next discovery.........

A forgotten about Ranunculus corm has decided it will be noticed. I thought it was a weed at first but then I spotted this lovely big bloom it had, then noticed all of the other buds that are waiting for their turn to be noticed too! It definitely took me by surprise and I squealed like a small child finding treasure. 

Stepping into January was rather fun. Previous years I would have been just cleaning up after all the festivities and watching some films repeated for the 10th time but this year I had to go to the allotment. It needed the new year letting in and going there just made me smile from ear to ear.

                                                         

An obligatory toast to the plot with a hot cup of coffee (Max's choice-juice&chocolate!) followed by a walk about to see the brassica's are still growing nicely, the onions are still sleeping along with the weeds. There was a real calm atmosphere with a backdrop of clear blue skies, a soft birdsong wrapped up in a blanket of warmth from the sun, yes that sounds more like a spring day and it was rather surreal but blooming lovely at the same time. 

It was the perfect condition to highlight a spectacular discovery 

A clump of beautiful White Borage! Now a few of you will have already seen this picture plastered all over my social media platforms but its just GORGEOUS!! This picture was taken on the 1st of January 2019, it looks more like the middle of summer. You can see its still got lots of buds to open on it too! I will absolutely be saving some seeds from it and will hopefully offer some out for others to grow and enjoy it too! I have only ever known this plant to be blue so this was another of those squeal moments.

After so much excitement it was time to get down to business and work out what to do this year.

Now I haven't set no new year resolutions as I never stick to any and feel like they are just never achievable. 

Set achievable ones then, I hear you say!!

Well what I am going to do is just go with the flow. I might make the odd plan or set a little project up but I am not going to give it a time scale or pressure myself into getting it completed. I found last year that the less I done that the more success I had with things and if things didn't work out I didn't stress out I just learned and moved on from it. It was quite a liberating year for me and I just want more of that to continue this year. 

I am compiling a list of things I want to grow and can't wait for things to be a bit warmer to start the sowing process. January is always a long month and itchy finger syndrome starts kicking in ha ha. I also want to step outside my comfort zones a little and try new things be that food related or experiences. I started that on the first day and rang in to a live podcast being hosted by The Skinny Jean Gardener (he is very good!) which might sound daft to some but that was me putting myself out there a bit more than I am used to!

The blog and my Youtube channel will just continue to be updated as and when I can. I don't want to force any content for the sake of it, that's just not me and I like to keep it as natural and as real as possible :)

So for now I will let you roll into 2019 being happy and content and look forward to seeing how the year unfolds

Until Next Time

xNx

Patience Is a Virtue!

I find I am often asked why I like gardening as much as I do. 

What's not to love! The feeling never gets old of seeing hard work pay off, whether it is digging over beds, mowing the lawn, pottering about dead heading plants and of course sowing seeds to either fill your eyes and heart with beautiful sights of blooms that attract nature or being able to pick/dig up scrumptious goodies to devour at the table (if they make it that far!) But what I really love about gardening is that it's the greatest teacher you could have!

Now bare with me on this one it will make sense I promise. 

The biggest and most important thing that can be learned from gardening is Patience. 

For some it doesn't happen straight away ( like me, being super keen to get stuck in!). You have a few successes of something growing well and think "Yes I've nailed it!" And then go charging through all the seed/plant brochures (the temptation when they drop through the letterbox is rather hard to ignore!), visiting the garden centres & nurseries to grab pretty much anything that turns your head. Then it ALL gets sown/planted and your bouncing around like a child in a sweet shop UNTIL............ Pretty much most of it fails to grow past the seedling pots or dies in the ground and you feel like a complete FAILURE! 

Yep that was pretty much me last year haha! Oh how I can sit and laugh now because gardening kicked my over enthusiastic butt and put me firmly in my place. At the time I blamed sowing things much too late (and some I did!) but actually I just didn't plan out what I wanted to gain from growing over the year. I also planted in some plants in not so great spots (skim reading the advice tags)

With my little lesson learnt, this year I decided it was best to sit and have a good sort out of the seeds that have accumulated over the last few years. Some will be donated as I know they wont be used and the rest I can work on what I want from the garden AND more importantly what is going to be achievable for me to keep going. I'm also taking notice of the gardens dynamics. There is something actually quite therapeutic in just sitting and observing your space and really take notice of how the light moves around all its angles. My saving grace this year will be my greenhouse (watch this here to see how happy it made me!). It will allow for me to learn to grow more BUT there is still plenty of time to jump on the sowing bandwagon.

March-June

February-August

February-May

 Its so easy to feel left behind when you see others sowing away and already have seedlings but don't let that put you off. Most seeds/tubers/bulbs etc have a good date range on for when they can be sown by (as can be seen above). We are of course only just at the beginning of February so for some things its still a little early to bust them out the packets just yet. The other thing to remember is some seeds need to be sown little and often to keep a succession of crops/flowers going over the growing seasons. 

Don't be disappointed or put off when things don't quite work out or go to plan. Something that will work one season wont necessarily be guaranteed next season. That's the beauty of gardening, it constantly keeps you on your toes. You cant have success without failure, its how we learn and get by in everyday life too! Take your time, gardening isn't a race. Find what is right for you and your space.

Remember: Good things come to those who wait 😉

Until Next Time

N xx

Put the breaks on!!

My goodness me where does the time go?! 

Since my visit to Gardeners World Live I just don't seem to have stopped much at all. Although it has all been great fun from exploring a local National Trust hall, making progress in the garden to even managing to run the fab Ali Brownlee 5k Riverside Run!!

A local piece of beauty!

For many of my childhood years I only lived a short distance away from Ormesby Hall, but I have never been along to discover what it has to offer. Sunday 25th June they held a free open day to all Teessiders and what a perfect opportunity it was to spend some of my birthday strolling around and taking in this beautiful hall with all its history and beautiful gardens. Even Hollie and Maximus enjoyed playing old fashioned games on the lawn and seeing how the house would have ran with all its staff. The gardens where stunning too with nothing overly fussy and natural looking borders it added to the calm and relaxing atmosphere. I will definitely be heading back there again.

Ormesby Hall

Practically living outdoors

The summer months become peak season for us keen gardeners and more often than not over the last few weeks I have been in mine pottering, planning and creating. A heavy drizzle wasn't going to stop me from weeding and tidying up the front garden either (even if the neighbours thought I was mad!). I finally got round to making up my hanging baskets which are just now starting to fill out nicely. I've even stepped up in the grow your own game. I was pleasantly surprised at how many veg varieties can still be sown this month. Having my fab little VegTrug has helped my confidence with growing veg and allows the kids to easily see the progress they make so we opted for some Dwarf French Beans and Dwarf Turnips. Don't be put off by the time of year you can grow some great veg for later pickings and can just use good sized pots/troughs. 

French Beans & Turnip

Hanging Basket all ready

 

Come and find me

Alongside this blog you can find me over on social media. I love to see what you all get up to in your own gardens and hope that I can encourage/inspire more to reconnect with your surroundings which will benefit you in so many ways and also give nature a helping hand. I would love to see you over there. You can ask me questions & I'll do my best to answer or share what has made you smile from your own gardens/spaces

https://www.instagram.com/thepintsizedgardener/

https://twitter.com/PintSizeGardenr

https://www.facebook.com/ThePintSizedGardener/

                              

Keep growing & nurturing

Until next time 

N x