Worms, water and wheelbarrows

I'm hoping to keep up with the blog again now, because it's so nice to be able to look back and see what we've achieved. Already this season I've been able to do quite a lot, with some help from the girls. They're definitely interested, but still a bit too young to put in the hours required! C has a big thing for worms, and every time she finds one, she steals it to put in her raised bed. We've been talking about compost and manure and leaf mould a lot, and of course watering in new plants. Hosepipes and watering cans always go down well. Wheelbarrow rides are also a big hit!

I had a nice session with R one day too, when we planted her giant pumpkin seeds. She was so excited. She's also loving digging, and filling pots with compost for whoever needs them. C has been trying to pot on her 25 sunflower seedling.

 So we've got lots of things on the go, and I'm trying to do a little bit every day. C and I built our little mini greenhouse which smells like camping :-)

 I love coming across little scenes like this. Someone's been busy cooking some healthy greens for their babies!

Amazing Boxleaf Azara has been filling the air with scent of chocolate, right by the back door, encouraging us out! I bought it for about £7 from Furzey Gardens a couple of years ago and it's been brilliant!

It's quite a big garden and I'm trying to add in a few more shrubs and non-edible plants, just to decrease the workload a little! I've hardly spent any money on plants since moving her five years ago,  apart from the hedge at the front, so an investment of £100 in plants like Magnolia and Weigela has made a big difference. Well, it will when I get them all planted! More pics to follow. Hopefully.

What happened to last year?!

Well blogging clearly fell by the wayside last year! It was an exhausting season but we managed to grow a fair amount of fruit and veg. We even managed some prizes from the Emsworth Show. Unfortunately the Show was a complete washout, but we still enjoyed exhibiting. C collected her prize from Ed, the winner of the Big Allotment Challenge on telly! This was for some of her many pink and purple flowers which seemed to thrive in her raised bed without too much attention.

And I was thrilled to win second prize for my 'Dig for Victory' flower arrangement which brought together all our efforts in one pot. It included pepper, courgette, kale, raspberries, apple, potatoes, kale, herbs as well as leek and potato flowers. I also included salvia tinged with blood red, and buddleia to represent regrowth from the ashes.

My veg didn't get anything, basically because I wasn't allowed to enter the novice categories following the previous year's success. But I just love being in the marquee first thing in the morning, laying everything out and having a nosey at everyone else's offerings before the crowds descend.

I really struggled to find the time and space to keep up with the garden, and I found the whole season quite exhausting and several things went to waste. I didn't even get round to picking the last of the peppers, which were still going in December I think, such an amazingly long season! And it wasn't until March that I ventured out in the cold to pull the last of the leeks. Meanwhile, Pierre the Peacock finished off the kale. We haven't seen him much since then. I must remember to put netting over any brassicas I grow this year!

One major development was the very kind gift of a playhouse from Nana and Grandad, which the girls helped to put up and paint. I know it will make a big different to the time spent in the garden this year, thanks Ma and Da!

The garden had a good hibernation, with a couple of flurries of snow and lots of frost, which killed off the greenfly this year, thank goodness.

By the time the sun started to get warmer, we were ready to start clearing and planning. Seedy Sunday in February was a great reviver, and we all bought lots of seeds.

By the time the crocuses poked through, we were ready and waiting to get stuck in again.

Not super, not speedy, and not with kids!

Planting seeds? Quick and easy. Kids love it. Especially, in our case, pink and purple flowering annuals. But be warned, until the bit where you pick some nice juicy fruit, veg and pretty flowers, you're on your own!

The children have made their own fun in the garden

I've definitely bitten off more giant unpicked courgette than I can chew this year. My 4 year old and 2 year old daughters have loved being out in the garden and getting involved when they're in the mood. But while I've spent hours watering, potting up, hardening off, planting out, watering some more, thinning, protecting from slugs, staking (and not blogging), they've been doing more important jobs. Like mixing colourful garden materials in water. They loved it and spent hours concocting, pouring and generally getting wet. And I seem to have less to show for my efforts than them!

Before: Hard labour for Handy Dad

 My poor dad has been roped in to help again, reclaiming some beds from the weeds.

After: Potato crop and the inevitable pink flowers

Not exactly gardening with kids in half an hour a day but we have had a fair amount of edible goodies so far, and my eldest's raised bed is a mass of flowers (more pics to follow).

Baby yellow courgettes

Little one watering the rather scruffy flower bed!