Garden Joy

 Good Day Everyone,

How a-mazing has the weather been lately in England?! I cannot remember the last time we had such a great summer, although I’m sure we (well not me as I’m now back in sunny Singapore but you get what I mean) will pay the price with an  equally bad winter, but for now lets enjoy and reminisce about how fantastically sunny and hot August was :o)

When I was younger I was never an out doorsy person or even a garden person. The bugs and creepy crawlies were enough of a deterrent to keep me tucked away safely indoors. I never had pets as a child as I struggle with anything that moves and I can only just about cope with fellow human beings ;o) I’m not quite sure what it is that scares me of other living / moving things but I just don’t like the idea of something pouncing / crawling on me when I least expect it. I think it might be a combination of my nervous disposition and over active imagination which results in me having a tendency to freak myself out!!!


However, over the last few years I’ve experienced, first hand, the satisfaction and pleasure gained from growing and then hand picking your own produce. In fact, one of the first gifts my hubby (then boyfriend) gave me was a beautiful plant pot with coriander and rocket growing in it. My mum has always grown some sort of herbs and vegetables for as long as I can remember, as well as her own flowers. When my hubby and I renovated our last house we had a small garden in which we grew our own potatoes, tomatoes, peas and strawberries as well as an array of herbs. Oh, the joy of picking tomatoes fresh of the vine and basil leaves straight from our garden to create our own salad was incredibly immense – I loved it!!! 

Spinach and garlic

Fresh coriander

A turnip poking through the soil

Being back home in England last week allowed me to spend some precious time with my mum in her garden. She’s been growing her own organic spinach, garlic, potatoes, turnips, rocket  and coriander in a makeshift vegetable patch. It was amazing to prepare fresh salads with spinach, rocket and coriander freshly picked from the garden :o)

My parents also planted several fruit trees this year and the cherry tree even managed a few cherries :o) Around one of the edges of my parent’s garden there are some wild blackberry bushes where local children come to pick their own blackberries. Whilst very sour, the blackberries make a great fruit crumble mixed with some green apples and honey.



My parent’s garden also has a few beautiful rose plants including a peach and red rose. The roses are amazingly fragrant and my mum tends to keep a vase of them in the living room as well as her bedroom as natural potpourri. In addition to the roses, she has a beautiful purple hydrangea bush, as well a lavender bush - oh, I can just smell it now, it's so relaxing :o)

There is large old tree in my parent’s garden where birds often nest and my hubby actually bought some bird feeders from the garden centre we went to the week before (click here to read that post) that he hung from the tree for the birds. I only wish I was going to be home long enough to watch the birds feeding from the heart shaped feeder.

 

The garden is an absolute feast for the eyes and I loved spending time in it with my mum, taking in all the different colours, fragrances and marvelling in nature’s beauty. It really does have a very calming effect on one’s mind and kind of helps you to take a break from the hectic pace of modern life and appreciate the things in life that we so often dismiss and ignore so easily.

What do you most enjoy about your garden? Do you grown your own flowers or herbs, fruit or vegetables? Do you get the same pleasure of handpicking fresh produce from your own garden as we do?

Love Sheen xxx