Our Garden

The Back Garden

We are in the process of updating/rejigging/sorting out our back garden. Jez built the raised beds last summer and we have been slowly filling them with top soil. We got a load from freecycle last year which filled one of the beds but the one on the side remained empty.

Last week I decided that the children's playmats (recycled car tyre mats for use in playgrounds) needed a proper home so I chose the location and we started digging. It took most of Saturday but we did it - well Jez did it! The soil that came out of the hole for the mats has filled in most of the long bed on the left of the garden. The next job is to fill the hole with hardcore, sand and cement to make a stable base for the mats. They are going to have a deckboard edge so the children are going to end up with about 2 square metres of all weather play area.

Photos taken from the top of the steps.

The big wall at the end of the garden is a flood defence wall, the River Taw flows behind it and it is a tidal river which often has 8-9 metre tides.

The photo above shows where we could site the chickens if the council allows us to keep them. I don't hold out much hope so it'll probably get filled with more soil eventually. The henhouse would go where you can see the shed and the square bed would become their run.

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The Front Garden

The front garden/yard is a hotbed of activity at the moment. I bought the plastic greenhouse today from Wilkinson for £12. A bargain!

In the greenhouse we have:

Sugarsnap peas

Mange Tout

Broad beans

Dwarf french beans

French beans

Courgettes

Butternut squash

Beetroot

Lollo Rossa

Chillies

Sweet peppers

Sage

Flat leaf parsley

Basil

Beefsteak tomatoes

Gardeners Delight tomatoes

Sunflowers

Rosemary

Fingers crossed for a bumper harvest! I still want some rocket and sweetcorn.

In the drainpipes we have carrots for our annual longest carrot competition. There's also chives, parsley, more rosemary, strawberries, salad leaves and a cranberry bush in pots.

Exochorda x macrantha 'The Bride'
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Emilia had her 9th birthday during the Easter holidays. She requested the usual stack of gooey chocolate brownies for her cake. Ooh yum!


She wanted a Roman theme for her party as that has been her topic at school. It was a fun theme and I enjoyed making their costumes. All the children who came had made such an effort too.

My little Roman Soldier.
and my army!


Emilia asked for a sewing kit for her birthday and choose this skirt from Clothkits.com. She was brilliant with the sewing machine and did loads of it herself. I can see Clothkits making me broke!