Here Comes the Bride - Karen Gets Hitched

Karen and Mark's wedding was perfect. A beautiful bride. A handsome groom. Family and friends and a glorious day.

We wish them years of happiness, lots of love and tons of patience and a pound of laughter!

Dino (Mark's nickname for Karen's dad) seals the deal with a handshake!

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Planning a Cutting Garden and a New Competition!

Have you ever been tempted by the idea of starting a cutting garden? Maybe you’ve had enough of paying for stems of over-engineered, chemically coated and unscented shadows of a former bloom, when you know very well you are more than capable of growing better yourself?  I know my answer to both questions and I imagine I’m not on my own here.

   

Since I’ve had a garden I’ve grown flowers for the home and I guess that started with my Grandmother bringing Roses in to her home and naturally roping me, an animal crazed youth, in for earwig duty. That was much more exciting at the time but the Roses never failed to amaze either.  They were always large, old fashioned, scented blooms in shades of pink and red, a much better quality rose than the mainstream tight budded chaff that is churned out en mass nowadays.  To date, I have refrained from growing roses but that doesn’t mean that the influence of growing cut flowers has been lost.  

My small garden is host to a number of plants and flowers that could be considered as vase worthy and I have been known to sacrifice a few for the home but this is not without a touch of resent.   A few decapitated blooms in a small space is often too great a loss, at least it is not something that is entirely sustainable, and it is therefore my intention to dedicate a bit of space (a small space at that) on my allotment.  The question is – What do I grow?

I have visions of growing a mix of annuals, perennials and bulbs so that I can create seasonal displays. I have a vague idea of what to grow but I want a wider and more informed view of what will grow well and last and in true Ryan’s Garden style there is an upside to this - there’s a prize in it for you!

In association with clothes retailer Lands' End I am giving away six £25 gift vouchers and several packets of Nasturtium seeds, which are perfect for sowing next spring in the garden or on the allotment.  Lands' End sponsor the Colour Garden at Barnsdale Gardens.  I was lucky enough to be invited to the garden this year but I couldn’t attend.  I will visit next year for sure as part of a number of much needed garden visits.  

So the question is - What Spring bulbs would you recommend for cutting?  To enter the competition please click here.

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Allotment update: The harvest just got better

You may remember that back in May I got a call to say that my time had come  to become an allotmenteer after a lengthy wait on the waiting list.  I was offered a quarter plot which was just a little overgrown (see here) and since that day the allotment has come a long way.  Today's harvest was easily the best yet.





The Nero di Toscano has grown well alongside my other Brassica's, the Courgette's have been unstoppable (no surprise there then) and the beans have grown amazingly well this year.  I have eaten more beans than I think I've eaten in my whole life combined.  Some of my favourites have been Runner Bean 'St George' with its red and white flowers, Broad Bean 'Bunyard's Exhibition' and French Bean 'Purple Queen'.  The latter is an amazing bean that has gorgeous purple flowers and pods that are almost black .  Upon boiling the beans magically transform and become green as per your standard French Bean.  I couldn't help but think that if there is a way to get kids interested in vegetables and cooking then this little bean may have what it takes.  It certainly entertained me.





Besides the obvious vegetable excitement you may have noticed a new addition to the harvest?  That's right, one of my new girls laid an egg today and I'm hoping that the other two will follow suit shortly so that I can make something substantial. 

The Speckledy hen above is the one that is the most likely to have laid the first egg as she is supposed to lay brown speckled eggs, the Cotswold Legbar (the brown hen above with the great hair do) is likely to lay a blue/green egg and the Copper Black Marans below should lay quite a dark brown egg.  Only time will tell but I cannot convey how excited I was to find the first egg today!

The small but perfectly formed egg was put to good use and helped to make today's Yorkshire puddings (pictured below) and besides the obvious benefit of keeping hens I'm learning that they make for great company. They have great personalities, dispose of pretty much anything, including waste from the plot or from the kitchen and they are sure to increase the fertility of my compost.  

Gardening will definitely be more interesting from here on in and I'm looking forward to my first  omelette!

If you have any Chicken keeping tips please leave a comment below!

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Change of plans

My first order of business this morning was to plant my Orange Geiger tree, the one I got at a tree give-a-way last week. I had a spot all set in the front garden, but it didn’t feel right, it looked a bit crowded. I decided to plant the Geiger tree in the courtyard outside my dining room. When it is mature, I will be able to see the beautiful orange flowers from inside the house.

I did some work in the courtyard--trimmed the bougainvillea, the fire dragon, and the ti bushes. I layed some mulch and pressure-cleaned the bricks.

Let me take you on a tour of the courtyard.

View from inside the house.

In this corner, I keep my collection of bonsai and succulents.

The fire dragon looks better during late spring and early summer. I rescued this yucca from a neighbor’s garbage can.

The St. Francis statute was a gift for my wife. St. Francis is her favorite saint and very appropriate for a garden. We Catholics know him as the patron saint of animals and the environment. The Saint Francis prayer is a favorite of mine.

This is the view of the backyard through the Mexican fire bush vine. Replacing the trellis where the vine is growing on is a future project.

The Dracaena Marginata plant was here when I purchased the house. It's not a favorite of mine but I left it there as a reminder of what was here before. Growing inside is a blue porterflower plant. I also added the Spanish moss to hide the lanky branches.

My dog Rosie supervised my work.

HAPPY LABOR DAY, ALL! I will be working in the garden preparing the vegetable beds.

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Fall colors in the Rocky Mountains

Yesterday my wife and I returned from a wonderful vacation in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. We visited the towns of Breckenridge, Vail, and Aspen in search of cooler weather and fall colors.

We found the fall colors but had no such luck with the cooler weather; the temperatures were in the mid 80’s during the day (global warming anyone?).

First stop, the old mining town of Breckenridge




While my wife visited the stores, I walked around town taking pictures of the gardens and the beautiful hanging baskets on Main Street.



This house had a plaque honoring the gardener that created the garden many years ago. Today, the house is a store but her garden and her name live on with this nice tribute. Don’t you wish someday in the distant future there would be a plaque like this in your garden?

Second stop on the tour was the ski town of Vail.

Vail was celebrating Oktoberfest.



Vail is the Disney World of the ski industry. The resort was built back in the 1960’s to resemble a Bavarian village and the ski mountain soon became world-class. Today, summer tourism has grown in popularity, an integral part of the local economy with flowers as the main attraction.

Third and final stop--the town of Aspen.



Aspen is my favorite town in Colorado and my wife and I have been coming here for many years. The town is located at the end of the Roaring Fork Valley and is surrounded by majestic mountains. Aspen was established in the mid 1800’s as a silver mining town and today the town celebrates its mining past with loving restoration of so many of the original historical buildings.




The gardening season in the mountains of Colorado is a short one but the local gardeners take full advantage of it.



While staying in Aspen, I like to walk the many miles of hiking trails surrounding the town.



A short distance from the town of Aspen is the White River National Forest and the striking Maroon Bells--the most photographed peaks in all of Colorado.





There are only two ways in and out Aspen from Denver and both are spectacular drives.
Driving from Leadville on State Road 82, you cross the Continental Divide at Independence Pass. While the drive is breathtaking, make sure you have a strong heart because, in some spots, the road is so narrow that only one car can drive through at a time with huge boulders on one side and a steep precipice on the other!




Driving on the much safer I-70 Highway, pass through Glenwood Canyon with the Colorado River running parallel to the road. The views from the bottom of the canyon are simply spectacular.


Aspen is known as the playground of the rich and famous and the evidence is seen in the many million-dollar homes built in the surrounding mountains and in the astronomical cost of real estate.
This is a town of haves and have-nots and the have-nots cannot afford to live here. Every morning buses from all over the Valley deliver workers to Aspen businesses and every night they leave. Aspen has hundreds of homes owned by absentee owners that sit empty most of the year, waiting for their owners to occupy them for a couple of weeks during ski season.

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