Garden Journal | Friday 3 September 2021 - Late August/early September in all my gardens
Source I've started researching ideas and plans for my wild paddling/plunge pool. I don't think this is a wild pool, it has an electrical water purifier system underwater, but I liked the visual look of it. I'm thinking about something with some edging that could be used as seating, so you could have several people dipping their toes in the water on a summer's evening. Plus a deeper section big enough for one or two people to immerse themselves.
I also love the lush look of the foliage around this pool in the limestone garden in the Garden around the corner from me. I'm wondering how to provide some privacy and keep as much light as possible. Yesterday I was thinking about a sail to provide some screening from my neighbours' upstairs windows. I'd also like a plant barrier between me and traffic on the A6 trunk road.
Wild Sweet Peas growing near the south-east coast, a beautiful colour, taken 29 August 2021.
The cool summer is cooling down even more as we head into Autumn, although we have been promised a little blast of summer after a soggy August, with temperatures rising to 29 degrees on Monday or Tuesday before lowering to 24 degrees by the weekend and some more heat later in the month. A little heat and sunshine will be good, maybe my abundant crops of tomatoes (the most I've ever had) will have a chance to ripen.
Look at the size of this cauliflower that arrived in my organic vegetable box this week! Grown in Lincolnshire, it weighed nearly 1.5k - and only £1.50! The tomatoes (some have ripened) and potatoes are from my garden - I had them with cauliflower cheese for my tea.
Here's what's left of the wild plums that grow in the border of the disused Sports ground at the back of where I live. The trees had been laden a week or so before. It looked like I was going to get slim pickings, but I managed to find enough for two jars of jam.
I also came across blackberries growing in the same border and with windfalls I collected from the Bramley apple tree in the Botanic garden, I made Apple and Blackberry jam to go with the wild plum and rhubarb and ginger jam I had made previously. All in all, enough jam for the winter from home-grown or foraged food plus three bags of sugar and some root ginger.
This is the first year I have got into jam-making - just small batches - but I adore bread and butter and jam for afternoon tea, more than cakes, so I am really pleased with my haul. I was grinning all over my chops when I was walking home with my foraged fruit. I've also been making bread with ancient grains - spelt (lovely), einkorn (nutty, more like a chewy scone than bread) and kamut. The spelt is best for sandwiches, but the einkorn slathered with butter and a dollop of blackberry and apple jam is heaven.
I found a couple of useful articles:
the science and magic of jam-making
how to make jam
There's a lot of rabbits down where the plums are. I have been wondering whether I would ever go rabbit shooting. I like rabbit pie.
The organic vegetable box is changing from summer to autumn - Cavolo Nero kale has put in an appearance already. It has to be used quickly (also the broccoli) within a day or two of delivery while it is still at its best. This week I had it with lamb merguez sausages from Pick's organic farm, onions and potatoes from my garden.
Turning to Spring
I had a note from my milkman this week, telling me that he will deliver bulb fibre, multi-purpose compost and bark chippings which is great. It is time to start planting Spring bulbs for the balcony and outside the back door (others are naturalised in the garden) and I want to re-pot some plants that are looking like they need it.
I love deliveries - it's great opening the back gate and there's milk or vegetables or groceries or, now, compost, waiting for you. So much better than going to the shop and lugging great bags on and off trolleys, never mind the environment. It saves me money, too, because I only buy what I need, and all the deliveries are from small local businesses. Pick's Farm does deliveries, too.
There's also the cardoons to cut down. It was cloudy today so I didn't get a picture of them. They are magnificent architectural plants (you can also eat the stems but why would you) rising to seven or eight feet tall at the start of the summer, but by the time the flowers have arrived they are looking bedraggled and forlorn. The flowers are like very large thistle heads and bees and butterflies love them, so I keep them until the flowers are finished, but honestly, they are an embarrassment. I have to apologise to my neighbours for them, gaunt and skinny, and trailing yellowing leaves everywhere. I think this their last year. That is the very spot for a greenhouse.
Garden Journal is hosted each month by @riverflows in the Hive Garden Community.
Here's the latest post, entries are welcome until Tuesday 7 September 2021.
I'm tagging @raj808 (the famous tomato man) and @neumannsalva (who steals strawberries from the mouths of slugs) who may enjoy gardenjournal 😍
Saturday Savers Club
I run a savings club every Saturday over on the @eddie-earner account. We're aiming to save £670 ($800) by the end of the year using the 365 day savings challenge. You can join any time of the year and set your own goals and plans (some people are saving Hive, others Bitcoin, some their local currency). We share savings tips and there's a free giveaway every week.
Wednesday Wellbeing Club
I'm hosting a Wellbeing Club on Wednesdays from 11 August until 24 November 2021 in the Natural Medicine community. It's for anyone who wants to make a lifestyle change. We have a weekly check-in and share wellbeing tips, and a weekly giveaway. Here's the back story and the launch post with more information. Everyone is welcome.
First Monday - NeedleWorkMonday Community
Starting Monday 6 September 2021 at 7pm (UTC+1 for September) for an hour, I will be hosting a sit and chat and make session in the #knitandnatter voice channel in the NeedleWorkMonday Discord, and the first Monday of each month after that. Bring your knitting, sewing, crochet (or nothing, that's okay, too), a nice cup of something, and join us for a relaxing hour of chat.
Three things newbies should do in their first week and, for most things, forever afterwards!
The most important question, considering your geolocation, is the pool heated 😁?
It looks fantastic, really the type of look I would go for, and it doesn't feel fake at all, I also love the stairs. We normally should get a warm autumn in our northern hemisphere, so you might be able to enjoy the pool a bit longer.
I am with you on bread and butter and home made jam over cake, any days!!
I guess it could be heated 😁. It will be so shallow that it will never be really cold ... Well, I suppose in the winter, but really it's to have a sanctuary when the weather is so hot. I live about two hours drive from any coast, although I have been researching natural wild swimming spots near where I live. I did have another idea, which was to re-purpose a bath in the garden that could be used for warm baths ... I love the idea of bathing when there is snow on the ground!
!ENGAGE 20
Ooooh, it makes sense also... Why would you want a very deep hole? (Insert practical joke here)
Wait a sec bro, did you build it? From inside your head to life? With your hand?
Not yet 🙂 I had a friend who had an old domestic bath in their garden. It was at the side of the house, surrounded by greenery and filled with a hosepipe through the kitchen window. Often they would post pictures of bathing in the snow with candlelight and steamy water 🙂.
sis 😁
I am making changes to my house. I have lived here for twenty years and dislike the kitchen (it is small and dark and poky and like going into a cupboard under the stairs), so I am creating a bigger kitchen .. then I decided I would like some changes to the garden ... mainly a small natural pond and something like a food forest.
The planning is taking a long time as I research what I want. I only have a small urban garden, so decisions are important.
That works too haha
Something having a complimentary microcosm, that would be amazing! When you say a pond, like something with Koi and frogs?
I am also interested in making a big pond, that we can swim in and bring wildlife to the area. I have friends that did it, I am still researching of the best way to do it.
No, a pond that I can paddle in - or my guests 😁
Frogs may live there, too, but really it is for humans, like the one in the post.
Yes, me too - tag me if you post anything about it. You have enough land for a large pool, big enough for swimming. My garden is small and urban.
I was looking at this website
It looks amazing, the idea fantastic, but somehow I am scared with the deep part of the pool! I guess that's why it's fenced, so the kids don't go there on their own...
Thanks for the website link also, this looks like the best way to do it, cheapest, and incredibly clean.
You can have the pool any depth you wish - mine will probably only be 18-24 inches, just enough to lie in if it is HOT 😁, plus lots of shallow water for toe dipping with friends.
Probably not a bad idea 😄
ENGAGEtoday.@misterengagement there is never enough engagement when you are around 😁
hehe 😍
let's try again, perhaps he has re-charged.
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtoday.Toast with jam has been a favorite any-time-of-the-day snack for me since i was very young, so I concur on that point!
Your pond idea is dreamy. How I would love that. I hope you get to have it someday soon.
I love toast, too - with honey.
Yes, I'm so pleased I held off making changes to my house until I had time to reflect on what I wanted. I'm making more provision and adaptations for climate change including better insulation and the dipping pond.
I've loved reading about your vegetable patch (tomatoes, such bullies) but relieved that we don't have some of the pests you have, especially the ticks! We have the occasional cat fouling, or squirrels burying or digging up things and the plants sometimes suffer from aphids (and slugs), but otherwise, we're good.
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtoday.Sounds wonderful! As long as it's not slimey! 😂
!PIZZA
@shanibeer! I sent you a slice of $PIZZA on behalf of @gillianpearce.
Did you know PIZZA has a very active community Discord? (3/10)
The natural or wild swimming ponds (or in my urban environment, paddling/plunge pool) have a border or second, connected, pond full of plants that purify the water and prevent algae growing.
I did make it to the coast last weekend and spent the afternoon on the beach, but I'm a long way from the sea and need some water close by.
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtoday.That first pond looks amazing.
Sounds like you've got it well sorted with the veg deliveries too, best time of year for it i guess, right now!
It does 🙂
I started looking at them after reading some of your posts about the sails and the type of house you were going to look at Portugal (small windows, thick walls). Although we've a had a very cool and wet summer, about that time we did have some very hot days (one was maybe the hottest day recorded for that month or something), plus all the fires and floods we've seen around the world and I started thinking a bit differently about the renovations on the house. We're able to have passive airflow through the house to cool it in the summer, so I'm thinking about some additional insulation on the roof and a pool in the garden and keeping all the windows the size they are!
You've got to have a pond - even if just a small one! For the frogs if nothing else, and as you say there's all sorts of other benefits!
Keeping the heat in I think is always going to be more of an issue in the UK - I can't imagine there ever being more than two months of intense heat.
But having some extra water storage in a pond is always a good idea!
Do you store rainwater for the garden too - I was thinking a 1000 litre storage system wld probably cover the needs of a typical UK garden for most of the year.
I think having water, like your pool, nearby is a great idea. I even love just looking at water as it is both relaxing yet energizing.
I agree - I'm really getting into the idea now!
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Beautiful cauliflower! Love the wild sweet pea.
It is beautiful, isn't it? And delicious, too! I love cauliflower and usually have it as cauliflower cheese, but this one was so large we also made aloo gobi - utterly delicious!