So, here we are now into February, the last month of winter. Soon we will be into spring in a few weeks time and I can see a Green light ahead when it comes to gardening.
I can see A green light Ahead
So, it has been around 20 years since I last had a place of my own which has a garden. When I stayed in the hotel last year, it had a garden I could sit In. But it wasn’t mine to do anything with. It’s not like I could plant anything or do anything with it from my own ideas.
The last private let I was in didn’t have a garden either and neither did my old flat that I had for almost 14 years. So I’ve know bad got used to having no garden over the years unless I kept indoor plants. I did actually keep a lot of cactus in my old flat and had quite a selection of different plants. They’re just so easy to keep as they need very little attention.
So I had a few cactus in my last place as well as the hotel. I’ve always enjoyed having plants around and enjoy looking after them. But I just haven’t had a chance to grow anything outdoors for years for lack of an actual garden.
A Green Light Ahead
So, when I was offered the current house I’m living in back in November, I was overjoyed to find that it had a garden. I immediately got envisaged having a vegetable patch, a herb garden and some flowers etc. Its something I used to love and once upon a time, I even had an allotment with a friend where we grew a lot of our own vegetables. So, It was nice to know that I have the space to do that again if I want to.
Although, I must admit, with it still being just the beginning of February, the weather is a little bit on the cold and miserable side to say the least. In fact, when I came out of the house today, the garden was a sheet of white with the snow covering it. So, I don’t intend on doing any great gardening work in the next few days. But the springtime will soon be here and before long the weather will be decent again. So I’ve been giving it some thought lately.
Almost Time to Cultivate
Well, although it sometimes feels like this winter is never gonna end, I’m well aware of how quick things change as soon as the springtime breaks. So I want to try and get prepared. That way I can get stuck into it as soon as I have the chance. So, I’ve been thinking about what I’d like to plant. What I’d like to cultivate and how to go about it.
Ive never really been much a fan of gardens that are just decorative. Flower gardens. Dont get me wrong. They’re nice to look at and I appreciate the effort put into them. But as for cultivating a garden, Ive always preferred more practical gardening. Gardens with produce you can use.
A Good Old Kitchen Garden
When it comes to practicality in gardening, there’s probably nothing more practical than the good old Kitchen garden vegetable patch. There’s nothing tastier than vegetables you know you’ve grown yourself and if I have the space to do so, then I’d like to grow a nice little selection of vegetables that I can use in the kitchen for cooking with. Especially for making a lovely pot of soup. That’s one of my favourite things to cook actually.
Of course, its not the worlds most massive garden I have. But its not tiny either. So I think I’ll have plenty of room to plant myself a small selection of different vegetables. It remains to be seen what the soil itself is actually like and wont know until I turn it.
Getting the Soil right
Most likely I will turn some soil and plant some potatoes here. Potatoes are excellent pioneer vegetables for a fresh patch as they work well at preparing the soil. Then I can plant something different in the same place next year. Probably onions of cabbages.
Vegetables like carrots usually need much finer soil so I don’t know if I’ll be planting any of them. Unfortunately as my current house is only a temporary house, chances are I wont be there next year. So I probably wont get the benefit of following the process up. But still, it should be good fun starting it off and creating it.
I mean, there’s every chance that I may get it started and then get moved to a different house before anything even grows or sprouts. But I cant just not do it on the off chance that this happens. If I do end up moving midway through the season, then its always something I can leave to the next tenants. Hopefully they will share my interest in gardening and make use of the work I’ve done. Either way, its a good positive project that is creative and practical. So I’m gonna do it anyway.
Remedy of the Herb garden
When it comes to perking a garden up with a new lease of life, there’s nothing does it better than the good old herb garden. This can often give your garden a little bit of scent, colour and even the maintenance and planting of the garden itself can be very therapeutic. herbs truly are medicinal in many ways.
But speaking of medicinal, herbs have been used in medicine for thousands of years and there area multitude of ailments and illnesses that can be treated and cured by the use of simple herbs that can be grown at home in your herb garden. This is also something that I’ve had an interest in for many years and used to enjoy making herbal infusions, tinctures and balms. So I’m quite looking forward to getting back into that again. Using herbs that I have grown myself right here at home in my little herb garden.
Also, herbs are an essential part of the kitchen and have a whole multitude of culinary benefits that work both practically and aesthetically. Many herbs serve very practical dietary uses and can be very medicinal from a macrobiotical point of view. But they can also just be really good at making a proper tasty dish, like curries and Chilli, etc.
Making Preparations
So with the lawn still being covered in snow, its obviously still a bit early to be outside planting stuff in the garden. The green light isn’t flashing just yet. However, in a few weeks time, we will be into the month of March and with it, the start of spring. It will soon be time to start planting seeds for germination indoors. So I’m gonna get some soil and seed trays over the next 2 or 3 weeks and decide what seeds to get for my vegetable patch and herb garden.
I’ve always enjoyed keeping a limited sort of herb garden on whatever window sill space I’ve had over the years. But having a proper outdoor garden to work with this year, I’m looking forward to being able to have a nice sized selection of herbs and plenty of each too. So, I certainly plan on having a look at the selection of herb and veg seeds that they have at my local supermarket, next time I’m there, which will probably be tomorrow. I’m going to start buying a few packs at a time.
That way, as soon as its time for planting them, I can get stuck in. Hopefully getting them started indoors as early as possible will be worthwhile. Then I will reap the rewards of giving them a good long season to cultivate. Hopefully, I will still be living here in the autumn time to enjoy the harvest of everything I grow this summer. But even if I’m not, they’ll still be there. So hopefully someone will get the benefit of them anyway.
Watch out for the Green Light
Well, if you’re wondering how I get on with this mission, then don’t worry. I’ll be sharing many more updates with you all on how things are going with my garden over the coming weeks and months as it progresses. So I’m sure there will be plenty here for you to read about as I share it.
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