Mission Impossible

A quietish day again on Thursday, I can see that I'm going to struggle to find things to blog about as we get nearer to the exams in June, nobody wants to read about me studying again. I'm trying really hard to absorb the mountains of information the RHS wants us to know but some days I can feel the facts sliding around in my brain and flowing out of my ears, especially if I've been revising chemicals or design techniques. I just hope whoever sets the papers will be kind to us but I'm afraid they have a rather harsh reputation! On the plus side we only need 50% to pass but at the moment even that seems like a mission impossible. It is much easier to go outside and actually garden than it is to learn about doing it, so I did just that, sowing my swede and parsnip seeds then sitting in the sun doing nothing for an hour, much easier!

"Opportunity follows struggle. It follows effort. It follows hard work. It does not come before" Shelby Steele

         

Springing Back Into Action

Diana and I started work immediately on Wednesday as we didn't want to waste a moment of such a beautiful morning, all winter long we have discussed our plans whilst staring dolefully out at dismal skies, now is the time for action. I helped her fill a large planter with compost first as she doesn't bend so well now and got it into position near the house where it is handy for the salad crops. Next we hoed six months worth of weeds from around the new apple trees, it wasn't long before I was a bit pink cheeked in the heat so Di went and got me one of Brian's hats to wear (very fetching!) and after a refreshing drink we were able to continue in more comfort. A little bit more tidying around the herbaceous border and the day had sped away again. Because I am so busy at the moment I have reluctantly cut my Spofforth visits down to once a fortnight so I can have a little bit more time to study, but I feel guilty when there is so much to do and Diana and Brian are such a lovely couple, however they seem happy for me to go when I'm able and we are all looking forward to improving the garden further this year.

"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Being willing is not enough, we must do" Leonardo da Vinci

A Bit Of A Squash

We had a very enjoyable field trip to Craven College on Tuesday to make use of their greenhouse and stock plants. It was good to experience the different methods of propagation under the keen eyes of our tutor Richard, especially using the Begonia rex which is the classic example used for leaf cuttings. We'd also brought many packets of seeds to sow and were soon busy discussing which compost mix to use and whether to keep them outside or in until germination. At lunch time we sat outside in the blazing sunshine wondering what on earth was happening to the weather for late March! Later we walked around the campus grounds doing a little mob pruning of any plants that had been missed, the poor Buddleja didn't stand a chance! All too soon it was time to go and we struggled to fit the many pots and seed trays into various car boots, in particular Mark, Lisa and Hannah who being a family had three times as much as everyone else and on top of that had given me a lift, definitely a bit of a squash!


"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished" Lao Tzu

One Woman Went To Mow

What a scorcher it was yesterday, but only after a pretty cold start with most people having to scrape ice off their cars for the journey to work. I took another picture from the top deck of the bus as the sunrise was so spectacular for March. When we got to NC Alison showed me her handy work from the last two days when I was absent, I think the sweet pea frame is a work of art, almost too good to cover with foliage. Before lunch we weeded and re-stocked the peach-house border with Giles quizzing me on my Latin names for the weeds, I've got to be on my toes at all times! There was no hiding later either as the mowing needed doing again and I'm still a bit apprehensive about driving the tractor, but I'm pleased to say I think I've cracked it now and with a little more patient instruction I took off and managed to mow the whole garden and the car park with even a little reversing!

"Kind hearts are the gardens, kind thoughts are the roots, kind deeds are the fruits, take care of your garden and keep out the weeds, fill it with sunshine , kind words and kind deeds" Henry W Longfellow

A Compliment

No matter what the size of your garden, be it stately home or window box, at this time of year it never fails to deliver fresh surprises every day. This morning I've noticed that the shallots have started to sprout, the honesty is filling out nicely, the buds on the horse chestnuts are glistening with promise and that a wood mouse (already nicknamed Mr Jingles) has moves into the compost bin. Every time I lift the cover to add more I have to be careful not to bury the poor little chap. Some people would be alarmed I suppose but all the little creatures have their parts to play too and I'm just glad they choose to do it in my garden, I take it as a compliment that all is in balance, just as it should be.

"God almighty first planted a garden, and indeed it is the purest of human pleasures" Francis Bacon

Otter Spotter

An unremarkable mornings walk with Chum turned into an exciting encounter with an otter down the Nidd gorge yesterday. I'm thrilled as I've never seen one in the wild and it was so close I could almost have touched it. The sound of the water made me pause and look, it wasn't the normal duck paddling noise but a sinuous sliding sound of an animal beautifully equipped to move in that medium, I didn't dare try and take a picture I just drank in the moment as it twisted and turned playing in the morning sunshine, it was seemingly unconcerned about my presence and then quick as a flash it was gone leaving me full of wonder. Speaking to some other dog walkers later on a mother and two pups have been seen there lately, I'm so pleased our local river is clean and healthy enough to support them again, what a way to end the week!

"Sit by a river. Find peace and meaning in the rhythm of the lifeblood of the earth" Anon

Small Pleasures

I was disgustingly lazy yesterday as I continue to enjoy a week off, so I didn't think I'd have anything to say today, but maybe a day made up of small pleasures deserves a mention for a change. Firstly I did the housework, not a pleasure in its own right but deeply satisfying knowing I don't have to do it again for a bit! Then I ambled to the local shops and treated myself to a new pair of earrings, some spring daffs and pussy willow stems, I simply can't resist the touch of their fur. Then I managed a really good three hour revision session on soils, followed by a nap with Chumdog on the sofa, dull maybe but a much needed battery charge. Gardens Illustrated magazine arrived in the post just in time for me to devote the rest of the afternoon to reading it and it contained free Ammi majus seeds too, bonus!

"Simple pleasures are always the last refuge of the complex" Oscar Wilde

Happy Birthday P&C!

I can't quite believe it but Privet and Confidential is 1 year old today! Who would have thought I could have found so much to write about and had so many great experiences in my first year of gardening. I'm now an addicted blogger who doesn't feel right if I've not put my thoughts down for the day, and I hope my style and spelling are continuing to improve!
Weeds and their control were covered at college yesterday and we had great fun walking around the gardens and cheekily identifying all the culprits we could spot, in Latin of course! Later we covered organics and wildlife gardening, thus crossing off another two subjects from the syllabus, now we only have four more topics left before revision sets in for the exam at the end of June, the clock is really ticking now!
"Life isn't a matter of milestones but of moments" Rose F Kennedy.

A Little R & R

No news from NC to share with you today as I'm having a bit of time off this week, it should enable me to catch up with my revision, the housework (but only in small doses), and a little socialising. The week got off to a good start in the potting shed on Sunday where I happily spent a couple of hours sowing seeds and making plans, I've decided I need a tiered shelving unit outside the back door where I can safely leave the hardier seeds to get on with it, and Dave has promised to build me one so more on that as it happens. On Monday I caught up with a little shopping as I discovered most of my trousers seem to have large holes in the backside, all that bending over grubbing in the dirt no doubt! I did notice that the recession (I know its not official) is biting on the high street and well known shops have started to disappear which is a shame, but there are some good bargains to be had for the keen-eyed as a consequence, so I came away feeling well pleased with my purchases and my day of leisure!

" No rest is worth anything except the rest that is earned" Jean Paul

Freebies

Giles, Alison and I had a very pleasant day working on the main border on Saturday. The weather was a bit mixed though, the sort of day when you spend more time dressing and undressing because the showers are so sharp but never last long. We divided all the overgrown herbaceous perennials and either put them back from where they came or moved them about according to how Giles had made notes on what wasn't working well last year. The bonus for us girls was plenty of freebies to take home and I'm really chuffed to have a lovely deep blue Aconitum and some pink Aster with which I can enhance my modest plot. The only downside to the day was being caught in a heavy hail shower, they really hurt when they ping off the end of your nose!

Happy Mothers Day to my wonderful Mum and all you other multi-taskers out there!

"I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine, she helps me grow, prosper and reach new heights" Terri Guillemets

Waste Not Want Not

Just a very quick post for the end of the week as I must do some studying today. Here is a picture of my garden all kitted out for the coming growing season, the shallots are already planted in the top bed and the herbaceous perennials are starting into growth with all the lovely warm weather we've had this week. The compost bins are cooking nicely now too and after last night I'm sure it wont be long before I've got rich crumbly organic matter to feed back into the soil. As you know we are a bathroom impoverished family with only one convenience, and as you also know we have a teenager who likes to spend hours in the bath with little regard for the comfort of others, so lets just say Dave decided not to waste all that lovely nitrogen!

"The waste of plenty is the resource of scarcity" Thomas Love Peacock

Perseverance

Erythronium dens canis the dogs tooth violet

Round two for grafting yesterday as Diana, Brian and I attempted to go it alone and use Di's home grown root stocks with some of the bud sticks she'd brought from the course we attended last week. At first I was as nervous and clumsy as before but with encouragement from the Davis's and lots of repetition I soon found I was improving and by the end of the morning between us we had grafted twelve different potential apple trees. If my attempts take I will be allowed either to bring them home, donate them for sale at the NFG stand at the autumn flower show, or plant them at Spofforth and collect the fruit, a win win situation!

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish" John Quincy Adams

twelve new apple trees we hope!

plum blossom

Small Satisfactions

Nothing very interesting to report from attending college on Tuesday, it was just a continuation of the pests and diseases topic and a video to watch of a super rich landowner installing a spiffing pond that no doubt cost many thousands to construct and stock. I must take my  pleasures from smaller projects, so I'm pleased to report   that my chillies have germinated and that I've received the seeds from the RHS that they collect from the four gardens. For a small outlay of twelve pounds which covers packaging and postage costs I've now got twenty packets of seeds that will hopefully grow into some more unusual specimens than the ones you can buy from the local garden centres. All I have to do now is research how and when to sow them correctly and the fun can begin, heaven knows where I shall put them all if they do germinate, I'll probably give most of them away, but the excitement is in the learning and propagation of the unknown.


"To see things in a seed, that is genius" Lao Tzu

Grass Masterclass

I never expected to be working in my shirt sleeves this early in the year, what a fabulous day it was yesterday and how privileged I am to be able to work outside and enjoy it. The day was devoted to grass more or less, we started by preparing the area behind the yew hedge which had been laid down to fruit bushes previously, Giles levelled out the ground with the tractor whilst we removed any stones and raked it to a smooth plane, then I wandered up and down scattering grass seed in all directions feeling very like a medieval peasant sowing his crops! Another raking to hide the seed from the hungry birds and we were done, not at all how the RHS says we should do it but that's what I like about NC, time is pressing so we just get on with things. After lunch it was time for the first cut of the season and non too soon looking at the length of the lawns, Giles let me loose on the tractor again to get a feel for the mower dragging behind and as you can see I managed OK, at least I didn't knock any trees over but don't look too closely as my lines aren't very straight!

"Each blade of grass has its spot on the earth whence it draws its life, its strength, and so is man rooted to the land from which he draws his faith together with his life" Joseph Conrad

Reaffirmation

Glorious sunshine greeted us at NC which made my decision to leave off the thermals for the first time this year a good one, in fact by the end of the day I was wearing three layers less than a week ago! Herbaceous perennial planting was first on the list as we filled in the gaps outside the peach house and them moved on to restocking the herb garden, the warmth made the plants give off their pungent aromas as we moved and divided them, making it feel more like spring time in Provence than March in Yorkshire! Next we made a start on planting the first vegetables of the year, Jerusalem artichokes in the willow bordered plot and onion setts in the rough ground beyond the fruit bushes, I feel we've really turned the corner now and that all the garden is anticipating the growing season. All in all it was a beautiful day, the type that reaffirms my commitment to becoming a gardener. The picture is of Haquetia epipactis which has just started to peek through in various parts of the garden, diminutive but charming!

"When the world wearies you and society fails to satisfy, there is always the garden" Minnie Aumonier.

Exuberant Annuals

Not much of note to mention to you today which is probably just as well for me as I've got to have a couple of quiet days every now and again! Chumdog was being naughty so we didn't take a long walk, some days he is more interested in what he can find to eat, so I steered well clear of our usual haunts so he wouldn't be tempted to indulge his less pleasant habits. Poor mad Paddy Padster is at the vets having that operation so he will be out of action for a week or two, it will be very interesting to see if it will calm him down! In the end I just pottered around the garden for a bit, I've moved lots of pots at the front as I'm considering growing a climber up the wall there, but I've not decided what will suit yet. I've decided I should try for a more designed look on the front drive, but it probably wont happen as I just can't resist the exuberance of lots of colourful annuals, so it will probably end up looking like a five year- olds art lesson again, oh well I guess I'm just set in my ways now!

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" C.S.Lewis

Hard Graft

Sunset apple

Diana and I were at Harlow Carr again yesterday attending the Northern Fruit Group apple tree grafting course, so I've been classroom bound two days running this week. In the morning we learnt how to make the tongue and groove cuts in the right places, we practised on twigs that didn't matter which was a good job as I found it quite difficult. The two pieces have to be of the same size and shape so the cork cambium layers rest against each other, easier said than done! Eventually Hillary let us loose on the real thing, working with MM106 root-stocks which are semi-dwarfing and should produce good sized healthy trees, I chose to graft one Discovery and one Sunset. Hopefully both will produce manageable little trees with sweet fruit which the children will enjoy, but to be honest it will be a miracle if the grafts take given how cack-handed I turned out to be! I'll keep you posted as the results should become apparent by mid May.

Discovery

"If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees" Hal Borland

Pesky Pests

Yet another parents evening to attend yesterday, although this one was for the teenager and was an entirely different kettle of fish, let me just say it was a glowing report and I'm very proud of her. Unlike the son who is predicted A*'s in x-box, scootering and messing about! So just a quick resume of college again, pests in the morning, ranging from big stuff like rabbits, I've plenty of experience there now, right down through birds and mice to insects and tiny little nematodes whose life-cycles would be more fitting in a Stephen King novel! All very straight forward really, a bit of light relief for a change. Ponds and water gardens followed in the afternoon which gave us all an excuse to wander around outside looking at various examples, very pleasant on a beautiful March day.

"Though snails are exceedingly slow,
There's one thing I would like to know,
If I out-run 'em round the yard,
How come they beat me to the chard?"
Alan Klein

Blossom

Thank goodness we were blessed with decent weather yesterday after what must have been the worst Sunday weather of the year so far. All our hard work emptying the pond on Saturday had to be done again, a surprising amount of water had collected due to the rain and sleet but at least it had the advantage of being clean this time! The sun soon helped to dry it out and we were able to coat the sides with a rubber based solution which should fill in the cracks and allow some flexibility, hopefully preventing any more leaks. We spent the rest of the day pruning the shrub and bush roses in various locations around the garden, a pleasant task in the warm spring sunshine that also gave us time to admire the early blossom bursting forth. If we were able to spare five minutes from our labours to sit and admire, it would have to be spent in the peach house where the temperature is balmy and the fragrance sweet.

"Merrily, merrily shall I live now, under the blossom that hangs on the bough" William Shakespeare.

An Ordinary Day At Norton Conyers!

Yet again gardening took a back seat to the occurrences at NC on Saturday. After an absence of nearly two weeks Shandy was a dog on a mission, with frenzied barking and much dashing about she flushed rabbit after rabbit out of various hiding places around the garden, so it was only a matter of time before she caught one. She did have a bit of help though, one poor bunny made the wrong decision and took refuge in the potting shed, so Giles barred the door whilst the dog finished it off. I've never seen a dog look so triumphant and woe betide anyone who got too near her prize! When calm had been restored Alison and I started on the pond restoration,it had developed a crack and lost a lot of water, so we used a hosepipe to slowly syphon out what water remained whilst we got on with cutting back the epimediums. By lunchtime enough had drained away for us begin rescuing the fish which we transferred to the pool in the peach house, along with a handful of frogs, some already getting on with the act of making the next generation! No sooner had we eaten lunch than there was another commotion as the air ambulance landed in the paddock, peeking out of the big gate we could see that the local hunt, which had been passing through the estate all morning, had lost a rider right by the small garden gate so not wanting to stare we beat a hasty retreat leaving the paramedics to their work, they didn't waste any time and were soon flying away with the patient. I've often mentioned that there's never a dull day at NC but even by normal standards Saturday was a varied one, especially when you throw in all four seasons of weather and a splendid rainbow too, phew!

A man can stand anything except a succession of ordinary days" Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

The Potting Shed

It's official I am now the proud owner of a potting shed, which is the next best thing to a greenhouse. I've always had a shed of course but over the last couple of weeks its undergone a mini-makeover, cleaned, tidied, de-cobwebbed and mostly de-spidered (except for the box in the far corner which contained such enormous specimens I decided to leave it as a wildlife habitat!) I've even cleaned the windows but have stopped short of putting up net curtains, I'm not that sad! The major transformation occurred yesterday when Dave gave up a precious hour of his working day in order to construct a potting bench for me, I've coveted one for years after having had to make do with the dustbin lid or kitchen table. So now I'm all set for the spring seed sowing frenzy, no more back ache for me! All the shed needs now is another coat of preservative and it will look very smart, just like the picture of my garden in full bloom that I've got in my minds eye, there's nothing like a healthy dose of optimism!


"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence"
Helen Keller

Rhubarb Rhubarb

Back at Spofforth after a three week absence I was pleased to note that not much had changed, just as Diana had said the frost pocket in her garden keeps everything late so I hadn't missed much. I think Diana herself had been glad of the break as her hips have been a bit cranky of late, therefore I was glad to turn over the compost heaps and mulch the squash beds for her. I think the trouble is she tries to keep up with me, which was fine in the beginning when I was a bit porky but I'm quite a lot fitter now! We also did a bit of apple tree pruning as we passed through the orchard, little and often seems to suit Di better rather than going at it hammer and tongs to finish the job all at once. As we made our way back to the house for lunch we noticed that the rhubarb buds were showing fat and pink above the crown, so we went and retrieved the old dustbin that is used as a forcer and placed it over the top, we should have delicate flavoured stems ready to pick in about four weeks. Weird stuff rhubarb, more alien invader than plant, they say you can hear it growing in the forcing sheds of the north, pushing its way skyward murmuring and rustling in the candle-light!

"Ah March! We know thou art kind-hearted, in spite of ugly looks and threats. And out of sight art nursing Aprils violets" Helen Hunt