It's all about the edge

How would you like this as your front door?

Here is the cottage garden entrance and the front door to the ruin. It is looking rather pretty!








 
One of the most diverse and plentiful environments is that of the edge, the between. Between the forest and the plain, between the lake and the shore. When we create different milieu in our gardens we encourage diversity of flora and fauna.

Photos - On the left the lavender path early spring... on the right middle spring.


The trees are looking great, still babies of course. I have been out fighting the aphids and thrips and so on, and thinning out the trees that have fruit - almost crying at the same time, but I know it's best for the tree. Thanks again to our sponsors, I think of you each time I am out doing the rounds. Remember, there are always more trees to plant and sponsor! Just email us!

I am interested in a layered orchard, so some of the trees will be standard-sized, then coming down to dwarf (mainly M111 and M106 rootstock) and I look forward to planting bushes between them. Here is a graft that appears to have taken, unfortunately a lot of them appear to have been knocked off, possibly by the chickens. We did do them a bit late anyway, so next spring I will try again.

Most exciting is the discovery that there is a well on the property! This was not certain until now. And we will have to wait and see if it fills all summer, as I shall certainly use it in the greenhouse - already dreaming of doubling the size of  the greenhouse towards the path! I will have to pump it out of the reservoir, but it will cost hardly anything and the aim will be to run it from solar panels and a battery.

The weeds are growing faster than I can keep up with, I simply chase round the ones that are about to flower and try to give an advantage to the favoured plants. The garden is producing, the peas are not so good this year, but the lettuce makes up for them. We are still eating greens from the garden, and potatoes - I dig them up as and when - which I believe I may never have to buy again - wonderful! Left and right are photos of the greenhouse about a month ago.

I just shared a strawberry with a slug (those little slimy characters always pick the best ones) and it was a taste sensation. I am still dreaming of having enough strawberries to make jam - maybe this year will be the year of strawberry jam. (I did cut off the slug-attacked bit)

I am sitting here listening to the frogs (we know a song about that click here:), which have moved into our pool (you can listen to our resident frogs here and the local frogs here), which is being converted into a pond. It has been a learning process - I have dropped a few stones and a whole pot full of plants has fallen to the bottom. Hopefully once the conversion is completed we will be once again able to swim in there. The system is a reed-bed filtration system. I already feel much better about it than when we were constantly chucking chemicals into it. Yuk. Of course, the edge between the pool and the garden is an exciting project too - which plants and trees should be planted there, taking into account the shade, the amount of autumnal fallout and so on.

Here are the ants on the sticky tape that I put round the trunk of the baby tree to help it fight the aphids: ants farm the aphids for the sugar that they steal from the flowers.














 And here are the aphids on the right if you look close enough! Can you zoom in?

On the left are the ladybirds whose babies will feast on the aphids!







 I must mention the worms, who are doing a wonderful job, just to remind you of how easy it is to encourage the worms in your garden here is an in-bed worm 'farm'.







The Pool area in transformation, thanks to Tana for the pots into which I can re-pot the plants I haven't dropped to the bottom of the pool.


The cucumbers are coming on nicely

On the left same as on the right but half an hour of weeding difference between the two.

And just for fun below are the thrips also caught on sticky tape!