Did anyone else hibernate this winter?

OMG, I am going to start by yelling. I am sick of being sick!!! I don't usually get really ill, after all we totally missed out on getting Covid. But now I have had two bouts of pneumonia in one year. Only one of those was my own fault - thank you legionnaires. But boy oh boy does it knock you for a six. I am so pleased that I am pretty much over it all as we go into the busy season.

And it is going to be a busy season! We are starting off with the month of September. We of course have our Bee and Open Garden morning, and our Tomato Growing classes as well. I have been visiting families and schools with incubators and am excited as the children and teachers to see how it all turns out.

The garden is coming up roses, literally. Don't tell hubby but along with the 12 that I purchased from Nichols Garden Centre's autumn sale at the end of the last season, I may have purchased a few more at full price. I am hoping that the new New Zealand award winning Phoenix rose, a stunning orange colour arrives soon. I really wanted David Austin's Summer Song but had absolutely no luck finding it anywhere and I am definitely not patient enough to wait for it.

With the bottom garden almost completed structurally, we will begin work on the front garden later this year. I am over grass in the front garden as it is on a solid clay pan and never quite looks right. Sooooo, I am hoping to get it put into concrete this season. I know, I know, with a large amount of our cities and towns covered in concrete and non-permeable materials it is leaning towards issues with our drainage and water run off. Here is my but, on our section the majority of our land is covered in gravel paths, gardens and a small amount of lawn around the chessboard. I am using this as my excuse to have a maintenance free area where there is no need to mow, weed or spray.

Can't wait until I can produce more bouquets like this with the new cutting garden

Of course, I have to do everything the hard way so I am also pumping up my cut flowers to offer a lot more variety this year. It has been a big job to turn the bottom area into a usable space for this garden. We have put in more planter boxes and added clean sharp metal around the walkways to help with the issue of all the moisture down there. Here in Maryhill we have several underground streams and at least one of these comes up at different points in our section. It can cause a lot of extra water retention in different areas which can be an issue. Part of the way of dealing with it is to plant willow. We have one in the main chicken run. We also have fruit trees and in particular black currants which don't mind the wet.

With all this going on you might wonder what we will get up to next. Well, the ducks are enjoying their blue paddling pool but I would much rather a more natural pond for them. I have also been lucky enough to be able to share some extra gardening beds on my good friend Ray's property, so we will be looking at more produce like potatoes, pumpkins to join our tomatoes this year. I am really keen to find success with chillies and capsicum this season and already have a huge number of plants growing in the greenhouse. However, my real goal this year is to teach myself how to breed my own queen bees. It will be a bit of challenge I am sure, but I love to learn new things so fingers crossed I have some success.

What the bottom garden used to look like! Keep an eye out for the after picture later in the year.

If this all seems a bit overwhelming, remember that this business is based on everything that I love and am passionate about. I do find the website and social media side of things difficult, not because they are hard to do but more that I can think of other things I would rather be doing. And no one is allowed to mention house work :(