Mini Gardens

Winter is not an ideal time to get stuck in to the garden.
It's frosty, cold, so you can't really do much...so why not have a go at making a teeny tiny garden.

Check out this Etsy video that shows you how.

Not sure I have giant light bulbs hanging around though...may have to get creative with something else. Scour those charity shops for exciting glass containers and get to it!

Bev
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We Love Alys...

Josie and I both love Alys Fowler. It was her TV series 'The Edible Garden' that inspired me to turn my 'jungle' in to a pleasant area to sit and grow my own.

It has been really enjoyable learning about gardening and her books are inspiring, so check them out. You can see her in action here on this Guardian site too.

I am also amazed at how my sweet pea is still going strong and it is the 1st of November today! What a hardy plant.



Enjoy your autumnal tidyings fellow gardeners.

Bev
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Year Round Gardening

Josie and I have been busy tidying up in our gardens.

I decided the front garden needed a good sorting out and have installed a rockery. 5 plants for a fiver from B&Q and a few from Morrisons, cheap value pebbles and et voila! One rockery.




Josie has been pruning away thanks to a demo we had at Myerscough the other week and hopes that will be the last time she has had to mow the lawn until spring.

Myerscough College

Josie and I went over to Myerscough today to do a 1 day course - 'Grown Your Own Fruit & Vegetables' and marvellous it was too.

We learnt a lot and will be putting a lot of ideas in to practice.

We discovered what to grow all year round, what to plant with what, how to store and collect our own seeds.

The grounds are lovely but we were a little disheartened to discover the allotment area was in a state of neglect. A real shame as Josie pointed out the vegetables could easily be used in the kitchen for the students.

But we did grab info on some more short courses, click here for more details.

Time to Tidy

At last, some dry weather and a chance to get out in the garden and tidy things up a bit. Lawn was trimmed down and some brambles dug up. Odd things in pots were popped in to the soil and zinnia's and cornflowers dead-headed. A few garlic cloves stuck in a pot; it was a lovely afternoon. Now looks much better, oh and check out my winter hanging basket. Fab!







Bev
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Amateur Gardening

New to gardening? Then this is a great magazine to subscribe to.
Weekly editions and you get free seeds; sometimes two packets. I have got quite a colletion now.
Looking forward to some early spring sowing.
Find out more here.



Bev
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Heaton Fold

We escaped work at lunchtime for a short while today to whip over to Heaton Fold Horticultural Centre.

Read more about it here and to check opening times.

It is a lovely little garden centre and we hope, what with all the budget cuts hitting councils nationwide, that this little gem is unaffected.

I purchased a rather lovely winter hanging basket and some bulbs. Josie got a bargain-priced globe artichoke and some bulbs too. Here are some pics of our visit. Enjoy!
B&J
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Josie's Plot

The giant pumpkin plant... before the mildew hit it!

Unfortunately it's neighbour, the Saint John's Wart, couldn't lift the pumpkin's depression...


Potatoes a plenty and they tasted good too!




The three sisters... corn, beans and courgette. Plenty of veg has been had from these lovely sisters.




My nasturtium have brightened the three sisters up. They are very good in a salad too!

Welcome!

Hi and welcome to Bev and Josie’s gardening blog - well, what did you think it was?! Over the next weeks and months we will be sharing our experiences of transforming our respective lady gardens into wonderful places to relax and also grow our own food. We’re both new to this lark so hopefully you’ll be able to learn with us and also share your advice.

Love Bev and Josie


As you can see from the first picture below my own garden has looked like a mess for quite a while but recently I thought that enough is enough and have begun to revamp it. It isn’t huge but nevertheless it took quite a number of hours of toil to get it up to the state it’s in at the moment (see second photo). I have to say that I have loved every minute of it though!