Slowly getting through the outside odd jobs

The last few weeks have mostly been filled with first-time visits from family and friends, and so we’ve only managed to squeeze a couple of occasional jobs in-between. We’ve been pretty bad at taking ‘before’ photos as well, as we’ve been more focused on getting the work done in the limited time we’ve had. But we’re still pleased with the results! 

We removed one of the raised bed covers in the kitchen garden after we realised the artichokes were growing too tall for the cover. Instead, we constructed a temporary fence to discourage the rabbit(s) from snacking on our lettuces, and to give the artichokes enough space to grow. We’re feeling a bit daft as we know how large artichoke plants grow and should really have thought about this – so once things die down towards the end of autumn, we’ll move them to a bed without a cover. We also realised we never published our kitchen garden blog, so we’ll update that next week, as we’ve learnt a few lessons to apply to next year’s planting!

And, after consistently getting soaked each morning by the various dew-coated plants overhanging the path to the orchard, we’ve installed two arches to train the plants over. They’re only cheap, and so slightly wonky, but once the jasmine we’ve planted has grown, we’re hoping the wonk will be a bit less obvious! 

Our long-term plan for our little wooded area is to put secluded tables and seats dotted around, so guests have somewhere to eat or drink outside. There’s a fabulous view across the valley one side, and you can just about see the sunset over the hedge on the other side, so it’s a great place to chill out. We wanted to create an ‘enchanted’ feel, so have taken our first step and installed my birthday present – beautiful tree faces to make the trees come to life. We have more plans in place so watch this space! 

We’ve also started to learn just how much work our garden involves, with more bindweed appearing every time we look, and nettles overtaking the asparagus bed and behind the squash and potato bank. We’ve managed to clear both to a degree, although we still need to learn a fast technique that pulls the nettles up by the roots, so we clear them for as long as possible; they keep reappearing as fast as it takes us to remove them!! 

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And in terms of planning, it feels like we might finally be making some progress! The council have started to make positive noises, and our revised plans (removal of one extension to create a one-bed cottage instead of two-bed, reduction in another extension, and reduction in roof windows, as well as the commitment with the listed cottage renovation). We’re now in the final public consultation phase, and hope to hear an outcome by mid-September. Although there are still so many steps to go before we’d finally be able to break ground, this is the critical milestone – we’re literally holding our breath now! 

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