Digging for Victory

I've joined the ranks of the British public who, in the grip of the credit crunch have gone fruit & veg crazy. My first attempt at growing edibles in a confined space is the humble potato. I bought this special planter from Crocus.
It was a bit fiddly to put together but seems sturdy enough to last a few years. I planted the seed potatoes it came with, added compost gradually & they've grown at a fair old pace. Apparently once it comes into flower I can harvest. Fingers crossed, when I lift up the sliders there will be lots of potatoes waiting for the pot!

Looking forward to some ribaldry

According to Paghat's Garden, Salad Burnet (Poterium sanguisorba) was loved by the Elizabethans who "would float the leaves in a glass of wine, because in the poetic language of flowers popular at the time, Salad Burnet indicated a merry mood or ribald gathering"

Sounds good to me!

I'll be floating it alongside some Borage in my Pimms at our next ribald gathering if it all survives. Watch this space..

The Herbs

This is the bit of the garden I managed to get going last year, after grubbing out a Buddleia (sorry butterflies, I'll make it up to you, I promise), several concrete slabs, pieces of old washing machine, some indeterminate groundcover plant, tons of ivy and a packet of butter. Yes, butter.

It's my mission to make the garden bee-friendly. I love bees. In addition to the existing Sage, Rosemary, Thyme & Lavender I've just planted the beautifully named Bee Balm, or Bergamot. I fear it may take over, but we shall see.

I also have waiting to be planted out some Summer Savoury, Hyssop (I think I have some in already but my terrible habit of not labelling stuff has come back to bite me) and Burnet. I got all these off Ebay sellers after flogging my daughter's old clothes the week before!

The Borage I had in last summer attracted tons of bees, but it all fell over and the stems split so it is no more. I'll not make the same mistakes this year; I'm starting it off indoors this year (it seeded very well when sown outdoors last time & is a prolific self-seeder), it will be planted in greater profusion & given some support. Apparently it's a good companion plant for tomatoes too & improves the flavour, so I hope it'll keep my Gardener's Delight plants happy when those finally makes their way outdoors..

Our Back Yard

So this is the view of my (fairly) blank canvas, after some work by a fantastic guy called Steve & his team, who levelled out the lawn (removing about half a ton of rubble in the process) & laying the deck. I'm not normally a great fan of decking but we needed to make the area a bit more child-friendly & hide the hideous concrete slabs masquerading as a terrace of sorts..

We're overlooked by masses of trees from adjacent gardens, so sun is at a premium & I think I'll mostly be looking at plants that are happy with a shady life.

The first post

Welcome to the first post of my first blog. This will be (mostly) about attempting to create an urban haven for my family and local wildlife in my back garden in the heart of London. Here goes..