Misty Morning

It’s pretty misty this morning. It makes the garden look all spooky and forgotten. Everything is covered in dew and it brings out the colours on the few things that are left in the garden at this time of year. I’m down to my last Leeks, patches of Spinach, some Kale, the Parsley is still hanging in there, and the Mint is probably still edible. So, not much.

I can’t even see the hillside anymore. Very mysterious and creepy and horror film like. Don’t you think? Actually, just after I took this shot the posty arrived in his bright red van – kinda ruined it a bit for me.

Back in the garden one of the few things that is edible right now is my Kale. The plants are quite small (planted them out too late) but as there are a few of them I should have enough Kale to go around. It looks particularly good in the dew.

It’s nearly time to cut the Raspberries down to the ground (early Feb) but for now they lend a certain interest to the garden with their crispy shapes that look like Star Anise.

After rummaging around the shed and shifting some stuff around I dragged my poor old bike out. It hasn’t seen the light of day since before Jackson was born (have you ever seen a pregnant woman riding a bike – exactly!). It’s time to get back on the old girl, I think. She’s in a sorry state though. Flat tires, covered in stuff that looks like sawdust (not really sure where that came from) and some rust starting to show. But the bell still works and that’s the main thing, right?

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17 Comments on “Misty Morning”

  1. I don’t know if I said this in a comment last year, but your garden is VERY COOL. I really love the design and layout. I can only hope to make my back yard look that aesthetically pleasing–yet functional–some day in the future.

  2. Love the bike, I wish I had one with a nice basket & bell. We live out in the hilly country of Ohio though, so probably not the wisest form of transport with all the crazies driving way too fast on these narrow country roads. Oh well, I can dream!

  5. Thanks for the reminder about pruning the raspberries ….. especially as I haven’t done the summer ones yet (oops). But I have started to put my seed order together which is always such an exciting time of year – full of expectation of harvests to come and home-grown foods to be savoured.

  6. Your garden just looks so tidy compared to mine! At least I can see quite a bit of lovely bare soil on yours, just ready to receive the Spring plantings.

  8. Ah the great thing about your garden is even in the bare winter months it has such great, clean structure. Very inspiring!

    What do you do with your kale? Do you pick it as a CCA or do you tend to use it mature? And how do you cook it? I’m growing it for the first time this year because I’ve ended up with a pack of seeds, but have no idea how to cook it!

    http://www.fennelandfern.blogspot.com

  9. Sometimes Kale can be pretty tough – especially if you leave it to mature. If you have lots of lovely healthy plants then I recommend picking a few leaves from each one – the tender ones in the middle. You can cook this like Spinach – ie very quickly. The older tougher leaves need a bit longer and it’s best to shred them beforehand.

    The variety of Kale I’m growing is Cavolo Nero, the Italian version of Kale. There are tons of recipes that include Cavolo Nero. There’s a particularly yummy one that is Fritatta with lots of Parmesan and some Chili that I might make soon.

  10. what a lovely garden!! Your to-do list is now my to-do list. Thanks for the kick into action. I needed that. Today I did a garden walk, all plants are asleep under their blanket of snow – time to plan for spring. I look forward to reading and seeing your progress.

  12. This is a wonderful website. I’m learning a lot of great tips. I love the idea of gardening and have tried it several times, but I think I have a black thumb. Or it could be our fine Irish weather. I had no problem growing things in the States. The pics you put up on this post are amazing. I hope to live in a place as gorgeous as yours someday.

  13. Your garden looks about as big/small as mine. Mine is 9m x 7.5m, with a pathway down the centre and little side paths for tiptoe access. The only difference is that I’m in Sydney and it’s midsummer here (today was 35°C and even the frangipani whimpered).

    Sometimes I think I’d like some winter ‘downtime’ to stop completely and have a think about a new start on bare ground each year, but here in evergreen-land the seasons roll on relentlessly, as if I’m adrift forever on the gardening equivalent of some kind of wide Pacific Ocean.

    Like your blog.

    Cheers, Jamie.

  14. very cool website, love your garden and the mist really gives something to your pictures. also is that a jaguar in on of the pictures? if it is its a splendid car :)

  15. Hi Jonathan – yes it is a Jaguar, the type that Morse drives. Very cool and very not mine :(

  16. Thanks for sharing pictures of your garden! It’s really beautiful. We’re still building out the structure of ours as we work on planting. I love your paths. It looks like stone on the border. Do you use gravel or stone for the main paths? I’m debating the pros and cons here.

  17. Hi Dee,

    It’s not gravel it’s compacted small pebbles. The landscapers mixed the stones with sand (and I’m guessing a bit of cement) and then used a machine to compact it. The finished effect is a hard path with some lose bits which makes it softer than a completely hard path. It’s nice.