My potting corner

I had some quality pottering time in the garden this weekend. Above is the potager, half completed. The right hand side is done... the circle paths are laid and (most of) the ground is planted. I have potatoes in the big patch closest to the camera, and chives alongside the central straight path. I know, they look like overgrown grass, but that's only because the overgrown grass growing over the unlaid brick path is making you think that! Once I get those bricks in and the grass tidied up, the chives will look charming and rustic. 'Kay?

Basically the whole left side is still unplanted, because there's no point doing that yet when I'll be trampling all over the whole thing putting the paths in. (The bricks are laid out on top of the ground, but not yet set in.)

Anyway. See back in the corner of the property behind the shed? That's my new potting corner. It's been designed to be home to all the useful but unsightly, or currently un-useful, things that don't fit in my shed.

In the bottom right hand corner is my apple tree "Baujade". It will hopefully screen that area off even more as it grows. Weeds are a major problem in this area of the garden (especially the dreaded convulvulus and oxalis) so I covered a lot of ground with weedmat. Around the apple tree I spread some dirt and sprinkled grass seed and a few wildflower seeds. If it looks like the picture in my head, I'll have a romantic mini-meadow here.

I've got some sweet peas growing in front of the trellis which will help with the screening too. When I put that trellis up, I was imagining hanging bunches of garlic and onions up to dry on it in autumn. Looking forward to that day...

Here are my compost bins. I just love making compost! The act of literally turning rubbish into a product that you usually pay money for really appeals to me, and it's such an easy thing to make. I have three bins so I always have something to be added to while the rest is brewing. I put my compost bins on tarpaulins to stop vigorous weeds from growing through.


This area is also a graveyard for spent bulbs, where they can gather their energy to bloom next season. The green metal stick on the left is my compost turner. It has sort of a corkscrew at the base and as you turn the top it burrows into the compost, which makes it easy to stir and turn.

This side still needs to be organised - I'm going to put a shelving unit up to tidy up all those pots. Then I'll actually be able to reach the potting bench!

This is a sort of avenue, or it will be once the trees grow! There are 2 apples and a feijoa.

Here's the part of the potager I've got planted up - from left to right are green broccoli, purple broccoli, pak choi, and garlic interspersed with some pak choi. In the small wedge shaped garden at the front is a row of spring onions and a tiny little rosemary cutting. I haven't quite decided what else to put here but it could end up being herbs.

This post was brought to you by the letters p-o-t... as used in the words potager, potting corner, pottering, compost and pots. And that makes me think that I've spent a bit too much time thinking about this post and it's time to go sautee some leeks for tea.