Tuesday, March 18, 2008

It's a Beautiful Day!

Daffodil Thalia

It's almost Spring and some days it feels like it is Spring already. This morning the sun was out and the air was crisp and clear.
Looking out from my bedroom window this view was beckoning me to come outside and work in the garden. Who could refuse an invitation like that? Certainly not me!

It was still a bit nippy outside, only 5 C / 41 F, but the temperature inside my Victorian greenhouse was a different matter altogether; 39,5 C / 104 F which felt like a very, very hot Summer's day.
With temperatures getting as high as that the automatic window openers had to be re-installed. They are removed every October as they get frost damaged if you leave them in during the cold season.
It's small wonder that the water cress I've sown last week in my Victorian greenhouse is coming up a treat.
Last February I'd sown some lettuce and some radishes too in my cold frames and they are doing great as well. It won't be long now before I can harvest the first radishes from my potager.
About a week ago I'd planted some garlic cloves and I have to check them everyday as the birds keep pulling them out off the soil.
As you can see it already has formed some roots and after taking this pic I popped the clove right back into the soil again where it can grow into a nice big bulb of garlic.
Recently I made this construction to keep the neighbourhood cats out of my freshly sown bed with broad beans. It worked alright but last weekend I bought something that would do the trick even better and here it is.
Inside the plastic tunnel the soil will heath up more quickly and hopefully the broad beans will grow that much harder too. An added advantage is that the doves won't be able to eat the tender seedlings once they come up and the kitties are unable to dig up my bed. That little tunnel was easy to install and only cost me 5 euros, so not a bad deal at all.
I bought something else as well; a very nice little weather station. It measures the amount of rain that has fallen, tells me from which corner the wind is blowing and it tells the temperature as well. Neat eh, and it was very easy to put together.
I like working in my potager at this time of year. It still feels very special after those bleak winter months to be out and about in the garden again. A potager is an ornamental kitchen garden as you well know, but so far you've only seen the kitchen bit, so here's something about the ornamental side of things as well.
In this little bed forget-me-nots had self seeded themselves all over the place. I decided to use them as edging in some of my other beds so I dug them up, planted them out and watered them.

Soon they will be flowering away like there is no tomorrow, brightening this bed up where I've sown purple broccoli. I've put some sticks into this bed that were left over from the pruning I did recently, another way to stop the neighbourhood kittycats from digging in my beds.
The foxgloves had also self seeded in my potager, so I dug some of them up as well and planted them as edging in another bed, right behind a row of forget-me-nots.
And while I was working in the kitchen garden today I discovered another little bloom, one of my favourite spring plants; the primrose! Slightly slug damaged, but a bloom nevertheless and at this time of year, every bloom counts!
copyright 2008 Y.E.W. Heuzen

There are few (wo)men who would not wish to spend part of their lives in the most necessary and pleasant of all work, cultivating the earth.
William Morris, Useless Work Versus Useless Toils, 1884

39 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

First of all Yolanda I like your header picture. It looks so springy.

You entire garden is just wonderful to look at. All seems to be growing well.

Your row covers should do the trick of keeping out cats and birds.

How exciting to see the roots on your garlic though. You know they are trying to grow.

I just love seeing all your blosoms too. They give me such hope that we will have more blooming than crocus soon. I love my crocus but it will be nice to have other things as well.

Jane O' said...

My, my, Yolanda, you have been busy. I love the way you placed the johnny jump-ups as a border. THat should turn out real nice and be very cheery.

Anonymous said...

A delightful day indeed in the potager. I see you will soon be harvesting again. Enjoy your radish salads.

Annie in Austin said...

Another fan of Thalia, I see! Yolanda, your post proves that learning to recognize seedlings is a valuable skill. It's very satisfying to transplant self-sown seedlings where they'll be appreciated, isn't it!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Lis vom Lindenhof said...

Mensch warst du schon fleißig! Aber letzten Samstag haben mein Mann und ich auch fest im Garten gearbeitet und jetzt sieht er schon wieder viel besser aus.
Die Wetterstation ist genial, ich habe nur einen ganz simplen Regenmesser. Auch die Idee mit dem Tunnel ist gut, da hast du ja zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe geschlagen. Nein, eigentlich sind es sogar drei! Er hält die Tauben fern, die Katzen können das Beet nicht als Toilette nutzen und wärmer ist es unter dem Tunnel auch noch!
Falls wir uns nicht mehr lesen, wünsche ich dir schon mal ein frohes Osterfest mit ganz viel Sonne und Wärme! :-)
LG Lis

Anonymous said...

ik laat die uitstekers in dat ieniemienie kasje zitten van mij ,blijven altijd dicht hoor ;)
heb eigenlijk nu nog niet gekeken ... heb het ook veel te druk met de vogels ;)))
ik vind je oplossing voor katten en vogels wel erg crea ...hihihihi
die molentjes heb ik ook eens gehad ...totdat Lotje ze zag .....
veel zon vandaag meis dus de tuin in ;)) groetjessss

VP said...

You've been very busy Yolanda. It's a beautiful day here too - so it's full steam ahead in the garden and on the allotment for me!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Yolanda,
your blog got a new outfit, very nice.
Primroses bloom and garden beds are prepared for the seeds...
Spring is around the corner.
Here in Guildwood we have still snow covering the garden. Well, we have to wait..
Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"
(Robin Williams)
Wish you a very Happy Easter.
Gisela

Anonymous said...

Gelukkig gaat alles door buiten, ondanks het nou niet bepaald "lente-achtige" weer!
En jammer genoeg komt er nog meer van die ellende, bah!

OT @ Waren jouw katjes ook zo onrustig door de stormen?

Het lijkt wel paardenvolk met die storm, ze lopen maar te draven door het huis en het is nu al te merken dat er nog meer wind komt, want ze doen het wéér!

Ik ga straks maar weer al het mooie bloeiende pottenspul in het prieel zetten, dan beschadigd het in ieder geval niet door de wind en de winterse buien die ons boven het hoofd hangen!

Mooie kopfoto trouwens!!

Van tuinen zal het komend weekend niet veel komen, dat wordt weer de houtkachel aan en hopen dat het snel voorbij waait!
groetjes, Marian

Frances, said...

Yolanda, Violet, your potager will be even more beautiful with those edgings of self sown seedlings, what a good idea. The covering and sticks to keep diggers and diners out is necessary here as well. Love that primrose, I think I have the same one blooming, in fact we seem to be very close in the spring blooms, even though we are so very far apart! BTW, what is ROTFL? ;->

Frances at Faire Garden

Ruth Welter said...

Yolanda, what lovely photos of springtime by you...all your flowers are coming up just beautifully. My spring bulbs are peeking out of the ground now, it is exciting to see them coming up.

Happy Easter.

Betty said...

Yolanda,
You've really been busy along with your Bliss team....I'm sure the yield will be bountiful.....

Thank you for visiting with me...please return...the problem has been corrected and the u-tube has been added to my posting to make access easier....it is worth watching.....

Happy Easter to you and those you love.....Betty

Libbys Blog said...

As usual your garden is a delight at any time of the year!!! I have pots of tulips this year, I had hoped they would look like yours did last year but no, mine are coming up one by one!! You can't win!!! Keep up the good work, you totally inspire me!!

Priscilla George said...

What a wonderful portager.Looks like you will be having wonderful blooms and plants in no time!

Anonymous said...

Ik was trouwens te laat, toen ik bij jou gereageerd had keek ik naar buiten en zag dat het al hagelde, dat ging snel over in grote sneeuwvlokken :-(
Ik heb alles maar even gauw in de garage gezet!

A wildlife gardener said...

What a happy half hour I have had retracing my steps till I reached the post where I last visited the Bliss garden.

As always the photos of the Spring bulbs and flowers filled me with pleasure...and your enthusiasm is infectious, which always 'fires me up'.

We have a lot in common , as Geoff Hamilton is my gardening hero too. Do you have the videos which go along with the Paradise Gardens and Cottage Gardens books? They are well worth the money. As Geoff died just before the end of the last one, his twin brother did the final voiceover.

Lastly, the kitties scaling the heights had me rolling in the aisles! I like the new header too :)

Anonymous said...

Oh dear, I´ve forgotten that there is full spring in Europe! Looking your garden is like therapy to me, spring therapy! This winter hasn´t been very easy for me as my dad passed away and I´m really, really waiting for spring to come. It´s allways nice to visit your blog. It has been too long :)

em said...

YE, you sure have been busy! Our daffs are not blooming yet, but i'll post when they do! What great posts!

Garden Cats + Crafts said...

Ein so schöner aufmunternder und sehr frühlingshafter Post, Yolanda. Bei uns ist ja von Frühling nichts zu spüren, im Gegenteil, heute hat es schon wieder ein paar mal geschneit. Aber auch die Sonne schien.

Ich wünsche Dir ein wunderschönes Osterfest mit Deiner Familie. Bleib schön gesund.

Liebe Grüße, Birgit

Barbara said...

You were very busy Yolanda, your garden looks so neat and very Spring like. I admire your potager very much....I've just started to prepare the gardenbeds for new plants and some salads. But I think I was a bit too early, as we actually have winter temperatures again. But tomorrow Spring starts really ;-) !!
Have a nice and sunny Easter vacation!
Barbara

Curmudgeon said...

When I saw your garlic it reminded me of something I read recently. I've never grown garlic but was thinking of trying this year. I read that roses like to have garlic grow under them. Would you know if this is true?

Anonymous said...

Leuk zo'n weerstation, ik gebruik de aloude vinger in de lucht houden truc werkt nog altijd. ;-)))

Cheryl said...

Lovely post, full of interest.
I absolutely love the weather station, looks really useful.

Angela @ Cottage Magpie said...

I love seeing your potager--so inspiring. And we're having some sunshine here off and on, which is really lovely. But no potager yet. YET!
~Angela :-)

KC MO Garden Guy said...

Yolanda,
Looks likes you are well on your way to a great spring and summer. What a great little tunnel. That should get the plants growing. And the weather station should be fund to play with and may come in handy with the spring weather. Thanks for sharing. Cliff

Karin said...

It sure looks like spring to me. :) Nice to see what's going on in your kitchengarden aldready. We haven't started planting yet. But we're expecting more snow.

That daffodil Thalia is one of my favourite daffodils. And the view from your bedroom is so nice.

Happy Easter! Kram!

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Hi all and welcome to Bliss!

* Lisa: the header pic was taken in France in May while we were on a holiday there with all our kittycats. It's one of my favourite pics ever.

LOL, I understand that you want to see a bit more in bloom than just your crocuses. ;-)

* Jane Marie: I hope it will turn out that way. ;-)

* Pam: harvesting is one of the best things of having a potager. :-)

* Annie: I love transplanting seedlings! Free plants, what gardener could resist?

Lis: I've bought the weatherstation at the Lidl for 8 euros, hint, hint. ;-) The tunnel has been standing there for a few days now and it works a treat!

* Lenie: ik haal de automatisch openers eruit omdat die anders kunnen bevriezen en kaduuk gaan. Tja, je moet wat om ongewenste vogel en kattenactiviteiten uit je tuin te houden. ;-)


* VP: hope you had a lovely day working in your garden and the allotment!


* Gisela: Spring is indeed a party and the good news is that we are all invited. ;-)

* Marian: tis wel koud de laatste dagen maar gelukkig toch meestal elke dag wat zon. Ja, jammer dat het met de Pasen geen buiten weer wordt. Nou ja, dan maar knus met een katje op schoot bij de houtkachel, ook leuk!

* Frances: it's fun to discover how close our gardens are as far as blooming is concerned, eventhough we are thousands of miles apart.
ROTFL = Rolling On The Floor Laughing


* Ruth: it's good to read that your bulbs are coming up too, it is such a wonderful thing to look forward too.

* Betty: we have been busy but it was worth it. ;-)

* Libby: well, if your tulips come up one at a time their flowering season will be very long. ;-) Running and ducking! giggle
It's great to know that my blog inspires so many people, thanks!

* Vanillalotus: it is growing away like mad at the mo. I garden on heavy clay and we have lots of rain here and moderate temperatures; those 3 together make the plants grow very fast.

* Marian: balen zeg, hagel en sneeuw. Hier heeft gisterenmiddag toch vooral de zon geschenen.

* WG: I dont have the vids so thanks for the tip I'll check them out. I saw the last series he made on the telly and also heard his brother Tony do the voiceover. Identical twins, but still so very different. Does Tony still live, do you know?

Surprise is a bit of a naughty kitty and very funny too. The new header is one of my all time favourite pics of my darling Emma (no longer with us). She did so enjoy romping around in that wild flower meadow.

* Sanni: long time no see, so welcome back my dear! :-) When is Spring coming to Finland? It won't be long now, will it?

*Em: glad you liked it!

* Birgit: I saw on your blog that you had quite a bit of snow. Hopefully the Spring will come back to your garden soon.

* Barbara: it's not all that warm here either. Last week we had temperatures from 12 to 15 C but now it's back to 5 C during the day. Brrrrrr.

* WWW: yes, underplanting your roses with garlic or lavender will keep certain pests away from your roses.

* Jalos: ach ja, die goeie ouwe natte vinger in de lucht; goedkoop en efficient! :-)

* Cheryl: it is useful and it was cheap to buy too. :-)

* Angela: I hear you girlfriend! There will be a potager coming soon(ish) in a garden near you! LOL


* Cliff: it's quite cold here at the mo, so the tunnel keeps the earth beneath it, with its freshly sown broad beans, nice and warm.


* Karin: there's no point in planting now if more snow is on its way, so you're right in waiting.

We didn't have a white Christmas but it looks like quite a few of my garden blogger friends in Sweden and Germany will have a white Easter. I'm dreaming of a white ....... Easter. Nah, I want a green, white and yellow one! :-)

Anonymous said...

Update 2 dagen later: lente, koud en het hout aangevuld...;-))))dus of de vergeet-mij-niet hier nog wordt verzet.....denk het niet..;-)

Viooltje said...

Dear Yoland, thx for stopping by in my garden, it showed me the way to your beautiful blog. I thoroughly enjoyed your photos, especially your feline friends, and I could smell the spring even between the lines. Greetings from wintery Mediterranean and happy Easter!

Anonymous said...

Joh, wat ben je al enorm bezig! Brrr, ik vond't vandaag wel zo extreem koud. Blij dat ik moest werken, hihi!
't Enige wat ik doe is ruimen en snoeien, en binnen heb ik cosmea & papaver gezaaid, eens zien wat dat gaat doen.

Fijne paasdagen alvast!

stadtgarten said...

Hi Yolanda, thanks a lot for sharing the springtime impressions from your garden with us. Here winter has come back, it is cold and ugly outside, no idea that spring has begun today.
Is it still time for planting garlic? Every year I wanted to do that, but I never thought about it in time. But this year I hope I will not forget it when it gets warmer!
I wish you a happy Easter, groetjes, Monika

Hannele på Hisingen said...

Frohe Ostern!

Cindy Garber Iverson said...

I know of the feeling of being beckoned outside by the wonderful spring weather. I love working in the garden this time of year too--so many fun discoveries after winter. I love how you've transplanted your volunteers into neat rows where they will look wonderful grouped together. I need to adopt that practice.

Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage

Unknown said...

Such a fun post, Yolanda. I love the weather station, but also the thermometre in your conservatory is pretty fine. What I need here is an ananometer (spelling may be wrong) to track windspeeds with. We're still a long way from planting anything outdoors, or even doing more than very rudimentary cleanup. One of these days...

Anonymous said...

That's weird that the birds keep pulling up your garlic. Are they Italian?
It looks like you have been very busy enjoying the nice weather. Yeah!

Anja said...

Heerlijke blog om te kijken & lezen. Ben bij jou gekomen door het stukje in de Tuin&Co van deze maand. Vorig jaar hebben wij een huis gekocht met een verwaarloosde tuin - alleen de bestrating was er in orde, maar viiiiies - en sinds ik er tijd voor kan maken ben ik ook helemaal tuin-fan! Ik tuinier ook op zware, oerhollandse rivierklei en ben dol op de klassieke planten en bloemen. Ik hoop dat je het goed vind als ik je in mijn favorietenlijst plaats op mijn blog (newclassichome.blogspot.com) en ik ga ook zeker bij jouw favorieten neuzen... heerlijk! Hoewel het weer er nu bepaald niet naar is, zit ik de weergoden al weer te verzoeken voor licht bewolkt weer en een goed tuiniertemperatuurtje... Ik kom gauw nog eens kijken!

Groetjes, Anja

Anonymous said...

Jouw blogs werken altijd zo aanstekelijk. Na het lezen wil ik gelijk ook aan de gang. Helaas hagelt het nu, maar gelukkig heb ik nog te zaaien en dat kan binnen.

Leuk een vergeet-me-niet-hegje!

Anonymous said...

Yolanda,
I'm sorry that it is rainy and cold. I hope it clears up for Easter.
Are those your sheep?
Good God that one needs a hair cut badly.
It looks like a ball of yarn with feet.
I get my eggs from my neighbor also and they are much better than the store.