12 March 2015

Welcome to Daisy Digga

Just to set the scene.....

Late 2013 I moved and inherited an established garden.  I was ecstatic to have a garden again after years of living in a flat and the year proved full of surprises as previously hidden flowers slowly emerged from the soil.

My initial foray into growing vegetables was a success and I got carried away with seed sowing and became a victim of my own success, spending hours transplanting seedlings from trays to pots then  to the garden. Towards the end of the summer one friend remarked that what with the cost of the seeds and plants, compost, feed, tools etc etc etc plus the three sessions it took with the osteopath to sort my back out it would have been cheaper to buy what I needed from the supermarket. Probably true but nowhere near as therapeutic and fun! But the veg was tasty even though only a few of the carrots were carrot-shaped but my neighbour said they were the best she had tasted. I also grew  non-parsnip-shaped parsnips, onions, leeks, cucumbers, beetroot, runner beans, peas and salad bits. Courgettes, broccoli and peppers failed miserably. There was also a good harvest of blackberries and plums, the birds got the cherries and only one pear grew.

The garden has a pond, not too big. The previous owners said there were no fish in it so you can imagine my surprise one day in March when I was walking up the garden and saw fish swimming around. I rang my other half and said "We have fish!" "What...for dinner?" he replied, bemused that I would ring to tell him that. "No," I said. "We have fish in the pond that doesn't have any fish in it!" This then brought a whole new set of problems culminating in a none too cheap trip to the pond shop. A few fish were lost during the hot summer which was sad but hopefully lesson learnt.

So...2015. Much to my delight the pond has four large clumps of frog spawn which appeared over the course of a few nights - they were obviously having a better nightlife than me - although why they've laid it on the netting I don't know! The fish surface now and again for a short while on a warm day and have grown over the winter.  I have also set up a mini pond in a large cauldron-type pot in another part of the garden as an experiment and put gravel and a couple of large pebbles in it. I was in two minds whether or not to put some frog spawn in it. The decision was taken out of my hands when I spotted the fish were eating it. I had to save the spawn! I transferred some into the cauldron but I'm now thinking have I moved too much, is there enough water for them all and is it worse to eaten by a fish or die of overcrowding.... 

I switched on the pond pump the other day. It has a small fountain and the rest of the water flows through wherever it goes and comes out down a small rockery to create a waterfall. Very effective for filtering the water and makes a pleasant, soothing backing track for the garden. Unfortunately....some of the frog spawn become detached from one of the clumps and was whizzing round the pond with the force of the waterfall hitting the water, so I had to turn it off.

I have started sowing seeds and tidying up the garden after the winter, the veg beds have been dug and sieved by a nice young man of a friend of mine so I doubt there'll be any funny carrot shapes this year but I'll give it my best shot.

Doesn't look like I'll get much done in the garden tomorrow as rain forecast so I'll have to find something else to keep me out of mischief!!

Til next time......

DD