Happy New Year

It's been a while, but we have been somewhat distracted. Since our last post, we have acquired a new house, a new garden gnome and most importantly, a new garden.

We have managed to assemble some raised beds and are hoping that we will be able to dedicate less time to childcare and more to plantcare in 2017.

We also have a pond so expect to be inundated with frogs to keep the slugs at bay...

And our new garden gnome is in position

Photo courtesy Olof Williamson

We're set to go. All we need now is Spring...

First day of spring

According to the meteorological calendar, Saturday was the first day of spring, and the Harbills celebrated this by spending the afternoon in the garden for the first time since the autumn.

 And as if by magic, our garden actually seems to be showing signs of spring.

We even had to sow another batch of broad beans as our first lot are flowering.

Harbill and the Giant Squash

After two disappointing years, we have finally had a summer that has been kind to our squash. In fact, by mid-August it looked like we were growing nothing but squash:

At one point, even the wild flowers were in danger of suffocation by squash

We haven't picked them yet, as we are waiting for them to harden off before the first frost, but we are looking forward to a winter of squash content.

Our Boston Winter Squash (see back of photo) is actually bigger than Ferdy.

Noise Pollenation

This year it has been noisy in Harbill's Garden. But luckily, this is not due to the hum of traffic but the buzzing of the many bees that seem to be populating our garden.

A honey bee on our runner bean flowers

We have also noticed that the bumblebees bizarrely like sunbathing on our french bean leaves. They seem to use them as a resting place to recoup before getting back to work on pollenating more flowers (especially our squash flowers please bumblebees!)

But not only are we seeing more bees than ever, much to our delight we have also noticed an abundance of butterflies. For the first time we have seen a Gatekeeper in our garden:

And every day, at around 3pm, a Comma settles on our conifers:

We have spotted a Ringlet:

And because we have no brassicas, we are even happy to let the many Cabbage Whites roam around our vegetable patch.

And this year there is also another source of noise in the garden, that does nothing to help pollenate our runner beans.

Where the Wild Things Grow

This is the third year of our wild flower garden and, aside from a few initial sprinklings of seeds, it has been mostly left to its own devices.

As you can see it is dominated by foxgloves and daisies but if you look more closely there are some hidden gems.

We would give you this flower's name but we don't know it...

And we only know that the top left is an Astrantia major 'Roma'. Feel free to enlighten us about the others!

The Harbills Are Away

Our cabin on the Edenhall Estate

As a slight divergence from our normal post, we cannot resist a mention of our rather blissful holiday in the Eden Valley. There were no vegetables and, contrary to our own garden, not a sparrow in sight.

There was however, a stunning log cabin set on the River Eamont.

The River Eamont

We saw: jays, an otter, a kingfisher, a sparrowhawk, a songthrush, a grey wagtail, oystercatchers, a 2lb brown trout (brilliantly caught by Billy)...

And, a red squirrel

Bi-no-diversity

Much as Muffin's demise was distressing, we have recently noticed a resurgence of birdlife in the garden; we've been having regular visits from songthrushes, bluetits, goldfinches and greenfinches, to name but a few.

When Springwatch announced their garden biodiversity survey (the Bioblitz), we felt that we were the ideal participants and so this Sunday, armed with camera, binoculars, clipboard and a plethora of reference books we set up camp in the garden.

It started well with a sighting of a sparrow.

Passer domesticus

And then there were two!

Passer domesticus

Later on we set up our camera aimed to capture the greenfinches that we had seen the previous day. And lo and behold, what was this we saw?

Passer domesticus

Another sparrow.

So, we decided to focus our attention on the bird feeder. Surely this would bring some variety...

Passer domesticus

The Harbills decided not to upload their results to the Bioblitz website.

Harbill's Garden: The Return. This Time it's Perennial

We're back.

This time last year, we were writing about our broad beans and potatoes which were flourishing. This year, all we have planted are broad beans and potatoes and they are scarcely showing.

But let's focus on the positives. There are a few more permanent things that are doing quite well in our garden:

The bulbs that we planted last autumn have been a success: We have tulips in red, white and pink/purple (the Harbills cannot agree on the colour of the one below).

And a multitude of daffodils

We also planted some daffodils in our new border that was created last year, which should look stunning when the oxe eye daisies come out.

And no, the little chap that you see in the bottom corner is not a garden gnome. It's Ferdy, another perennial we grew last year...

Born To Be Wild

Due to the adverse weather we haven't been spending much time in the garden but rest assured, our various seedlings are poised and ready to go out. The squash (7 types this year), courgettes, chilli, cucumbers, runners and dwarf beans are currently occupying all south facing window space in the house.

However, the veg plots aren't completely empty. Our potatoes have started coming up:

We think that these are our pink fir apples

And the broad beans (planted in the autumn) are flowering:

But, as per usual, the most prolific plants in our garden seem to be those that we have had nothing to do with, the wild flowers. We have never seen so many bluebells (apart from in Bluebell Wood):

The primroses and forget-me-nots, that seem to have come from nowhere, are, well... unforgettable:

We like primroses because the remind us of our favourite crisps: Skips

Most successful however, seems to be this little yellow flower that crops up everywhere, even when it is mowed over. Can anyone identify what it could be....???

On a sadder note, we are sorry to say that Muffin seems to have gone missing. We have had a very miserable week looking for her, to no avail. We like to think that she has completed her training and decided that domestic life is not for her; it was time for her to move on and try her luck in the wilds of the Midlands. Every good parent has to learn to let go...

Good luck Muffin, our door/cat flap will always be open!

Hocus Crocus

Spring phase one has come to Harbill's Garden.

Going Snowhere

Pictures of the garden this weekend:

The garden yesterday afternoon

The garden today

Leeks, Shoots and Leaves

A belated happy new year to all of our Blogciples!

For the Harbills, the new year brings fresh hopes for a bountiful harvest. We are already imagining baskets brimming with luscious red tomatoes, enormous, crisp runner beans and squash the size of footballs. But let's not get too carried away, first we have to grow them and the process began yesterday with our first batch of leek seeds.

As you might expect at this time of year, the garden looks devoid of all life:

But if you look a little closer...

..you can see Primula pushing through the dead leaves.

And the crocus and daffodil shoots (planted together in two layers) are coming up:

We mentioned our broad beans before Christmas. They seem to be still growing, the leaves in tact and unaffected by frost so far, so will hopefully give us an early crop.

Unlike the garden, Muffin, who has spent most of the winter asleep, is still asleep.

Windy November

No, Muffin has not been using our patio as her new toilet, this is actually our very first crop of jerusalem artichokes. They are the Fuseau variety and less knobbly than other types so hopefully shouldn't be too difficult to peel. However, we all know what jerusalem artichokes are really famous for, so beware to anyone in our vicinity in the next few days.

Here is what else has been going on in Harbill's Garden:

Our broad beans, planted mid-October so that we can get an early crop in April, have already started coming up:

Bizarrely, despite having trimmed it back, our lavender is insisting on flowering.

And the cornflowers will not give up.

We are also still managing to eat salad throughout the winter; this rocket seems impervious to the cold, windy and sometimes frosty weather.

But - and we are saving the most thrilling news for last - we are hugely excited about our compost heap.

On the right is this year's waste; we have already started another one on the left

Throughout the year, we have been putting all perishable waste excluding meat, fish and citrus fruit (meat & fish attract rats and citrus is too acidic) into a big compost sack at the back of the garden. And look! It has actually turned to mud!!!

We will be using this when we dig up the garden in the spring to prepare for Year 2 of Harbill's Garden. Briwwiant (as they say in Burton).