not sport | Wait until next year

July 28, 2016

Making up our lives – gardening, writing and “My Roots” by Monty Don

Recently I’ve heard a fair few people talk about that old curse May You Live In Interesting Times. And Interesting may be one of the more polite adjectives I might think of when thinking of 2016. And when you live in interesting times there is a great temptation to escape. In the past I might have escaped via the bottle, or a YouTube rabbit hole of nostalgic clips, or some daft game on a mobile phone. And I’m not sure any of those are entirely bad, at least in moderation. But in 2016 I have escaped by gardening. Except I don’t think it is just escape. I think it is more than that. Perhaps I should just let someone else say this more eloquently. Read the rest of this entry »

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July 14, 2016

Hanging Baskets

Hanging baskets are funny things. They feel a bit dated, a bit fussy. Fussy in how they look, very much a construction, an obvious artifice, and so perhaps a little bit jarring when it comes to a natural space like a garden. They are also fussy in terms of maintenance too, with the constant deadheading and watering. I’m forever fussing around them, watering them even when it rains. I have had too many failed baskets. I have learned that hanging baskets crave attention.

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July 11, 2016

Deadheading

I’ve been thinking about gardening a lot lately. I’ve been actually gardening a lot too. This is our fourth summer here and the garden is really only just starting to take shape, and I’m only just starting to take shape as a gardener, albeit a very, very amateur one. Read the rest of this entry »

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