The brilliantly coloured annual flowers sweep round the bumpy lawn and spill under the wire fence, pioneers of a garden in the making.
The apple trees have recovered from the salt laden gale that scorched their tender young shoots in the spring. Their new leaves are glossy green on strong, flexible shoots.
In time the garden, and the gardening, will become more subtle but for now it’s rough and ready, relying on mattock, hoe and scythe to make gradual inroads on the tussocky grass and nettles.
Meanwhile up on the hill, bees buzz in the willowherb flowers, sparrows gossip on the hogweed seed heads, swallows swoop low to gather up insects and a kestrel hovers overhead before diving onto an unsuspecting mouse or vole. There are toads in the cool shade between the stones of the old piggery, starlings partying in the cut grass and goldfinches flitting among the thistles. We’re latecomers on this patch of land, working round the established residents.
(Click on any photo for a closer view)
July 18, 2017 at 1:12 pm
lovely post. So nice to have a plot of land like that.
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July 18, 2017 at 2:29 pm
Thanks for your kind comment. Yes, I feel very privileged to have the land to go home to – even more so as the soil is deep, rich loam!
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July 18, 2017 at 4:30 pm
Green with envy – in Bristol we have thick cloddy clay.
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July 18, 2017 at 4:41 pm
You have my sympathy. I’ve never gardened on such good soil before!
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August 11, 2017 at 12:11 pm
It’s so good to see your stance towards the established residents. I’m sure you’re already becoming happy cohabitators.
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August 11, 2017 at 2:18 pm
By the timeI get back to Spittal in ten days time the wildlife will definitely be in charge. It will take me a week to find the garden again!
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