10. April 2016

today was a productive one. among many other jobs we decided to create a new bench for our dinning room. we took an old wooden table top that was just too good to waste, cut it in half, sanded it to restore the beautiful wood and added some legs. we were toying with the idea of using hairpin legs to match the ones we used on our plywood table, but instead we opted to upcycle some old ikea stools that the children were playing with in the garden! et voila, a cool new bench! the other half of the...

24. March 2016

I picked up my new board today. how exciting?!

18. February 2016

today, on a very cold sunny morning, we helped to build a new bug hotel at RHS hyde hall down near higgledy hyde........and we found its very first bug resident! also today we noted the impressive magnolia buds and saw that the pinus mugo seemed to serve as a bug hotel all on its own. Spot the ladybirds!

18. February 2016

spring has definitely sprung here in sunny southend. yesterday I took a few minutes basking in the sun at the end of our garden and marvelling, as I do every year at the wonders of the trees and flowers budding. It is sight that excites me time and time again.

10. February 2016

the BC gardening club are fortunate enough to have been accepted to take part in project ROCKET SCIENCE! we are preparing to become space biologists and embark on a voyage of discovery by growing seeds that have been into space. in September 2015, 2kg of rocket seeds were flown to the international space station where our first official british astronaut, Tim Peake is currently living and working. the seeds will spend several months in microgravity before returning to earth in march 2016. some...

09. February 2016

while enjoying the windy weather at RHS Hyde Hall the other day, we took a look at their vegetable plot to see what is growing and what is not at this time of year. we are planning our own vegetable plot at Barons Court School, so we took the opportunity to gain some inspiration and ideas.

08. February 2016

every week the Barons Court gardening club meet for an hour. it is a new club run by myself and 11 children. our current task is revamping the tired looking vegetable plot, fondly named 'Payne's patch' by teacher Mrs Payne before she retired. we have four raised beds currently inhabited by various fruit and vegetable plants and the challenge for us at the moment is deciding what we want to grow...not too much in february! outdoor space is limited at our school, we do have an eco greenhouse...

08. February 2016

we are very fortunate to live so close to an RHS garden. from the days long ago when I was a trainee designer I have been visiting Hyde Hall and I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing its transition into the fabulous garden it is today. on sunday we took a stroll around hyde hall in very blustery weather (thanks to storm imogen I assume) to check out what is growing in this very mild february. we were greeted with beautiful galanthus and winter crocus flowers, sarcoccoca confusa in full glory and...