All Change

Like the seasons and a garden, everything changes and it’s all change here at Garden Divas and The Horse Diva HQ.

We will be moving to new premises (hopefully very soon) on the other side of town where we will have more space for display and will also be able to welcome local customers during the day. Alongside this our two websites are being reprogrammed to be “mobile friendly” and easier to use on a phone or tablet – Hoorah. So do keep a eye out for our new look.

As with all changes though it has not been the smoothest of starts to 2016 but we are digging deep, finding loads of new products for all you garden and horse lovers and working hard to make sure shopping with us continues to be a smooth affair!

Winter seems to be never ending and I’m longing to get back to some proper gardening but have also realised my limitations due to age (oh yes I did have a big birthday in January) and time restrictions due to the growth of the business. So there are changes afoot in the garden. Raised beds have been built in my veg patch.

 

New Raised Beds

This has obviously made the available “growing” area smaller, but easier to work with and has used up loads of homemade compost. Since I have “grown my own” in some shape or form since I was young I cannot see me ever giving up this side of gardening so this seemed a fair solution. At the moment there is rhubarb, a collection of self set Foxgloves and some wallflowers that didn’t get planted into the borders! But come the spring I will be shall be planting the usual potatoes, carrots, shallots this year instead of onions, dwarf beans I think, dwarf sunflowers for picking, some sort of brassica, mangetout peas, salad leaves plus I want to get some fresh strawberry plants soonish. Then there’s tomatoes & peppers for the greenhouse and ……………. See I can get carried away very easily!

I’m also hoping to revamp a back border introducing a little more structure with evergreens etc which can be interplanted with summer colour – more of that next time.

In the meantime we Mums should be looking forward to a little “ME” time on Mother’s Day on Sunday 6th March and if you want to make a change from giving flowers to your Mum how about giving her one of Sophie Conran’s award winning Seed Sets – choose from Edible Flower, Wildflower or Herbs. All beautifully packaged and at £9.95 per pack these will last a lot longer than a shop bought bouquet!

Sophie Conran Seed Collection

Happy Mother’s Day and Gardening to all

Gilly

PS Do let me know what changes you are making to your garden this year.

Vegetable gardening – is it worth it??

Yes I do confess I asked myself this question earlier in the summer. Returning from a short break I discovered there had been an intruder in the garden – the young mange tout plants had all been eaten bar five plants, as had the lettuce and the tops of all my chrysanthemums plus the broad beans were covered in black fly which had then jumped across to the runner beans.

Countless spraying with soapy water didn’t get rid of the blackfly and I only had a few helpings of mange tout from the depleted plants. The cats got a scolding for not detering the rabbits but the consensus of opinion was that this time a deer had got into the garden whilst I was away and had a healthy dinner at my expense.

All that effort, all that nurturing from seed to young plant, hardening off, transplanting, watering etc etc had all been undone within the space of 5 days and I actually said to myself – is this really worth it??

I resorted to buying (yes parted with money) some ladybirds – you can get everything on the internet these days – which met with some derision from certain quarters but I have to say they did the trick and got rid of the invasion of blackfly on the beans – hooray! Now the beans aren’t setting very well so I’m out with the sugared water to attract more pollinators.

The jobs never end when growing your own crops – it is hard work at times so back to my original question – is it worth it??  Yes said my husband – he likes eating the produce you see but not necessarily the work that goes into producing it.   However when we looked back at this seasons successes it didn’t seem so bad – we’ve had rhubarb, raspberries, a few broadbeans and mangetout, courgettes, the potatoes are magnificent, the onions look fine and the baby carrots are delicious. There are plums and apples ripening on the trees and I am sure I will get a few runners. As my old Mum used to say “You can’t win them all”

So I’m not giving up – just revamping the veg plot a bit – as soon as I said “I might like some raised beds” to Mr Woodworker he was out there sawing and drilling making me some fine new raised beds – which at the moment, filled with compost from the overflowing compost heaps are just nurturing baby foxgloves, calendulas and wallflowers.

So YES I say to you all – growing fruit and veg is worth it on so many fronts – good exercise, good for the soul and good for the body – eating often mis-shapen veggies grown by yourself, harvested and on the table ready to eat in less than an hour. Don’t give up, however many problems you incur from pests large or small: there’s nothing like serving up a meal and saying “I grew that” and I tell you what, you don’t get that taste from the supermarket.

If you want to try growing something yourself, why not take advantage of 20% discount on the Growing Kits from Plant-n-Grow and get ready for next year or buy as a lovely gift for your keen gardener.   Plus keep your eye on our website for some very special seeds coming soon.

Plant-n-Grow Vegalicious Veggie Kit

Happy Gardening

Gilly

It’s April – time to get growing?

The sun is shining, it’s National Gardening Week and so it must be time to get growing!

If that sounds a little bit daunting to you we have some easy to do Growing Kits for all abilities and all ages plus we are offering 10% discount on all our kits until Friday 8th May.  So if you fancy having a go at growing a few flowers or maybe some veggies just have a peep at our selection.  You only need a sunny window ledge to start things off!

The Edible Flower Growing Kit comes complete with seeds, compost discs and mini propagator so you can grow some pretty flowers for your garden and have something to eat as well. All the flowers are edible and can be added to salads or used as cake decorations. The kit even comes with a “Blooming Salad” recipe.

Bag Plants are colourful jute bags containing compost and seeds which can be started off on a window ledge, then the whole lot can be transplanted into the garden – bag and all. Just sow a few of the seeds in the biodegradable jute bag and use the rest for normal sowing.

For the younger gardener we have the NEW Plantalicious Mini Garden Growing Tubs to encourage children to grow something healthy and tasty to eat.  After Easter and a glut of chocolate that should be a good thing to do. Each tub comes complete with a gnome sticker to decorate the pots and full instructions for children. Seedlings can then be transplanted into the garden.

And for little ones who are really keen to start off their own vegetable patch then the The Little Thoughtful Gardener Growing Kit including mini pots and tray plus radish, carrot & lettuce seeds and compost makes a lovely gift for the budding gardener.

Perhaps though, like most of us, you are stuck at a desk whilst the sun shines, pining for your garden. For fun why not give a Potman a home and attach him to your computer screen having sown a few seeds in the little pot on his back – those little green shoots will remind you of your garden and all the jobs that will need doing in the coming months!

Check out all of our kits here and don’t forget these make super presents too.

Everything comes with full instructions on how to sow your seeds. Once the seeds have germinated on your window ledge the young plants can be hardened off (very important) – that means moving them outside during the warmth of the day for a couple of hours and gradually increasing that time.  They must be brought back inside during the night to protect against drops in temperature. Do this for at least a week before planting them in the garden.

Be warned though that sometimes we can be tempted by the unseasonable weather and plant out too soon – it may be warm for some of us but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be any more chilly days and frost to catch those tender plants.   Instead perhaps use these lovely days to dig over, weed and generally tidy your garden and keep your seedlings toasty for a few more days. And don’t forget to label everything!

I have seeds galore still to be sown – carrots, lettuce, spinach, peas, beans, zinnias, courgettes, tagetees et al but I have plenty of time – I think!
Whatever you do – keep busy and enjoy your gardens

A woman in her garden – May/June

They call it faint May – because of the changing of the seasons and the heady blossom that prevails but I believe it’s because there is just so much that needs doing in the garden during May that your head’s in a spin!! Well mine was anyway and it’s only now that I can see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.
Everything grew just like topsy, except of course those things I really wanted to grow such as the mange tout seeds planted in haste back in April. Of approx 25 sown only 4 germinated and one of those is struggling still!! Don’t expect a good crop of those for our tea!! Still the parsnip seeds which I just scattered germinated really well as did the carrots .

The runner beans were so so and then I went and planted them out too soon and we had a couple of cold and windy nights so their growth is a little stunted. I spied a first flower on one though so fingers crossed they will pull through. The potatoes look good too but am thinking I should cut down on carbs!! All in all a fair result for just planting left over seeds – some over 2 years old. And luckily for me a gardener friend has bought me some young plants to fill in the gaps – 3 sweetcorn, an outdoor cucumber, a courgette and a squash plant – gardeners are generous souls.

The veggie plants I bought are all producing now – broadbeans. (not my favourite but fill a gap) and spring cabbages (yummy with mint sauce and as I did last weekend, shredded, patted dry and fried with palma ham until crispy!)

Now it’s June and the roses are out and smell gorgeous,

the sweet peas are just starting to bloom and smell equally gorgeous, the alliums are mostly over, flopping about and distributing their seeds, foxgloves are majestic but tend to be battered by those sharp thundery showers, perennial geraniums are blooming and here and there are numerous gaps that need filling either with annuals or a new perennial or two. Love hebes and heucheras so will get a few more of them I think.

Countless shrubs need trimming back into shape before they take over the borders and a decision needs to be made on the two conifers at the back of the house which are going skywards. Let alone all the other trees which surround my garden – where shall we start – my head’s in a spin again. Thank goodness for the lovely Mark who helps with the garden – am sure he will advise me or bully me into submission!

And it seems that a lot of you have been busy in the garden too with sales up on last year and the Garden Divas team being kept busy. – two of our most popular products this last few weeks are the ultra glamorous Foxgloves Garden Gloves and our extremely comfy backdoorshoes

 

 

 

 

Looks like you are all getting kitted out for a summer in the garden – lets just hope we can enjoy the fruits of our labours after these busy weeks!

Happy Gardening