A New Project Underway

Old age creeps on. We are very gradually reducing the holiday cottage business, as property and garden maintenance, to say nothing of all the turn-rounds, becomes slightly more of a challenge. However, I can't stop mowing lawns and polishing shower screens and then have nothing at all to do... 

So... the picture below shows the beginnings of our latest project, which is to build a garden room and greenhouse on the back lawn here at The Barn. The BIG plan is that garden room will be fully insulated and heated, and will in due course be fitted out as a pottery studio. I will then get back into that area of creativity that I haven't touched since 1995, when I last taught Art and Pottery. (Oh my - was it really that long ago...!!!)

The greenhouse will be a lean-to onto the garden room, with french doors between the two, so it will have a conservatory feel to it. The plan here will be to grow our own bedding plants, plus to have some semi-permanent plants in the greenhouse, to make it a pleasant place to sit when warm enough.

It could be pots and plants for Christmas presents from now on...

Breaking ground

My sketch plan
It'll be french doors on the front,
as I realised I would need a wide opening for access 

Another Garden Post

May on Skye is often the driest month of the year. This year, it was even drier than usual, but there's enough moisture in the soil for things to grow. It's been sunny and calm too, and as we don't get the scorching heat that often affects the south of the UK, the garden and the allotment are looking great. 

After a little furry friend chomped through the entire first sowing of broad beans, the second sowing are now up and looking healthy. There's a few gaps, where said friend pinched the seeds almost as soon as I had planted them, but unless he now returns for 'seconds' - it looks like we might get a crop of broad beans this year after all.

The weather forecast for the next few days is suggesting that we might get some gale force winds - which are not at all unusual here. I know from past experience that young runner beans can be severely damaged by strong winds, so I have spent a while this afternoon constructing a shelter for them, which I hope will be enough to keep them happy.

I can't resist adding another photo of my 'secret garden'. The ground was once a wasteland of gorse, bramble and wild grasses, but over the years, I have 'managed' a large part of it, but still let wild plants like nettles, docks, buttercups and of course bluebells, have their space - there is still gorse and brambles too, behind where I stood to take the picture. It's a bit of a change from manicured lawns and neatly trimmed hedges - not that you see much of that kind of garden on Skye!

Broad beans! The big one nearest the camera is the sole survivor from the first sowing.

The wind-shelter for the runner beans.
The bottles in the foreground protect the young sprout and kale plants. 
(I ran out of bottles, so four kale are having to fend for themselves...)
The bottles can come off next week, once the forecast windy weather is past.

My 'Secret Garden'
Note - we still have a blue sky!