Start of the gardening season

This year has been full of changes for us. The biggest one is that we have finally moved into our new house! It took us 1.5 years to renovate it, and I'm not going to lie to you, there are still some things to be done, but we managed to move in at the end February and love it! My husband has changed his job and I have finally started my own small business which leads to my days being completely consumed.

The end of last year was so busy that I didn't have time to prepare the garden for winter and I was concerned about its condition in spring. With our move I have started working in the garden way to late when our neighbour were almost done. As I kept the soil open over the winter it was like one large piece of concrete and so difficult to work with. Luckily, I had my sister helping me and we managed to prepare it in a less than a week which I considered a great achievement. All of our neighbours were cheering on us, but not one of them offered to help us. Anyway, it's been done and my muscle ache is gone too, so all is good in the end.

I've been wanting to write a post for so long, but I didn't know what to say or how to start after such a long time. And then I decided that I will simply start and see how it goes...

So, let's have a look at our garden!

I've been always reserved about planting strawberries as I believed that snails will get to them first and all my work will be wasted. I have received many runners last September from one of our neighbours, and I thought well, let's try it. I prepared the soil, planted the runners and kept watering them for a while to make sure that they root well before winter. Then I forgot about them...

When I came back at the end of March I was surprised to see that all of them survived. They were not in the best condition, but that's something I could fix and so I did. I loosened the soil, removed tons of weeds, placed straw around the plants to keep them clean and look at them! I'm so proud of them! If it all goes well, my first harvest won't be too bad at all. It's been such a dry weather this year, and I thought I would have to water them constantly, but the straw really keeps the soil moist, so I only water them twice a week.

The plants are on the smaller side because I loosened the soil a bit later than I should have, but each of them carries plenty of fruits. I can't wait for them to ripen.

I planted them in the spot where I had potatoes last year, and it looks like I didn't remove them all as today I have noticed a potato volunteer 😊

My favourite plant in the garden is chives. They reseed year after year and my harvest is bigger every time. This is such a versatile herb and I love to use it in the kitchen. Think of chives on buttered toast, tangy pesto, salad garnish, and more.

I pick chives flowers and use them as flower bouquet until I find time to make chives vinegar and dry the flowers to use as seasoning for baked potatoes. If you haven't tried this yet, you must. It's a life changer.

Last year, I had plenty of radishes and recently I have noticed a few volunteers. I didn't want to plant radishes anymore as I thought I was too late, and they prefer colder weather, but I've tried anyway and will see how it goes.

I sowed the seeds three days ago and covered them with straw. When I removed the straw today I saw little seedlings emerging. They are so cute! I uncovered a few snails too, so I brought them to the forest. I believe that all beings deserve to live, but I prefer when they don't feed on my seedlings.

Gooseberries have become my favourite berries. I just struggle with being patient as they look ready already, but it will take them about two more months to become sweet. I love growing them because they are so resistant to pests and diseases making them very low maintenance with great harvest.

I wasn't happy with my raspberries last year, so I gave them a little more love this year and it looks like they liked it. There are tons of flowers on each plant and I only hope for successful pollination.

I might have to cover my red currant bushes because I have noticed that birds started picking them. If they pick them at this stage I wonder what they will do when they will turn red. Let's see if they will leave any to us too.

My elderberry bush has become a tree and I have no idea what to do with so many flowers. I can only make that much syrup, and it makes no sense to leave the flowers on the tree as the birds will eat all the berries. Any culinary ideas?

Strawberry mint is growing like crazy. Yes, I know that they should be planted in containers to contain their growth, but I'm growing them directly in soil for several years and I easily manage to contain them in the area where I want to have them. They make a great ground cover and outperform weeds.

I have a love hate relationship with my lemon balm. I love that it grows into a beautiful bush in summer, but its scent is so strong every time I accidentally touch it.

Oregano is the easiest herb to plant. I have it as a border plant along the garden. You can cut it and use it in the kitchen or you can wait for it to bloom and attract various pollinators. Bees and bumble bees love it!

About two weeks ago I planted green manure and it has sprouted already. This year I chose meadow flowers and I can't wait to see which flowers will it be. I hope to collect some seeds if I like them.

My favourite flower is Love in a mist. It has the prettiest blue/purple/pink/white flowers and if you let them they will reseed and you will have them forever. I let them grow in my garden freely.

Somehow a few Calendula plants got into my green house too. Well, welcome beauty!

When I first saw a foxglove in my garden I was determined to get rid of it as they are invasive spreader. However, I took a deep breath and decided to let my garden live its life and every year I get up to ten flowers which doesn't impact me at all. They are an eye catcher though.

Do you know how you can see that it's been a dry year? My Irises have survived! Usually, they are the first ones devoured by snails, but this year they seem to thrive. Yippie!

My first peony... I can't wait to show you the rest as soon as they open up.

Columbines love the dry spot behind our garden house. In the beginning, I only had the blue variety, but now I have the white, purple and pink ones too.

This is the most fragrant rose in my garden. I will have to take a cutting to plant at the house too.

I love when my neighbours' plants reseed and I got free plants. Look at this Allium. And from next year there will be many more...

And last but not least, this part of the garden is prepared for beans, zucchini, beetroot, sweet potatoes, and some pumpkins. And look at that cute pathway that I made - my husband said that it looks like in the Smurfs village 😊 I choose to take it as a compliment.

Thank you for reading!

Until next time...