My Kingdom For A Fork
I have discovered that owning land, no matter how small a plot of land it is, is not as simple as just signing the missives (how is that for a bit of link love?), stabbing a flag pole bird feeder into the earth and staking one's claim. I have also discovered that when you view a property, the perception you walk away with can be somewhat different from reality.
For instance, @ was positive that we had a cupboard under the stairs as well as in the kitchen. He was planning ways to turn this cupboard under the stairs into a fabulous cloakroom with hooks and shelves and a little light. I was unable to recall the cupboard under the stairs in the hall but couldn't totally refute his thinking because my memory of the hall had a big fuzzy blank spot on that particular wall.
It turns out that there is only a cupboard under the stairs in the kitchen for us to try not to use as a throw-it-in-there-just-for-today cupboard.
Another warped perception I had was my memory of the garden. When we arrived here on moving day I was somewhat stunned by the sheer size of the plot. My memory only accounted for around two thirds of what we actually have. To put it another way, I had gone home and decided we wouldn't have room for a greenhouse or a bigger shed - when in fact the new shed is ordered (and bigger) and the greenhouse is back on the wish list.
Our garden really isn't the largest garden in the world, but for now I'm rather glad we didn't go the route of a croft in the highlands because the thought of organising, taming and weeding something that size now terrifies me.
I did some weeding last week. There's plenty more to do. And because I am concentrating on the back garden, the front garden is starting to edge towards one of those gardens where the weeds are dusty and children tell stories about the wicked old witch who lives there. Thankfully I don't have a pair of grey net curtains to complete the look.
The thing is I don't have a plan for the front garden, I don't even have a plan for the back garden, and basically I have no idea what I am doing. This is sort of a self put-down... I have a little knowledge and I can read the back of a seed packet... or I can follow a great blog about growing vegetables 
but sometimes I stand in the earth with a sweaty brow and survey the large space around the small space I have decided to concentrate on and I get a little anxious.
I've managed to get over the emotional rollercoaster of plucking weeds - weeds are green things that I can't identify that are growing where I don't want them to be, but they aren't bad people really. I'm conflicted about the daisies though - I just don't want to mow them down in the middle of their blooming glory.
So far all the wisdom I've read suggests digging over the plot in November, but we didn't have the plot in November... but I am digging it over anayway and I have to say I am not someone who is going to get it all done in one day, or even seven... but I'm itching to get some plants in there and see what comes of the experiment.
I am having conniptions about the amount of chuckies the previous owner decided to spray everywhere tho. They are impossible to remove once they have been trampled into perfectly good soil 
Things I am anticipating the arrival of:
- Compost bin
- Green cone
- New shed
- Energy to finish the digging
Things on my wish list:
- Greenhouse
- Groovy fire pit/table thing I spotted
- Gooseberry bushes
- Hammock
- Hedgepigs
- Foxes
- Lions and tigers and bears, oh my.
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Tags: garden, gardening, moving house, perceptions, weeds
Posted on April 25, 2009 in Green Fingers.
Every Bean Counts
Wait til I post my ‘before’ shot of my back garden! It will make your garden seem like a walk in the…um… park!
Genie Sea’s last blog post..Anniversary Giveaway!