A Transplanted Gardener: Summer at last

Summer in England is wonderful, so far. No humidity to speak of, its June and the temperature today is 64 degrees F and there is a steady cool breeze. The sun is bright and the sky is filled with puffy white clouds. Not a lot to complain about. What a difference from New Orleans where its hot, humid and the temps are in the 90's.

I have more day light hours now to work in the garden as it doesn't get dark until 10 pm, my favorite part of summer in England. In the back I've finished building my wall, one section of the garden is tiered, one trellised arch is up, the cherry tree is planted, and my fruit bushes/vines are down. In the tiered walled section I've planted tomatoes, bell pepper, leek and spinach. I have lots more room so when Martin puts up our trellis at the front end I will put in the rest of the spinach, more bell pepper, green onion (spring onion), a row of basil and broccoli.

In the front yard, 1/2 of (what I call) death valley has been dug and the zucchini (courgette) and butternut squash is planted.

We picked up 4 stone trench style planters that need a good cleaning and a coat of paint. We've also managed to find a good amount of top soil. The soil is compliments of Colin and Sarah who are making some changes in their rear garden as well. Thanks loads Colin and Sarah!

I have so many projects going for this summer that I need to keep a running list what I want to get done and in what order. I'm trying to stay on a schedule, even if its a loose one. Since I'm not going home until May of 2009 I have time to dig in.

I'm posting the picture of my pine cabinet that I refinished a couple of months ago along with a couple of shots of my wall I'm so proud of.

On a sunny spring morning the front garden with blue bells, purple and white osteospernums, purple alpine, and red and yellow primulas. Martin's fuschia is just starting to leaf out.