Elemental circle – thegreenerdream

High Summer on the land

October 25, 2020October 25, 2020mariamayfleming

We usually write a post at the start of each month, summarizing what has happen on the land and sharing a few pictures. Our camera gave up the ghost sometime in June and since then we have been using a phone for taking photos. Unfortunately there have been a lot of hiccups with uploading them to any posts and we have had to try to work around this problem. That is the biggest reason we did not post much in the last couple of months. We have hopefully found a system that works now and will post on a more regular basis.

In July and August the land was very generous and the seeds we planted in spring grew and supplied us with a bountiful harvest. All our perennial plants have also been great and we had more berries than any other year. This year we have also spent a lot of time harvesting herbs and other plants for drying and using in mixes for teas. We wrote a post recently with a few of our favourite mixes and their benefits.

Around our main circle we have admired and cherished all the colours, smells and sounds. As you probably all agree this year has been very different from most and the land has supported and nurtured us through these unchartered times and kept us from falling into despair. What can be more calming and reassuring than resting your senses in nature.

We never got the chance to finish writing this post earlier as uploading the photos kept on being a problem but now we have worked around it and wish to share these pictures of sunnier days with you. It was a glorious summer despite the strange circumstances.

Please feel free to share some photos from your special summer in the comments if you like.

Something old, something new something borrowed and something blue.

February 7, 2020April 5, 2020mariamayfleming

We are a week into February and more than a few flowers are starting to push their heads up, turning towards the sun. It is time to do our usual monthly summary and January was a month with quite a few days of sunshine when we managed to tidy up some of our spaces, mulch, plant wildflower seeds and harvest some lovely vegetables.

Honouring the elements.

January 27, 2020mariamayfleming

The garden is starting to wake up to another year of immense activity. At this time of year, when most plants are in a stage of rest it is easy to see the underlying design. We would like to talk about a special aspect of the land that has given us and many visitors a sense of joy and belonging throughout all the seasons over the last few years.

August harvest.

September 4, 2018November 20, 2018mariamayfleming

August has been another busy month on the land. There are so many things to harvest and process so that they will keep for the coming months. One unusual and tasty vegetable is the strawberry spinach, Chenopodium capitatum, which we grew from seeds in the spring. The red “berries” taste sweet and fresh in salads and the leaves are good in stir-fries.

Unicorn frills.

August 8, 2018mariamayfleming

July was certainly a busy month on the land. We worked quite hard for the first half of the month, weeding, pruning and generally preparing our garden for the open garden weekend on the 14^th and 15^th. The weather was very warm and dry, right up to the open days, when the rain and wind created a somewhat dampened but very pleasant event. We made some new friends and caught up with old ones.

For the second half of the month the weather has been changeable and we have not spent a lot of time in the garden, apart from when harvesting vegetables. Our cabbages have grown exceptionally well this year, along with our courgettes and raspberries.

A spring clean for the May queen.

June 3, 2017June 11, 2017mariamayfleming

Another beautiful month has come to an end in our garden. Most of it has been spent clearing the vegetable beds, weeding and strimming the grass.

Reflections on August.

September 9, 2016September 29, 2016mariamayfleming

As we are writing this the rain is streaming down the window and when we look back at the month of August we realize that we have had many days like today recently.

Our tomatoes that started off so promising have succumbed to the damp and are blackened by blight. Next year we will try to grow them in our new conservatory or maybe if we are lucky our planned poly-tunnel.

A berry nice month.

August 7, 2016September 29, 2016mariamayfleming

We are almost a week into August and it is time to sum up a very fruitful month in the garden. July brought quite a lot of rain but also some sunshine and our berries thrived. Ripening this past month were blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries, worcesterberries and a cross called jostaberries.

A lick of paint in June.

July 2, 2016September 29, 2016mariamayfleming

Because half of our family comes from Sweden, we decided to add some decorative touches to our porch. In Sweden many old houses have what is known as “snickarglädje”. You could translate it into the Carpenter’s delight. It is seen around windows, porches and doors on many old houses. We choose a simple variation with a wavy edge created with the jigsaw and drilled big round holes. It was very easy to make from some rough sawn 4” by 1” planks. Many buildings in Sweden and other Nordic countries have much more elaborate designs.

Wildlife watch in May.

June 3, 2016September 29, 2016mariamayfleming

We are entering our fourth summer season on our land and it is fascinating to see how a balance is starting to form with all the plants, fungi, microorganisms and animals working together. The first couple of years we had thousands and thousands of slugs but now our newt and frog population has grown so much, the slugs are much less in numbers.