About My Tiny Welsh Garden

This is my gardening journal; a way of reminding myself of the pleasure and pain of raising (or not) plants and vegetables. Not imposing myself on nature but working with what’s available. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

I’m attempting to grow vegetables in a small space. A very small space – a patio garden two-thirds of the way up a (smallish) mountain in North East Wales, a raised bed in a new (2019) Community Garden reclaiming land from a disused sand and gravel quarry and, from March 2020 a small lean-to greenhouse purpose built to my own design.

The growing area at home is only 52 square feet, plus any pots and tubs. One raised bed in full sun for most of the day; the other is in shade until mid afternoon. We are 208 metres above sea level, therefore anything I grow is usually two to three weeks behind anyone in “The South”. And it rains – a lot
The Community Garden bed is approximately 15 feet by 4 feet. I’ll be writing about this new venture – and adventure – under The Allotment Diaries menu tag.

UPDATE: March 2020 onwards

Due to the current Covid19 cononavirus pandemic, we were in lockdown until July. Essential journeys only and exercise to be taken without driving, so the allotment was temporarily on hold.

But this is what it looked like in May 2020 (taken by someone who can walk there).

History

This story began in March 2018, when we finally got around to having one of our 107 year-old boundary walls rebuilt.

It’s not a large garden. At the front of the house is a path, a raised border where peonies, astilbes and iris are the main event, interspersed with delicate grasses, spring bulbs, and anything else I can cram into it.

To the side is a drive with garage behind it. Along the drive is another raised bed containing fuchsia, lavender and sedum Autumn Joy.

At the back, we have a paved courtyard of patterned concrete resembling brick paving. With the demolition of the old wall and its rebuilding, I suddenly had a large empty space to fill. And lots of bricks lying around . . . and a builder on hand!

“Ben . . . will you build me two raised flowerbeds please?”

So he did. All I had to do then was to plant a vegetable garden – starting in one of the coldest winter/spring since 1962/63 followed by a heatwave to rival 1976.

Fast Forward to July 2019 . . .

when I became the proud ‘owner’ (renter?) of a 16 feet x 4 feet raised bed in a Community Garden project, for which I had big plans.

More space to grow things/more things to go wrong! But I didn’t expect a global pandemic to scupper my first growing season.

This blog documents my successes and failures, triumphs and disasters. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next. Come along for the ride.