Thursday, April 24, 2008


Gardening in the Slow Lane....

Or else they simply go to seed........

One thing Husband and I are finding is that it's easy to be mindful of what you are doing, because everything gets accomplished so slowly that you can just put your whole heart and soul into it, and time stretches on and on until it's lunch time, and you think "What a pleasant morning".

Be that as it may we have been messing about in the garden most of the week, and this is what we have accomplished.....

Monday we did some outdoor painting , Two bistro chairs, half a wicker high backed seat, a table and the nice structure husband put together to accommodate the climbing roses and whatever annual vines we plant to hurry along the visioned picture. At 84 one does not plant exclusively for far into the future - immediate gratification is more realistic.

Tuesday we picked rock and loaded up an old freezer and a variety of metal cast-offs to make room for backyard garden plans. Late in the morning I went to pick up a piece of rhubarb root so kindly offered by a friend. While there I admired her friendly accommodations for the neighbourhood birds, and vowed to come home and create a lovely little spot in the garden incorporating her design for bird bath, feeding stations and a couple of green lounging spots in nearby trees.

Here are the three hens and the 'rooster that has come into his own' that share the overflow around the feeding station early in the morning, scratching now in the green orchard grass.


Wednesday Husband went singing and I went out for Lunch with the Ladies.

Today we planted the rhubarb, put the water on the garden and cleared a little strip along the bank by the trailer cum loom room to make a spot for a length of embedded flower seeds in an eight foot length of bio degradable tape. (Which I bought at the Bargain Centre for 50 cents and which I can see being a bright light in the back garden achieved at practically no labour cost. Important aspect of any slow lane gardening venture.)


Nice rhubarb, - looks quite healthy and virile.

What will we do tomorrow?

Oh, we have a long list. and we can choose at our leisure. Whatever we do spring will surely keep up with us. Here are some of the exciting things that are happening in the garden.....

The perennial alyssum that found its way from the garden to the side of the house is now in bloom.


A bevy of spring bulbs - the rich blue of the grape hyacinth making a beautiful foil for the narcissus, the half opened tulip and the red maple buds.



In just a few days it will be apple blossom time, and their sweet fragrance will join the cherries and the peach blossoms in celebrating the season.

Life is good, and satisfying, and there are a myriad of wonderful and mysterious things to see if you amble along in the Slow Lane.