Farm Report

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There is work going on in my front garden. I was going to post when it is all done. But it is dragging out, as work does. So let me tell you about everything else.

As you can see, the roses are doing great. I have no idea how or why, but I am grateful that they are so happy. I see a summer of deadheading in my future, but I’ll be standing in the midst of a dozen David Austin rose bushes. The scent will be wonderful. I’ll be fine.

Fruit. We have flowers and fruit. Julien and I went to buy plants for my soon to be reconstituted Wild Wood. It was cold and they had citrus trees flowering in the sales room. Of course I got one, a Meyer lemon, just for the flowers and the scent. But look at this. I am actually going to get some lemons out of the deal. There must be half a dozen or more on this little tree. I’ll send them home with Julien, whose wife is an actual chef, in hopes of getting a lemon tart in return. Or maybe I can get my friend Roger to cook up something, then photograph it.

My little tree will grow. In a few years I will need an orangerie. I’d better start saving up because I think I want some more of these.

My sad little shot of baby lemons will have to stand in for the rest of the orchard. We had a late frost that nearly killed the pomegranate and fig trees. Fortunately they are recovering. The cherries and apples are coming through, though. Maybe the birds will save some for me. It will have to do for the kitchen garden as well, which right now just looks like rotting straw. But no need for despair. Potatoes are in the ground. The radishes are sprouting. Tomatoes and the rest are off in Julien’s polytunnel, doing whatever they need to do to get big and strong and duke it out with the mice and slugs. Summer is on its way.

15 thoughts on “Farm Report”

  1. Your roses are super. If you find yourself anywhere near the Midlands of the UK, go and visit David Austin Roses Nursery in Albrighton, near Wolverhampton. It’s one of the most beautiful rose gardens in the world and you can buy plants there (not sure how you’d get them home, though!).

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    1. Thank you. Yes, the grounds look amazing on the web site. I ordered these online, which you can’t do any more, thank you Brexit. Fortunately I have my full quota of roses. There is room for just one more, named after a sort-of neighbor, William Christie. In January, bare-root season, I’ll put that in place.

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    1. Nice. I’ll check it out. I’ve been looking at a local place: https://www.serres-lams.com/serres-de-jardin-en-verre-natura/2977-serre-de-jardin-en-verre-trempe-allium-730-m-lams-aluminium.html

      There are so many options and qualities of construction. Right now my plan is to finish the front garden and take a bit of a breather. Maybe a long breather. I want something I can put at the end of the kitchen garden, maybe something big enough to require at least a minimal permit. Julien is on my case about it — Workers can get pretty uppity, can’t they? So it won’t go away. What I have in mind will be nice, with a low wall and all. Research is needed. But I’d also like to upgrade my piano, so I don’t know. But sooner rather than later, for sure.

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  3. You make me nostalgic for the roses I had when in France…not David Austen, but old varieties….the coach house covered in Kiftsgate , Rambling Rector on the poultry houses, Albertine on the terrace wall….
    Go for that orangery…but check its ventilation and shading. It will save you from a hernia moving pots in and out in spring and autumn.

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    1. I love some of the old varieties. I had them on my house in Los Angeles. Apart from Mme. Alfred Carrière I don’t remember what they were, of course. “Roses of Yesterday and Today” would send out this most wonderful catalog.

      We are having summer weather right now, very warm. When you are on the front steps the scent is amazing, this deep, classic perfume-type rose scent. i have white climbing roses on the wall at the street, where the guys are working. They have a lighter, spicier smell. I notice the guys are not moving far from that wall, if they don’t have to. I can’t say I blame them.

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        1. It’s the best. I had it out in a rocky spot with almost no water. Back then I never pruned anything. It just grew and flowered every single year.

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