Vegetables on the terrace

The weather is warmer, the days are longer and all of sudden Adam and I have the urge to garden. I’ve been picking flowers from our little patch of green for a good few weeks now. I enjoy wandering around spotting what’s coming to life and picking out what species I recognise. It feels like every time I go for a look something new has started to flower, or a plant I didn’t notice during the winter is suddenly bursting with new leaves.

While Adam appreciates having fresh flowers in the house, it’s the practical plants that get his heart racing. We picked up some pots of fresh herbs, specifically rosemary, mint and thyme, when we did the grocery shopping last week and they’re now sitting proudly at the window that’s in front of our kitchen sink.

When we moved into our home back in December, we decided we wanted to grow a few bits and pieces, when the weather turned warmer. Although the main part of the house has been sorted and functioning as a ‘home’ for months, now that we’re able to garden, it feels like we’re truly settled in to our life in England.

Adam, who’s got a lot more experience than me in growing fruit and vegetables, did most of the planning for our ‘spring crop’. We settled on potatoes, onions, peas, carrots and salad leaves.

We took a trip out to a big garden centre near Worcester earlier this week and came home with packets of seeds, bags of soil, plastic planter tubs and a big watering can. We’ve set aside a small area on a shared terrace with our neighbours and spent a sunny afternoon planting our seeds and burying sprouting potatoes and onions in rich dark soil.

Although I hate the inevitable under-the-fingernail-scrub afterwards, there’s something deeply satisfying about getting your hands into a big tub of potting mix.

It doesn’t look like much at the minute, but hopefully within a few weeks we’ll start to see some seedlings emerge. Adam’s designing a trellis for the peas and we’ve got some mesh netting ready to go, to ensure our tender little plants don’t get attacked by birds.

I think if we’re successful with our own little garden, we might even try helping out at the family allotment.

We also took the opportunity to pot the spider plant, Adam’s grandmother kindly gifted to me back in January. After a few months of sitting in water, the plant had developed good strong roots and we were able to divide it into three. There’s now a spider plant in our kitchen, in the lounge room and in our office. They’re a lovely reminder of ‘Granny’ and I smile to myself each time I pass one.