Small bursts of inspiration

I’ve been sitting at my computer marking time, waiting for the weather to clear so that I can head back up to the allotment for yet more digging. Idly exploring various news sites I’ve come across a couple of articles that gave me little bursts of inspiration. I love those moments when you read something that makes you think “I might be able to do that”. In the hope that some of you might find them interesting too, I thought I’d bung them in a short post before pulling on my now filthy gardening trousers and chasing the elusive sun to the allotment.

Photographing Frost

Graham Turner is a photographer for The Guardian newspaper. He has written a little piece about how to make the most of frost in photography – “Stillness and light: How to capture frost on film”. Most of it you will already know, but I loved his tip on looking for a source of colour to contrast with the monochrome shades, although persuading my OH to come out for a walk wearing red just so that I can take pictures is doomed to failure…

Growing Veg with Ornamentals

Anna Pavord writes regularly for The Independent newspaper. Her latest article talks about using this time of year to do a little planning about what to grow where, and encourages us to think about mixing edible plants in and amongst ornamentals and vice versa. The article is called “A fresh start: It’s time to work out what’s really possible in your garden and get planting”. I was already thinking along these lines, but it has encourage me to plan a tunnel between two beds planted with runner and French beans up at the allotment, something I had been going to leave until next year.

The sun is out, the ground is drying, so I am off to put blisters on my blisters doing more digging…

14 Comments


  1. Hi,

    Good luck with your digging, I haven’t made any sort of attempt to dig in months now… Ground has been frozen since late November the last time I checked – plus, I’m too lazy!

    I recently bought Carol Klein’s make your own garden book, which explains how to propogate and now I’m inspired to have a go (RHS book, although comprehensive was somewhat confusing and scary!) the only problem is, nothing’s growing! Oh and I don’t have a green house, or nice ceramic pots, or grit… ha ha. So I can understand your inspiration to have a go!


    1. Hi Liz. I am really fortunate, the soil is staying very workable up there. I have Carol Klein’s book too, though happily I also have a greenhouse and grit. No nice pots though! I like Carol, she tends to make her own modules from cardboard and plastic food containers. Good luck with the propagating – I still fail to keep cuttings alive unless they are rosemary or fuchsia…


  2. ‘blisters on my blisters’, I think that’s my new favourite saying!


    1. A fellow allotment holder was most impressed by my blisters!


  3. Bet you’re cultivating some fine upper arm muscles from all that digging.

    I enjoyed the article on growing veg with ornamentals … as I’ve been pondering which flowers and ornamentals to grow with my veg.

    I like the idea of you bean tunnel – beautiful and tasty too.

    Hope the sun stayed out for you for a while today.


    1. Hi Ferris, the sun remained and yes, I begin to feel muscles developing amongst all the post Christmas flab! Much more fun than the gym…


    1. I think that should become my motto!


  4. I love your enthusiasm!! I think the feeling of being really tired and dirty but blissfully happy from working in the garden after waiting inside all winter, is one of my favorites. Happy planting!!


    1. Its a wonderful feeling, isn’t it!


  5. Thanks for links Janet ~ especially enjoyed the photography article. I think that a new edition of Anna Pavord’s kitchen garden book is due out later this year. Hope that you have not sustained more blisters in your digging marathon.


    1. Glad you enjoyed the articles. I’ll look out for Anna’s book, I like the way she writes.


  6. Oh I thought of you today

    Read something in a hort research thing about lettuce being the best companion crop around cabbages to stop cabbage root fly. You plant 4 lettuces at the base of a cabbage to confuse the cabbage root fly and deter their eggs and also get a nice crop of lettuces.

    Now how pretty would that be – I’ll dig out the reference when unsnowed in and back in the office.


    1. What a great tip! I’ll just have to try that, if only because it will look so lovely…

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