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Garden Bloggers Harvest Day for March

Welcome to our third Garden Bloggers Harvest Day this 5th day of March 2012. Our Two Gardens have surprised us again this summer!  We love sharing with you the delights of our gardens on this day each month! Also, having a peek into your veggie patches will inspire and delight! There is so much to grow and enjoy! We can create great meals from our patch of heaven in our gardens! What’s growing in your edible garden?

Let’s see what can be harvested from Barbies Garden this month

Well, I have never enjoyed such a bountiful harvest as I have this month. I picked and picked and picked……. tomatoes and chillis and butternut squash. I have enough to see me through to the next season. I have never been successful with butternut squash and all my fellow Philadelphian veggie gardeners are green with envy because all their squash was stung by something – I could not give then any advice, though, because I did nothing special! Wonder what it is! The leafy greens have delighted and are still producing, regardless of the intense heat! What champs! The herbs are plentiful and keep all my dishes flavourful and colourful. Thank you, my garden – you have done well. This month of March I have cleared the beds for the winter sowing. I will keep you posted on what I plant. Enjoy yours!

[one_half]Bountiful butternut harvest![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Second growth of broccoli[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Mass of mint – I think it is spearmint[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Italian flat leaf parsley – the best![/one_half_last]

[one_half]Red cabbage nearly ready to pick[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Still enjoying the hot chilli[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Figs are nearly over-mine were lovely[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Melt in your mouth sweet and juicy[/one_half_last]

[one_half]What a bumper crop I got![/one_half]

[one_half_last]All the best ingredients for a pasta sauce[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Let’s not forget the sweet basil[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Lots of leafy greens in my garden[/one_half_last]

Not quite ripe yet

[one_half]Love my lemons-patiently waiting[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Guavas are a winter fruit-still awhile to go[/one_half_last]

 

Pick of the Month

Swiss Chard

Swiss Chard – Chard and the other beets are chenopods, a group which is either its own family Chenopodiaceae or a subfamily within the Amaranthaceae. Although the leaves are eaten, it is in the same group and subfamily as beetroot (garden beet), which is usually grown primarily for its edible roots. Chard is also known by its many common names such as Swiss chard, silverbeet, perpetual spinach, spinach beet, crab beet, bright lights (due to the bright and vivid spring colors when they are cooked or provided as a medley of vegetables), seakale beet, and mangold and is one of the cultivated descendants of the sea beet, Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima.

Swiss chard is high in vitamins A, K and C, with a 175 g serving containing 214%, 716%, and 53%, respectively, of the recommended daily value. It is also rich in minerals, dietary fiber and protein.

(Courtesy of wikipedia.org)

Bone health benefits: This high in calcium content dark green leafy vegetable is easy to absorb. Together with vitamin K and magnesium it provides more than six times the daily requirement recommended for your body. As per research, one cup of cooked leaves of Swiss chard helps to support healthy bones and prevent osteoporosis. We all know calcium plays a great role in maintaining our bones but when added with vitamin K1, it helps to prevent excessive action by osteoclasts i.e. the cells which act as a main agent to break down bone. Presence of vitamin K2 helps to anchor the calcium in place.

Act as antioxidants: Swiss chard is a store house of antioxidants along with vitamin K; vitamin C and vitamin A. Antioxidants provide a helping hand to protect the body from the free radicals and harmful toxic substances. As per various researches, antioxidants present in this green leafy vegetable helps to prevent and treat coronary artery disease and various other diseases.

Prevent inflammation: Presence of various vitamin and mineral help to prevent inflammation which has been occurred exterior as well as interior.

Reduces Blood Pressure:  1 cup of cooked leaves of Swiss chard contains a person’s daily recommended content of potassium, which helps to maintain the level of blood sugar. Swiss chard being rich in potassium content helps to reduce the level of blood sugar, especially when it gets replaced by the sodium. On the other hand, Swiss chard contains high amount of fibre content that helps to reduce the level of blood cholesterol.

Maintain proper heart health: Along with various other vitamins and nutrients, Swiss chard stores vitamin K that helps to classify the blood vessels and hardness the arteries. It also helps to maintain clotting of normal blood. Presence of magnesium content helps to deal with various cardiovascular diseases. According to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre, Swiss chard acts as a helping hand to deal with hypertension.

Maintain proper skin health: Swiss chard is good for skin maintenance and skin health. This cousin of spinach helps to boost up skin glow. Presence of vitamin A along with vitamin C plays a great role in the production of collagen, providing skin health and prevention of acne.

Boost up immune system: The immune system gets a boost from Swiss chard. Vitamin A and vitamin C is essential to stimulate and improve the function of body immune system.

Maintain proper eye health: Swiss card feature 110% of the daily requirement of vitamin A content in your diet. Vitamin A content in Swiss chard helps to protect your eyes against macular degeneration and ensures good eye health.

Prevent anaemia: Swiss chard is useful for people suffering for anaemia. Swiss chard has a good source of iron and as per research; iron is always consider for the treatment of anaemia. Presence of iron content is essential to make red blood cells which act as an oxygen carrier. The leafy vegetable also houses B complex vitamins, which helps to cure tiredness and depression.

Recipe

Spinach and Feta Quiche – Barbies own fool proof recipe

Pastry:

1 cup cake flour
50g hard butter cut into small blocks
1/4 cup ice water

Directions: Please flour in food processor and blend in the butter blocks to create a crumbly consistency. Add the ice water and watch the dough ball form. When it is a ball, remove and knead it for at least 1 minute to break the gluten to get a springy, elastic consistency. Wrap in glad wrap and place in fridge for at least 15 minutes. In this time you can prepare the quiche contents and preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Spinach and Feta Quiche:

Collect handfuls Swiss Chard/Spinach from your garden
2 to 3 blocks of feta cheese
3 organic eggs, from your friendly chickens – beaten
1 cup cream

Directions: Clean spinach and add wet to a pot to blanch for 1 minute until wilted. Chop up into small pieces. Chop up the feta cheese into small 10mm blocks. Put to one side as you take out the pastry and roll to fit into a quiche dish, sprinkle flour to your work surface. Once nicely laid out add the spinach and feta cheese evenly. Add the cream to the beaten eggs and pour over the top of spinach and feta. I do not need to add any seasoning, but if you wish now is the time. Back in oven for at least 30 minutes or until it springs back when you touch it and the crust is lightly brown.

Enjoy with a garden salad!

About Garden Bloggers Harvest Day

Please join us on the 5th of every month and show us what you’ve harvested. Whether you have a massive vegetable garden or grow a few herbs in pots or just pick a few peaches from a tree … we’d love to see! Its all about sharing our experiences, photographs, successes and failures as we “learn to grow”.

So prepare a post on your blog about what you harvested this past month, link up to us at The Gardening Blog and then, add your link to the Mr. Linky below so we can all visit your blog and “share in your harvest”. And leave us a comment! We LOVE hearing from you!

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Garden Bloggers Harvest Day January

Welcome to our very first Garden Bloggers Harvest Day this 5th day of January 2012. Our Two Gardens have excited and delighted us this past year and have also produced some incredible edibles!  We want to share with you what comes out of our gardens on this day each month that we can eat and enjoy! Lots of love and care goes into growing fruits and vegetables – so we would love to see what grows in your backyard.

Let’s see what can be harvested from Barbies Garden this month

Growing an edible garden has always been the ultimate plan when I took my first step into the back garden of our new home – veggies and chickens will find a place here. That was nearly 7 years ago and now looking out into my garden, I have realized this dream. What great joy it brings me to dig around in my garden today and pull out a bright red beetroot or a plump potato! Sheer will and stubborn determination got this huge veggie patch of a garden producing a wide range of fruit and vegetables.

Come and see what me and the chicken’s can find in the garden for you …

Ready for the picking …

[one_half]My very first attempt at growing potatoes[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Strawberries – incredibly sweet[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Baby cabbage great for coleslaw and stirfry[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Beautiful green Swiss Chard[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Hot chilli pepper – not sure of type[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Spring onions always welcome[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Beetroot in abundance[/one_half]

[one_half_last]One of the Super Foods![/one_half_last]

[one_half]Runner beans coming to an end[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Sweet Basil always on call[/one_half_last]

Not ripe yet ….

[one_half]My first BIG butternut squash[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Tomatoes taking forever to ripen![/one_half_last]

[one_half]Broccoli nearly there[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Sweet corn ears[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Figs Figs Figs! Can’t wait![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Lemon tree coming back to life![/one_half_last]

That’s all for this month!

About Garden Bloggers Harvest Day

Please join us on the 5th of every month and show us what you’ve harvested. Whether you have a massive vegetable garden or grow a few herbs in pots or just pick a few peaches from a tree … we’d love to see! Its all about sharing our experiences, photographs, successes and failures as we “learn to grow”.

So prepare a post on your blog about what you harvested this past month, link up to us at The Gardening Blog and then, add your link to the Mr. Linky below so we can all visit your blog and “share in your harvest”. And leave us a comment! We LOVE hearing from you!

Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets — Easy-Linky widget will appear right here!
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For best results, use HTML mode to edit this section of the post.

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Bloggers Harvest Day Christine's garden Gardening

My January Harvest

The black chilli

Barbie and I were very excited to start a monthly “Garden Bloggers Harvest Day“. We hunted around and it does not appear that anyone has started one and with the number of Garden Bloggers who blog about their vegetable and herb gardens, we though it might be fun to share. Barbie is a serious “vegetable gardener”. Really, she has all sorts growing … from cabbages to potatoes, fruit trees (peaches, figs, apples etc.), to unusual herbs, she grows them all.

Me? Well I try … I grow lots of things in a “veggie planter” and recently added two half wine-barrels for planting of veggies to extend my efforts, but I haven’t got it quite right yet. Lots of growth and then – not much finds its way to our actual table. But I’m learning … and hope to learn a lot more via hosting the monthly Garden Bloggers Harvest Day. Please join us! Go to Garden Bloggers Harvest Day to add your link!

First, this is the extent of my “Veggie Garden”…

[one_half]My “Veggie Garden”My veggie garden[/one_half]

[one_half_last]One of two new “Veggie Planters”One of two new "Veggie Planters"[/one_half_last]

And then here’s what I’ve harvested this month …
Compared to Barbie’s harvest it’s meagre. I’ve harvested LOTS of lettuce (I grow Cos lettuce). Lasts years harvest was poor – lots of lettuce but it tasted Yuck! Then I read on It’s Not Work, It’s Gardening that planting them too close together was probably the cause. The next batch I planted further apart and its delicious! My biggest “harvest” after lettuce is from the mint plant that is growing like crazy. I have so much that now I supply a local restaurant with Mint for their cocktails and desserts (I “know” the owner – my daughters other half – and he gladly takes all the mint off my hands!!).

Then I successfully grow coriander which we use a lot, we ate a lot of very sweet cherry tomatoes and we have basil, parsley and three types of chillis – Habanero and Jalapeno as well as a black chilli (I forget the name).

[one_half]Sweet Cherry TomatoesSweet Cherry Tomatoes[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Lots of Cos lettuceLots of Cos lettuce[/one_half_last]

[one_half]The three ChillisThe three Chillis[/one_half]

[one_half_last]My meagre “Harvest” todayMy "Harvest" today[/one_half_last]

[one_half]I have plenty of Basil & MintI have plenty of Basil & Mint[/one_half]

[one_half_last]And the black ChilliThe black chilli[/one_half_last]

Happy Gardening
xxx

About Garden Bloggers Harvest Day

Please join us on the 5th of every month and show us what you’ve harvested. Whether you have a massive vegetable garden or grow a few herbs in pots or just pick a few peaches from a tree … we’d love to see! Its all about sharing our experiences, photographs, successes and failures as we “learn to grow”.

So prepare a post on your blog about what you harvested this past month, link up to us at The Gardening Blog and then, add your link to the Mr. Linky on the page at Garden Bloggers Harvest Day so we can all visit your blog and “share in your harvest”. And leave us a comment! We LOVE hearing from you!

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Backgarden joy

I am so enjoying my back garden and the velocity of growth I see every day! It is amazing how everything is springing to action and the veggies are actually looking like something you can eat!! A huge growth from 5 days ago! The herbs are creeping over the patchwork patio and everyday I can pick mint for my lemon tea and thyme for my midday meal. The peaches are  causing havoc on the small peach tree and the quince tree is happy to show off her new fruit! My grass patch is amazingly green and soft like a velvet carpet and my hubby and I fall onto it after a hard days work!

[one_half]Look at my lovely peaches – still small![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Quinces growing too[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Blueberries are budding![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Bees still abound in the borage flowers[/one_half_last]

 

The raised beds are growing nicely – potatoes, beetroot, cabbage, parsley and spinach are looking good. The tomatoes are sadly taking their time and the broccolli will be a while still.

[one_half]The potatoes are monstrous and looking healthy[/one_half]

[one_half_last]The beet root is growing nicely and the greens are delicious[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Assorted lettuces for summer salads[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Lush and bountiful – soon a plate full of home growns[/one_half_last]

 

Loving my garden right now and will post some more photos tomorrow.

 

Happy gardening xxxx

 

 


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Sowing the seeds of love

As you know, I am growing a full vegetable garden this season. I have my 3 huge raised beds to fill and the large veggie patch area I have on the side of my house. I prefer to cultivate my veggies by sowing seeds and through experience, I tend to have a heavy hand when it comes to sowing seeds. I over-sow and end up with a cramped environment where the plants compete for sunlight. This season I am planting in seedling trays. I have usedfour methods -sowing seeds in toilet rolls, in re-used seedling trays (washed of course), open trays and straight into the ground (in the 3 raised beds).

[one_half]Sowing seeds in toilet rolls, cut in half[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Seeds and open seedling trays[/one_half_last]

I started sowing these seeds on the 15th of August and again on the 20th of August – here are the results so far…

[one_half]Each seed tray is named and dated[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Tomato and Basil in the toilet rolls[/one_half_last]

I have planted tomato, potato, basil, spring onions, carrots, swiss chard, cucumber, gem squash, marrow, sunflowers, spinach, assorted lettuces, beetroot, sweet corn and brocolli. The only seeds that have not sprouted is the green pepper and the butternut squash, but will be patient.

[one_half]Sunflower coming through[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Sweet corn shoot[/one_half_last]

I have created a special patch called the “Pumpkin Patch” which I have fenced in. This was the original sheet mulch patch I started at the beginning of winter.  Here I am going to plant a “Three Sisters Guild”.  Here you plant corn well spaced. When the corn sprouts, build the soil around each into a mound. About two weeks later, plant pole beans – 2 or 3 bean seeds near the edge of the mound. At the same time you plant the beans you plant squash or pumpkin that will sprawl over the soil. The beans climb up the corn stalk and will feed the soil nitrogen and the pumpkin will keep the soil moist and cool. I have added sunflowers to this trio – so I will keep you posted on this patch. I have used seeds only in this experimental patch.

Just watching the seeds come to life is a great delight for me. I wish you a happy gardening week!

xxx

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A Veggie Harvest

Vegetable Harvest

Vegetable HarvestWe’ve had a shocking week with all sorts of things going wrong at work and its been extremely stressful. I’ve had barely a moment to look at my garden and even less time to go and do any shopping. I felt a bit like “Old Mother Hubbard” last night when I went to the cupboard and all we had was a single tin of tuna!

Nothing to eat, what to do? We thought about ordering in a pizza when I had a brain wave – what about a Tuna Salad? We have a veggie planter full of all sorts of greens growing and begging to be harvested. So dinner was all freshly picked from our garden and added to a tin of tuna! And it was YUMMY!! A mixture of cos and butter lettuce, a tomato, basil, some chopped chives, a pepper and a bit of parsley sprinkled on top! Very rewarding and cheap too.

[one_half]The Vegetable HarvestVegetable Harvest[/one_half]

[one_half_last]More from the Veggie PlanterVegetable Harvest[/one_half_last]

I’m inspired now to start planting more edibles! What a pleasure to take a basket and go and “pick your dinner”, fresh from the garden.

Happy Gardening!
xxx

 

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Chaos in the veggie planter

Lovely looking spinach

Its not complete chaos but the euphoria of fast growing veggies of two weeks ago is over and has been replaced by fear-of-failure. Not all is hunkey dorey in the veggie planter – my Strawberry plant is looking terrible, covered in what I suspect to be powdery mildew as well as something that looks like ‘burnt leaf ends’. The actual strawberries looks terrible. The cauliflower have been invaded by two different bug types – the first one appeared a week ago which prompted me to use a garlic / soap spray on them which got rid of that batch of critters to be replaced with different ones which took up residence on the cauliflower plants two days later. And that’s just whats happening in the first basin …

Fortunately that is the worst of it – all the rest are doing really well. Some overcrowding happening which I expected as I soon realised I had planted too much in the space I have which I will be sorting out next week as soon as we have he new bed “vegetable bed” ready for planting. (will show before, during and after photos when its done – am having a tree moved to allow more sun into one of my beds so we can convert it to a vegetable bed).

Here is my “Veggie bed photo report” … (click to enlarge)

[one_half]Overall chaosVeggie Planter[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Strawberry plant looking badPoor strawberry plant[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Sad StrawberriesSad Strawberries[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Living on my Cauliflower plantsLiving on the cauliflower[/one_half_last]

[one_half]The good newsPeppers looking good[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Cos lettuce looking goodLovely looking Cos lettuce[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Wonderful spinachLovely looking spinach[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Pretty TomatosLovely tomatos[/one_half_last]

So my question is … what to do with the Strawberry? The cauliflower I am guessing requires more spraying against bugs. I’ll use the home-made garlic / basil / soap spray. The rest … everything looks really great but they need to be separated out so they have more space to grow. Right?

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Update from the Veggie Planter

Cayenne Pepper

The new Vegetable Planter is exactly a week old today and imagine my excitement when I found all sorts of activity! Surely veggie gardening has to be the most rewarding type of gardening? I’ve planted so many things in my garden and waited months or years (and in many cases I’m still waiting!) for something exciting to happen with a plant. But I put a few vegetable seedlings in a few basins and hey presto! one week later I’m eating my own sweet basil, cooking with my own home-grown coriander and watching in total amazement as a chili plant sprouts four new chilis overnight! Yesterday the “Long Red Cayenne Slim” had one new chili sprout and this afternoon when I proudly showed my daughter our Chili Plant with it’s one chili, we were both amazed to see it now has FIVE! That’s four new ones, overnight!

The strawberry plant is making strawberries and the tomato has the beginnings of what look like they are going to be lovely juicy tomatoes! Seriously, does it get more rewarding than this? Its been such a short time and already my sweet basil plants are producing enough leaves for me not to have to buy basil any more – it seems the more I pick the more they produce (sorry Woolies, you’ll have to find something else to sell me now!). And is it my imagination or does ones own “home-grown” really taste better? Our coriander tastes better than any I’ve ever bought!

So here are the photos taken this evening of my new veggies … (click to enlarge)

[one_half]The Tomato PlantThe Tomato Plant[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Lots of Sweet BasilLots of Sweet Basil[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Home-grown ParsleyOur very own Parsley[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Strawberries … Yum!Can't wait to pick them![/one_half_last]

[one_half]Long Red Cayenne PepperCayenne Pepper[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Best Coriander Ever!Best Coriander Ever![/one_half_last]

Thank you Barbie for encouraging me to try this! That very first little Tomato you gave me was the start of all this and I’m loving it (not to mention the amount of money I’ll save which I can now use to buy other plants!)

xxx

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My new Vegetable Garden

Veggie Planted completed

Veggie Planted completedI have set up the new veggie planter, purchased seedlings from the nursery, studied up on companion planting to see which of the seedlings will grow well together and then lovingly planted all the new herb and vegetable seedlings. With the new vegetable planter it has been incredibly easy to do and surprisingly, it was lots of fun! Now it’s time to sit back, give the plants a good daily watering and lots of TLC and then see what happens. As this is my first foray into vegetable gardening I’m excited but also just a little sceptical. Can I do actually do this? Time will tell …

I thought you might be interested in what I’ve planted. As I have negative experiences with planting from seed in the past, I decided my first attempt at vegetable gardening should be planting from seedlings (“Instant gratification” is what I was really going for here. We’ll leave the seed planting for a time when I am a little more experienced with this).

So here is what I’ve planted in the basins: (see photos below)

[one_half]Basin number One: In the first basin (Far left), I have a Strawberry plant which is a fair size and already flowering. I couldn’t resist, it was such a pretty plant and we love Strawberries. I’ve planted cauliflower (bonny hybrid) and one rocket lettuce plant in there as well. Cauliflower is supposed to work well with Strawberries. I bought the little Bumble Bee as a “scare crow”, so that the birds don’t come and eat the strawberries (wishful thinking!)[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Basin Number Two: In the second basin (Centre Left), I’ve planted two chili plants. The first is called “Long Red Cayenne Slim”. Its supposed to be very hot with green to red fruit. The second Chili plant is called Golden Habanero. Together with the two chillis we’ve planted parsley (type: Big Ben moss curled) and three little seedlings that lost their label. (I think they are lettuce but am not 100% sure. They look like lettuce).[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Basin Number Three: In the third basin (Centre Right), I’ve planted at the back, Oregano (Rosenkuppel), a Sweet Pepper star yellow, a few Cherry Tomatoes and Sweet Basil (because I already know Tomatos go well with Sweet Basil).[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Basin Number Four: In the fourth basin (Far Right), I’ve planted at the back: Lemon Grass (which Stefani uses a lot in her Thai cooking) and Coriander (which we use a lot). In the front: lettuce (green Cos) and spinach (bright lights).[/one_half_last]

As usual, I bought too many plants, so some extras still need to be planted out into the garden. These include Rosemary and Garlic Chives and a few cherry tomato plants I didn’t have space for. I planted them in the bed with the existing Sweet Basil and Tomato Plant (which are both thriving!) If I’d know vegetables grow so quickly … I might have started this a long time ago!

Costs involved:
I’ve worked out that the amount of money I spend buying Sweet Basil and Parsley alone from Woolies in a period of one year, pays for all the seedlings, potting soil and the vegetable planter I bought! So as long as the sweet basil and parsley reward me with usable leaves, we’ve broken even. Any additional crops I harvest from my new little Vegetable Garden will be a bonus! And how wonderful that I won’t be wasting left-overs anymore. I really hated throwing away what we didn’t use every week because it was no longer fresh. So that alone will make me happy and if it tastes better than store bought I’ll be ecstatic.

If this works we’ll progress on to growing cucumbers, onions, potatoes and who knows what else … but for that we will allocate a bed in the garden. I already have my eye on one!

Photographs of the individual Basins:

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What was in the box?

The new veggie planter

[one_half]Unpacked and in placeThe new veggie planter[/one_half]

[one_half_last]”Irrigation system”The new veggie planter[/one_half_last]

I didn’t make it to the nursery today – too many things going on at work – but we did manage to unpack the box and set up the new veggie planter. So what was in the box?

  • the wooden box
  • 4 plastic ‘baskets’ with drainage holes (for planting)
  • 3 irrigation stems
  • irrigation pipe
  • irrigation timer
  • some hose fittings
  • batteries
  • some very basic (read: stupid) instructions

I had someone help me unpack the big parcel, we carried the wooden box to its intended “spot” and then I tried to set up the irrigation pipes and stems. Well, clearly I am way too stupid for this because I had to get my daughter to help me. I felt a bit better when she agreed that the instructions were inadequate and we had it all set up by pushing, pulling and forcing! The baskets are in, now all that’s left to do is to connect the irrigation timer and connect it to the water. Then I need to populate it with vegetables and herbs … which I will buy tomorrow and plant over the weekend.

Oh, and anyone that knows me well will know that I’m not a huge fan of the very rustic look so this wooden box will be getting a lick of paint one of these days. I’m thinking white but maybe french blue although that would clash terribly with the green plastic baskets.  I’m wondering if I can find white baskets in the exact same size…

PS: In fairness to the “stupid instructions”, I am not the most patient of people and I expect things to slot into place quickly and easily (like Lego!). Truth be told, the whole set up took about 15 minutes, so maybe the instructions are not that bad after all.

Happy gardening
xxx

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