A simple way to water sprawling cucurbits

Once your cucurbits (pumpkins/squash/courgettes) get growing, they can sprawl all over the place. When it comes to watering them though, you only need to water near the root of the plant. Watering along the sprawled stems and fruit won't actually do anything.

I use plastic bottles to make it easier for the water to go directly to the roots. Below are some bottles where I've taken the label off.

Remove the caps, then cut them roughly two thirds of the way along the bottle.

You end up with two pieces. On the left is the section that you'll be using for the cucurbits. On the right you could cut a couple of holes in the bottom and use these as pots to sow seedlings into.

You then want to dig a small hole next to the root ball of your plant. Not too deep, c. 10 cms. Basically, one-third of the plastic bottle (the thin end) should be embedded into the ground.

This shows that the plastic is in place, with the soil pushed hard up around it to keep it in place.

You can now easily water the roots of the plant via the plastic bottle access.

Here you can hopefully see that I've put in a plastic bottle next to each of the three plants, two pumpkins and a courgette.

Ideally, do this when you plant out your cucurbits, but as I did, you can do it a bit later. Just don't leave it too long, as you don't want to disturb the roots too much.

It's kind of less of an issue in a small garden when you are only growing a few plants, though even then, I've found it means I water more carefully. In a large garden or on an allotment site, this makes it easier to see the where to water.


P.S. I cannot claim that this was my idea originally, but I wanted to share how I do this, with pictures, to show people the steps.

New veg beds - aka finally making a decision on the final layout of my kitchen garden

The kitchen garden?

Not an inspiring photograph, is it? I mean, yes, you can see my slowly developing Forest Garden Border around the edges (the blueberries are nearly ready!), and some raised beds with garlic. But the lawn dominates. However, not for much longer.

I've always intended that this area of the garden would become my kitchen garden, as it gets the most sun all year around. I just hadn't been able to make a decision about the design layout. I've played around with a number of layouts over the last few months, and I've finally came to one that I both liked, and that I felt maximised the use of the space. And here's the plan:

Base map: showing the shape of the design clearly

I view it as a geometrically-shaped flower.

The design has been very carefully measured a few times, and I'm certain that it will work. And I must thank Andrea, my gardener, who helped me with the final measuring out and design tweeks.

 Final design with all the careful measurements

Once again, I'm going with straight lines. That's because straight lines are so much cheaper to build. I plan on adding some plants, such as creeping Thyme, along the paths, as well as some other low growing herbs and ornamental plants, which over time will help break up the lines.

The beds will be made sleepers again and will also be two levels high. As I've mentioned before, I have acid soil, so I need to build the soil level up with alkaline/neutral compost if I want to grow vegetables. For the paths, we will be putting down a permeable membrane, and will then add purple shale on top. I've used this method in the past and I know it works well and looks good. 

The obelisk sitting in the middle of another raised bed during last winter.

I'll be moving my Obelisk from it's temporary position (above) to the centre kitchen garden bed, which will add some height and year round interest. And of course, it will be good for growing climbing french beans and peas, with cut flowers, including sweet peas, on alternate years.

The landscapers will be here next week! And I've just ordered the nearly 5 tonnes of compost to fill the beds. So it's all go for my new kitchen garden borders.

Creating a mini forest garden border

For some years I've been enamoured of the idea to create a forest garden, an edible and fairly low maintenance way to grow food. It's only with this garden that I realised that I had the right conditions to finally create my own mini forest garden border.

Martin Crawford's book (right) is the seminal text for learning about forest gardening, and it was a rare occasion where I read a gardening book from cover to cover. It just has so much information that was written in a straight forward tone, following each step of the process, and offering a large range of suggestions of what plants can be grown in each layer that will suit a range of climates.

My intention here is to show you how you can use the principles of creating a forest garden on a small urban garden scale. I aim to create a space that offers food for myself and for pollinators, that works within my health limitations (I have the chronic illness, ME), and that adds beauty to my small garden, whilst also being low maintenance.

The space that will become my Forest Garden Border

First up, I measured out the space and plotted this onto a base map, including the direction of North. I had previously done a soil test so I knew that my soil is acid clay. Apart from digging the holes for plants, I use the no-dig method. I plan on adding compost and mulch each time a key plant is planted, and will continue to add some each autumn to the whole border and I'll let the worms do the work to loosen up the soil, and release the nutrients that are locked up in clay soil.

I had spent a few months surveying the space and the way light and shadow moved across it and added a sun map on top of the base map. The border has one south-facing side and one west facing side and the arrows show how the sun moves across the garden during the day, moving from the top arrow, down. Plotting this and the base may measurements out was important for helping me decide how many trees, and what type, I could include in my design.

For example, the Amelanchier, which is shown on the Sun Map, is in a raised border off to the right. Though it will cast a small amount of shade a certain times of day when in leaf, because of it's height, and the height of the sun from April to September, this will be quite minimal and won't impact on the amount of light plants like the rhubarb and apple trees will get. And in winter it's deciduous so the forest garden border will benefit from all light available during this period. The greengage is in the South-West corner, and won't be casting an shade at all on the plants below as the sun is always moving in front of it. I do need to ensure I keep it pruned so that it doesn't get to big and block a neighbour's garden though.

Now we come to the layout map. Here I have plotted out all the key plants, A - N, and worked out their ultimate size and placed each onto the map. The ground cover plants will be slotted in here and there as space allows.

See the full list of plants below

Drawing circles is not my strong point(!). But I've been able to map out the maximum size of each plant so I'm clear what can fit in. It will still look a little bare for the first couple of years whilst the plants start filling out, so I'll have to be strong and not add any more, only to have to remove them later because the other plants have grown to their full width and height.

A forest garden has 3 layers, though I've broken them down below into 4 (separating out the Perennial and Ground Cover layers), as I found this more helpful for my planning.

Tree canopy layer: This includes small as well as large trees. These are A, H and N on my plan, a greengage and two apple trees.There is also the Amlanchier tree off to the right of the actual border, that I consider a part of my forest garden. Whilst it looks like they will be crowding the plants next to them, they won't because they will all have trunks with the first branches growing above the plants below in the Shrub and Perennial layers.

Shrub layer: Because my soil is acid clay, it made sense to add in fruit that grows well in acid soil. So cranberry and blueberries have been chosen. One of the blueberry varieties, Hortblue Petite, crops at least twice a year, and it is a nectar source for bees and other beneficial insects.

Perennial layer: This is going to be a mix of edible plants, such as the sorrel and rhubarb, and plants for pollinators, such as the comfrey. The comfrey is the 'Bocking 14' variety, which doesn't self seed. Comfrey, with it's deep roots, is an excellent nutrient and mineral accumulating plant, particularly of potassium. If you plant comfrey near fruiting trees and shrubs, they benefit from the minerals the comfrey has accumulated. This is why the two comfrey plants are on either side of the greengage tree and not far from the cranberry and blueberries. Comfrey leaves can also be used as a mulch, and of course, to make comfrey liquid feed.

Ground level layer: This is also a mix of edibles, such as the sweet violets, strawberries and ramsons, and plants for pollinators. Eventually there should be no bare soil showing, which should limit annual weeds from germinating.

Two Blueberries and some violas waiting to be planted out into the Forest Garden Border

I want the border to be low maintenance, in particular because I have so little energy to undertake tasks in the garden. The main maintenance tasks will be pruning the fruit trees, summer for the greengage, winter for the apple trees, and cutting back dead foliage of the perennials in early spring. At this stage the soil is mostly bare, so there may be some weeding required, but hopefully the ground cover plants will do their job and make weeding minimal in the future.

I took time in planning the border. This is in part because of my health, but mainly because good permaculture practice is to take time to observe the space, ideally over a year. This helps you spot issues that might not show to start with. Although my garden is relatively flat, careful observation showed me that this part of the garden is the highest, but another area is lower and I discovered it could be prone to some flooding, mainly water sitting on top of the soil/grass. Water flows from the Forest Garden Border area down, so hopefully as mulching over time loosens the soil, it will also drain better so it doesn't all flow down to the lower part of the garden.

It was also important to really think through what I wanted to grow and why. Each plant I've chosen suits my taste, skill, and health limitations, and is also suitable for the space where I'm creating the Forest Garden Border. I'll continue to observe how the border grows, and adapt, if needed, over time. For now, I'm excited to put the plan into action; I'll finally have my own (mini) Forest Garden Border!

Andrea, my gardener, will be helping get the blueberries and other plants into the ground next week, and I'll choose two apple trees in the autumn. I'll post follow-up in the summer, so you can see how it's coming along.

I inherited the rhubarb with the garden, and it's now ready for my first harvest of the year.

* * * * *

PLANT LIST
Canopy layer
A: Greengage, Prunus domestica 'Golden Transparent'
H & N: Apple trees, to be chosen. They will be on a dwarfing or semi-dwarfing rootstock.
K: Akebia quinata, also known as the chocolate vine. Although the fruit is edible, I'm predominately growing it for the flowers and to allow it to grow all over the wall as it's an evergreen. I'm hoping that, along with the ivy that's already growing on the wall from a neighbours garden, that it will offer a further habitat for small insects and pollinators. 

Also, just off to the right of the top border is an Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Ballerina', also known as  Juneberry or Apple serviceberry tree. This has the most edible of all Amelanchier fruits and I consider it part of the forest garden, though it sits outside the border.

Shrub layer
E: Cranberry (variety unknown)
F: Azalea (variety unknown). It's here because had it, and it's happy in acid soil. The flowers are good for pollinators.
I: Blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum 'Hortblue Petite'
J: Blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum 'Bluecrop'

Perennial layer
B: Rhubarb (variety unknown)
C & D: Sorrel, Rumex acetosa (non-flowering variety)
G: Golden oregano, Origanum vulgare 'Aureum'
L & M: Comfrey 'Bocking 14'

Ground cover (plants mixed all around the border)
*Strawberry, Fragaria x ananassa 'Samba'. This is a smaller sized strawberry, but is made up for in the fact that it fruits from May until November.
*Sweet violets, Viola odorata 'Queen Charlotte'. Edible flowers and good for pollinators.
*Ramsons, Allium ursinum. Also known as wild garlic. Edible stalks and leaves and good for pollinators.
*Ajuga reptans 'atropurpurea'. A good evergreen ground cover plant. Helps cover bare soil so there are less weeds.
*Primula vulgaris. Good for pollinators and will self seed and help cover bare soil.
*Phacelia tanacetifolia. This is an annual that will self seed. It is known as a green manure and is excellent for pollinators.

I will also add a mix of early flowering spring bulbs this autumn to help early pollinators such as solitary bees, and to add further interest and beauty.

Martin Crawford's book, Creating a Forest Garden, was pivotal in helping me understand what should go where and why. I highly recommend it, and because it's been around for some years, it can be found in libraries too.

Small greywater system: a step-by-step guide of how to set up a small greywater system.

At the moment I have two blogs. This is my 10+ year gardening blog but I've also set up a permaculture/solarpunk blog on the new blogging site, Plume. Hopefully once Plume develops more features I'll be able to move off Google, and to there, permanently!

Recently posted to Plume...
  Small greywater system: a step-by-step guide of how to set up a small greywater system.

With greywater harvesting, you are trying to recycle dirty water, which you may then use in the garden. A greywater system filters and recycles water from when you have been washing up the dishes, taking a shower or bath, or doing the laundry. The system described here is just for greywater from washing up.  Read more

Back garden - the first six months

Back in June I introduced the interim design for the back garden, but I haven't yet got around to showing you how it looked during the rest of the year. Now it's the end of the year, it seems like a good time to have a look at how the garden grew.

First, here is a reminder of the garden I inherited when we moved in.

We gave the sheds away on Freegle, as we have a large garage that is now my garden shed. The conifers, which seem to drain away all light around them, were also removed.

This was the garden on completion of the landscaping work.

My new raised beds!

I then got a little extra work done, creating what I'm calling the Wisteria border, using keyhole gardens as an inspiration, along with my simplified version of a bug hotel (logs on the right).

The bug hotel is made up of the trunks and thick branches of the conifers that were removed.  Eventually I'll be adding a pergola to this area, allowing the wisteria (which you cannot really see yet) to grow up the fence and over the pergola, with seating underneath so you can enjoy summer shade and fragrance. The tree in the left keyhole bed is Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Ballerina', which is meant to be one of the best Amelanchiers for Spring flowering and edible fruit.

And an overview of the new garden at the height of the growing season.

I had the height of the L-shaped bed (on the left, behind the concrete area) reduced by one level. I realised it was too high to comfortably access and weed, so I had the sleepers re-purposed for the new Wisteria Border. The plum tree, in the top left corner, was sadly chocked with black rot, and based on experience, I knew it was unlikely to recover. So it's been removed and a new Greengage will be added in it's place in shortly.

I also added a temporary bed where eventually another raised bed will be added.

First we (my gardener Andrea and I) put down black plastic to kill off the grass and perennial weeds, then we added some of the paving stones that were left behind by the previous owners as a border. This will filled in with a range of pots, a mini pond, and some left over stones from the front garden. We added the stones in such a way that it gives a gradual climb up to the mini pond so that creatures like hedgehogs can access the water. And there are stones in the pond to allow easy access in and out for frogs and other pond inhabitants.

We installed a couple of water butts next to the house. Eventually I want to put in a couple of large rainwater tanks, to make the most of the large roof and water resource to capture and store.

 

And here is the garden now, at the end of the year.

I've moved the bird feeder closer to the hedge. I've observed that birds seem to use feeders that are either close to trees or hedges, and this worked as it's now attracted a lot more birds.

The concrete shaped blocks on the fence will soon be painted a sage green, and wire shall be added all along the fence so that I can train various plants including clematis, a rambling rose, some ivy and/or other evergreen climbers, along it. This should be more attractive than the grey that currently dominates.

Next to the seat to the right I've had some of the hedge cut into, so that when you sit down it will be in a little alcove from which you'll have some shade and be able to view the whole garden.

This is the end of the major work for at least a year, whilst I think about how to plan the next part and save up to afford the new landscaping! I do know that the temporary bed will become another raised bed, the pergola will be built, and between these a proper pond added. I also need to work out my plan for the grassy area in the top left, which will become more raised beds for a kitchen garden area. And I'll also be adding in a mini forest garden. In the meantime, I am Am really pleased with my design, and the work of the landscapers and gardener.

Greenfinches and Goldfinches on the bird feeders.

The garden is a little bare at this time of year. But already the first garlic shoots have come up, the broad beans are growing well and I should have some salad and herbs to harvest throughout winter. The first of the ornamental bulbs are coming up, and the garden will soon be bountiful in beauty and food, and as a calm and happy place to be. Not bad for a six month old garden.

The new garden

At the end of March, Kevin & I finally moved into our new, and hopefully long-term, home and garden. Yay!

So this is a bit of an introduction to the new garden. It isn't much now, but it has potential. Lots of potential. I'm rather excited!

The house/garden follows an East-West layout, with the front garden being predominantly West-facing, and the back garden being in part East-facing, but with the left hand side getting quite a lot of Southerly sun throughout the year.

Front garden

Currently this is an approximate square, with mixed hedging, lawn, a driveway and concrete next to the house. I share a deciduous beech hedge with my neighbour, of which I'm hoping to reduce the height, but being deciduous, it still allows light through even in the winter months.

I'm going to reduce the height of the mixed hedge, by at least half, if not more, to let in lots more light. Part of me wants to take the whole thing out, because hedges need maintaining. But I'm not going to make any quick decisions just yet. Following permaculture principles, I'm going to observe the space for up to a year before I make that kind of decision.

Being West-facing, the front garden should get quite a lot of light all year around. I've decided to make the front garden my 'hot garden'. By that I mean, I'm going to go with hot colours, reds, yellows and oranges, with some blues and purples, including grasses, to contrast. So lots of bright coloured bulbs in Spring, hardy perennials such as Heleniums and Rudbeckias in summer and autumn, with grasses to give structure all year around. I will also be including a Quince tree in the layout, and possible a bin store.

I'll be getting rid of the grass and having either gravel or shale paths. All plants will need to be hardy and needing limited attention from me.

Back garden

The back garden is approximately 9m x 14 metres. Although the ground it looks flat, it is on a bit of a slope, from the top North-West down to the bottom South-East. I've discovered that the ground near the beech hedge and up to the current path gets quite saturated, so I need add working out drainage into my plan.

I have what looks like a plum tree. I'm going to wait until I taste the fruit before deciding whether it gets to stay. I also have a couple of rhubarb patches. More than I need, so one is going to go. There also seem to be raspberry canes, so again, I'm going to wait to see how they taste before deciding whether to keep them or not.

And then there is the weird vertical apple tree (right), which I've blogged about separately.

The previous people had rabbits and hamsters and have left a pile of straw and droppings under the conifers and on top of what looks like tomato grow bags and interspersed with some tree branches. Ugh. I've looked up rabbit & hamster droppings online and thankfully I can compost them. So though it's a pain to have to sort through this, there will be some upsides. There are also a stack of bricks and  paving stones that, whilst looking messy now, will, I'm sure, come in use in the future, such as building the base for the bin store. There is also a pile of wood (not in picture) that needs sorting. Some of it is useless, but others might be useful for raised beds.

As for the conifers. I'm not madly keen on conifers. There are some I like, but these trees aren't it. They block out lots of light and even the birds don't seem to go into them. So these are going. Yes, a big decision before I even have spent much time observing the garden, but some things you just know. I'm going to re-purpose the trunks into what I'm going to call my 'Acer-Fernery-Stumpery'. Say what, you say? More on that in another blog post :) And though I'll be removing the conifers, I'll be putting in new trees, one I love, such as Acers, and Amelanchier and a couple more fruit trees, as well as adding shrubs and hardy perennials.

The area that might stand out most is the hard standing concrete area on the left, South-facing area of the garden. What might look like a nightmare to some is actually a blessing to me. It's perfect for my eventual greenhouse! Until then, it's going to be filled with pots.

I have lots of ideas for the back garden. Not just the greenhouse, but getting rid of all grass and have a gravel garden and paths, putting in a pergola upon which to grow wisteria and other climbers, putting in raised beds for growing some veg. The soil is good old Sheffield acid-clay. Hence the need for raised beds for growing any vegetables. I'm also going to look at growing more perennial vegetables, sorrel, asparagus, soft fruits, which require less energy to manage.

I also want the garden to be wildlife-friendly, and definitely will be putting in a pond. As the theme in the front will be a 'hot garden', the ornamentals in the back garden will run on a chilling-out pink-purple theme.

Musings
The most important thing for both the front and back garden, is designing around my chronic illness (ME, myalgic encephalomyelitis), and the fact it might even get worse. This means I need to make it as low maintenance as possible (hence gravel garden/paths), but at the same time making an attractive space to be in, to relax, as well as potter when I'm well enough.

Managing my illness has to come first, and this was a mistake I made in the last garden. I designed that around assuming I would get well, soonish. As I now better understand the 'chronic' in chronic illness, and seeing how in the last few years the ME has got progressively worse, the garden must be designed with ongoing ill health front and centre.

I think the gardens have lots of potential. I'm quite excited about the ideas I currently have (I have a long list). But I'm tempering my excitement by going back to basic permaculture principles, such as: use small and slow solutions, use edges and value the margins, observe and interact, and of course, design from patterns to details. These should help ground my design around my health, as well as being a smart way to design.

So, excitement and so much potential. Welcome to my new garden.

Reviewing my permaculture designed garden

Mid-Summer 2016

In 2013 I made a permaculture design for my garden, which was implemented at the end of the year. Now that I'm leaving this garden, I thought it would be useful to review the design. Did the design work? What was it's flaws? Are there any learning points that I can take with me when I design my next garden?

Did the design work?
Well yes. And no. First the yes.

The garden when we first moved in

The garden is a small urban, east-facing garden measuring approximately 12m x 4.5m. It was just grass and leylandii when we moved in, and the aim was to turn it into a small productive kitchen garden with borders for ornamentals, herbs and a few fruit trees. I observed the garden throughout 2013, monitoring light and shadows, looking at the soil (heavy acid clay!) and thinking about how I could put in a rainwater collection system. I decided on the layout in November and the design was implemented in December. I hired a landscape gardener to do all the hard landscaping, and then I took it from there.

2014 was my first full growing season with the new design. Having spent 2013 observing and recording, via photos, how the sun moved across the garden, I saw just how well that work paid off. The height of the two long raised beds, 45cms high, meant that these beds captured 6 hours of sunlight a day from April to September, plus a few hours each day March and October. From November to February there was limited sunlight, and one long bed was closer to the north-facing (right) side of the garden, so I only ever grew veg like courgettes and tomatoes in the single beds (next to the garage) or the middle long bed, which got good sunlight from March to October. This may seem a lot of detail, but it was really important as it extended my growing season in that part of the kitchen garden by 6-8 weeks.

July 2015

Given the aim to maximise the space in which edibles could grow, the design was a success. In 2014 and 2015 I grew a mix of veg, including potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkin, courgettes, parsnips, carrots, broad beans, kohl rabi, fennel, sorrel, French beans and brassicas. I also had strawberries and plenty of herbs.

My young fruit trees, Morello Cherry, Damson, Greengage, grapevine, and Quince in the front garden, settled in well, though it was 2016 before I got my first crop of Damson and Morello Cherry. This was expected as they were only young trees when planted. The Greengage and grapevine haven't yet fruited; I suspect they will this year, once I've moved! And the Quince started developing fruits twice, but then they dropped before being fully grown, possibly because they needed more watering than I gave them.

The ornamental borders, with a mix of perennials and some annuals, offered lots of beauty for me and plenty of nectar for bees, hoverflies and butterflies.

In this context, I achieved what I set out to do when I implemented the design. However, there is a 'but'.

What were the flaws of the design?
The first problem that arose was during 2014, when we had quite a wet Spring and Summer. When getting the garden landscaped, we had removed the original grass, rotovated and added in a good mix of sand and topsoil to help improve the drainage of the heavy clay soil. The Spring rains came and
one area of the Long Shady Border (ornamental) became waterlogged, to the point that water was sitting on the surface for weeks.

Waterlogged

After some investigating we worked out the problem derived from the water collected from the garage roof. The previous owners had put in guttering and downpipes, but nowhere for the water collected to be directed. So it just increased the water table until it collected in what turned out to be the lowest point in the garden. Whilst we had known the garden was on a bit of a slope and had it more leveled out when we got the landscaping done, because it hadn't rained heavily during 2013, we hadn't be able to observe how the water would move across, and then sit in the lowest point.

Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku' thriving in its new position

Some plants had to be quickly moved, such as Acer Palmatum 'Sango-kaku' and  Heuchera, who would rot in these conditions. Some, such as Polemonium caerulem, Astrantia 'Hapsden Blood' and Amsonia tabernaemontana didn't mind having their feet wet, so stayed and thrived. In fact I turned the problem into a solution, by making that area a bog garden. I added in some plants such as Ligularia and Iris sibirica which liked wet roots.

Ironically, once I finally had the funds in early 2016 to put in a 1000 litre rainwater collection tank (right), which took water that fell onto the garage roof, the waterlogging problem was largely removed. It's still a damp area, but no longer waterlogged, and boggy shade-loving plants thrive.

The waterlogging was a problem that I was able to resolve. The second problem, however, didn't have an easy solution.

I was diagnosed with the chronic illness, ME (Myalgic Encephalopathy), in June 2013, although we later realised that I had probably had it for many years previously, slow onset ME. The key symptoms I have include: severe and debilitating fatigue, painful muscles and joints, disordered sleep, and poor memory and concentration. It was in 2012/13 that it was really making life difficult, and by 2013 I had stopped working. As yet, there is no cure for ME.

Morello cherry

When I designed the garden, I designed it to maximise growing food. This was my focus, to the point, I realise now, that I had tunnel vision. Everything was about growing food, and I didn't at all think about how my health might impact on my ability to garden. I knew intellectually and physically, I had ME, of course, but at this point I was still in denial about quite how much the illness was effecting my life.

I had stopped paid work, but that had been partially planned in our move from Oxford to Sheffield. We made a lifestyle change, moving North where houses are cheaper, having a couple of years to take a bit of a break before returning to full-time work. The idea had been for me to explore gardening/growing-related options during the period. This didn't get very far, as I found I had little energy for doing even the most basic daily tasks. When taking a shower exhausts you for hours, you have a problem.

Going to seed, unintentionally

By October 2014 I realised the problem was really effecting my ability to garden. I had lots of French Beans to pick. In fact it was one of my best years growing Climbing French Beans. But I had no energy to pick them. They ended up sitting on the canes, going to seed.

I was struggling to keep up with all the gardening tasks and getting quite stressed about it. Because I had so little energy, I focused what little I had on growing veg, and left the rest of the garden to itself. Some plants didn't get the attention they needed and died, though the weeds were pretty cheerful. I ended up paying for gardeners to come in and help me.

The overgrown French Beans event prompted me to start blogging a new meme: Gardening with ME. I was beginning to accept that the illness was making growing difficult, so I thought this might help me rethink how I gardened. Over time, I found blogging about the challenges of growing food when you have a chronic illness helped me to come to terms with my illness to some degree.

However, coming to terms with the impacts a chronic illness has on your life takes time, and it wasn't until later 2015 that I realised that I had to give up growing much of the food I had been trying to grow (and remember, this is only a small kitchen garden). I couldn't bare to give up gardening entirely. It was in my blood, my heart, and to stop gardening would be like giving up on life. I had to find a way forward, but how?

Gardening with ME had got me thinking about different ways of growing. I now questioned, could you still grow your own when you have a chronic illness? The answer to this has been yes, but within limits. From this arose a second meme: Spoonie Veg. Spoonie Veg looks at the best veg, fruit, herbs to grow when you have limited spoons (energy).

A healthy patch of sorrel

I decided to think about what veg I loved and could get a reasonable yield from. So yes, I grow some perennial edibles, such as sorrel and strawberries, which require few spoons to grow for the harvest you yield. There are a lot more perennials I could grow, but you have to grow food you like! Broad beans were in, as was garlic. The former because I adore them and it's something very hard to get fresh from the supermarkets (pleasure, after all, is a type of yield). The latter because you get a great yield per clove, and because I want to continue growing a selection of unusual varieties of garlic that I've been growing and saving for more than six years. Out is brassicas, which require a lot of attention and management, more spoons needed than I could manage.

Garlic harvest drying in the sun

I suppose you could say I have found a kind of solution to the problem of gardening with ME. Whilst I have managed to make the most of the situation, by not listening to my body, just my heart, I designed a garden that wasn't, in the end, suitable to my needs.

What learning points can I take with me when undertaking designs in the future?
Well, putting in the rainwater collection tank earlier probably would have stopped the waterlogging problem! And it would have saved water, both as a resource and a cost, much sooner. I should also consider including running some irrigation into key growing beds from the rainwater tank in a future design. This would have saved energy, all those heavy trips with the watering can.

But the big learning point is a really difficult one. Difficult, because it means standing back from what you want, and looking at what you need, which are often very different things. Difficult also, because accepting you have a chronic illness means changing how you live. I wanted a bounteous harvest, but I didn't have the health to get there or maintain it. What I now know is that I needed a different garden from the one I designed. It should have been a place to rest and allow my body to breathe. Whilst I have found a way to work around the problem, gardening with ME and focusing on Spoonie Veg, I went through a lot of stress and angst over a couple of years trying to maintain what at the moment, is an impossible dream.

Herb border

The biggest learning point? It cannot be emphasise enough: the importance of listening to your body. As a permaculture designer I have learnt the hard way, the importance of living and designing, realistically in the now.

I am leaving this garden, proud of what I have achieved despite the circumstances. For my next design, I know that the aims of design must be achievable. And it must also be honest.

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I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments on your experience, so don't be shy!

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