Me and my garden
I’ve sometimes struggled to come up with
topics for my blog – my last few posts were all business related which makes
sense as I’m blogging as a business owner. However it occurred to me recently
that I may be a business owner but it’s so much part of my life that the two
are very much intertwined. Purity Belle is not just about candles, it’s about
the ideas and philosophy I bring to my craft and to my life. With that in mind,
I’ve decided to blog just as me the odd time and share a little bit of my life
with you J To make things easier, I have added categories so as time goes on,
you can just select your own area of interest and ignore the rest if you like!
This Easter break was lovely, I finally got
time to work in my garden. Many years
ago, I did the RHS General Certificate in Horticulture with Ciarán Burke from
The Garden School (who was then teaching at the Dublin School of Horticulture) and
loved every minute of it. I volunteered subsequently in a local Camphill Community and
spent many wonderful hours in the beautiful organic garden. Some of the cold and wet days were not so
pleasant but when the sun shone and I was outdoors in my wellies working with
soil and plants, nothing felt as good!
My
own garden is tiny but I love it and although it’s been a bit neglected the
last few years through lack of time, I’ve been making inroads this year. I had
planned to sow lots of seedlings but in the end I just managed some lettuce and
these marigolds, which are a lovely golden colour and great companion plants.
There
really is nothing nicer than fresh salad and rocket leaves straight from the
garden and it’s the easiest thing in the world to do, even if you grow nothing
else. Here are mine growing nicely!
.jpg "Salad leaves")
I have an apple and a plum tree, as well as
strawberries and raspberries and lots of herbs. In fact I’m slightly overgrown
with chives but they’re so nice in salads and I use them as a substitute for
spring onions or onions if I’ve run out of those.
A lot of my herbs (and strawberries) are in
containers – this is the perfect compromise in a small garden and the pots
outside my door are perfectly situated for grabbing a handful of herbs J
The only bad thing about pots, I guess, is
that you have to remember to repot and renew the compost and water really well,
even in rainy season as they can’t draw water from the soil.
I’ve taken my love of upcycling into the
garden, spent some of the weekend trying to finish my bottle border which was
inspired by gorgeous pictures on Pinterest – here’s a glimpse, will post pics
when I finally get it finished.
One thing I’ve realised though, is that all the
pinterest pics obviously were in muck free areas J This definitely needs an occasional wipe down so that the glass
doesn’t get lost under all the muck. I didn’t bother removing labels because
they will eventually just get worn away by the weather and why create work for
yourself?
We are also now proud owners of an upcycled
pallet bench, made by Mark, my lovely husband. It has pride of place against
the wall where we can sit and enjoy the sun and have a cup of tea (or glass of
wine).
So all in all, I’m happy with my garden
progress J I find it so soothing and having the beauty of nature right outside
my door is a constant inspiration, just take a look at the colours of these
tulips, so amazing!
I hope you all had an
equally nice Easter break and enjoyed the gorgeous weather, xx
