chronic illness, Health, life, mental health, MS

May Garden Tour

Amanda, walkamyelinmyshoes

Aloha! Since my backyard urban farm in-development has taken up all my focus and energy and I haven’t been writing at all, I thought I’d share photos of how I’ve been staying busy.

Honestly, it has become a full-time job. There are days when the MonSter awakes and I drag myself out of bed hardly able to face the thought of all the tasks calling for attention. But I make myself get out there every day at least for 20 minutes. Usually that ends up with me outside all day.

Besides the obvious advantages of all that vitamin D and fresh air, I know that digging in the dirt is helping rebuild my immune system and my gut microbiota. So even on the toughest days, I rest a lot but I make myself do the lighter tasks. The trick is to not focus on everything that needs to be done but to put the blinders and just do one, small, task.

Anyway, enough of that. Have a wander through our garden.

Food garden, Lavender , buddleias, wallflower, chives, irises, onions, beets,
10 years ago this was a grassy hill.
Chives, Snapdragons , lilies , succulents , irises,lavender , lilac, buddleia
All the boulders, dirt and driftwood were hauled in and set by hand (and occasionally a rickety dolly with flat tires) by my very determined and creative husband. Those are the boots he wore out during the first few years.
Lilac, iris, lupin, cosmos, daisies, Corsican mint
We obviously don’t play much bocce ball. 😏
Angelica, alpine blue, garden steps
One of my favourite statues because I bought it with a gift certificate from one of my grade one classes.
Rockcress, alyssum, lavatera, wallflower, buddleia, lavender ,garlic, kale, lithadora, ornamental oregano , snapdragons, iris, strawberries, peonies
The oldest part of the garden. We found the sign buried when we moved in. The alyssum(bottom) reseeded itself from last year.
Petunias, onions, rose, garlic
Pallet deck at the top of the garden.
Hopefully one day a greenhouse.
Lemon, blueberry , kiwi, artichoke, cucumbers, beans, onions, garlic, carrots, dill, nasturtium , leeks, petunias
Top garden – the Mediterranean garden
Lemon tree, artichoke, kiwi vine, blueberries and apple trees in the distance.
Oh, and that pepper in the tub is called a “ring of fire”. 🤣🤣🤣
Artichoke bud, food garden
Here comes an artichoke!
Daphne, Angelica, garlic, peonies, buddleia, Rosemary, lupin
Mid-garden
New vegetable bed growing zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, radishes, leeks, kale, dill, kohlrabi and buckwheat. Little bird was a Mother’s Day gift from my girls.
New vegetable bed beside the rhubarb and
the Nelly Moser clematis(far left) and anemones (right) finally flowering!
Instead of being chowed down by the deer. 🤞🏻👩🏻‍🌾🤞🏻
Apple tree bed growing onions, beets, potatoes, kohlrabi, radishes and carrots.
View from the apple tree bed
Barbie skinny dipping with a 20 year old bath toy.
Hmmm…that sounds strange… 😳
View from the bottom, the newest part just finished this year. This is where we mostly sit because it’s cool and shady beside the cedar hedge.

I know not everyone is fortunate enough to have a yard to garden. But even a small pot on a windowsill can grow parsley, basil and cilantro. Food security is a serious issue that has finally been brought to the forefront of people’s minds because of the Covid-19 situation. Start small and grow your own!

Alright, thanks for joining me. I didn’t even get to the vegetable beds by the house, but I’ll leave that for another post.

Take care, stay calm and stay safe. And garden!

❤️ Amanda

Published by Amanda, walkamyelinmyshoes

ms warrior, gardener, writer?, daydreamer, beach comber, kitchen dancer, lucky Mama, happy wife

27 thoughts on “May Garden Tour”

  2. What a gorgeous garden, Amanda. From a grassy hill – impressive. It reminds me of the garden my wife and I started creating from scratch in North Wales, before we moved to the US – and strict HOA rules on their sterile ideas of a garden.

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      1. We have various photos dotted around on our social media sites as my wife posts mainly on Facebook. However, she put something on her website in the early stages of our garden project with roses ready to go in etc: https://duskweald.com/2015/02/21/490/
        The photos above the design are ours – below the design are the planned plants images. Although, all were planted in 2015/16, we sadly left North Wales in September 2016, and the current owners removed the roses and made changes.

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      2. Thanks for sharing that Roland. Wow,did you ever have a huge variety of plants! It’s sad to see people rip things out and change things, often without a thought for the natural world. We have neighbours like that.

        My sister recently asked what I was growing and it got me making a list of everything, which is very satisfying. I’m sorry you’re now hindered by HOA regulations but I hope you still find ways to enjoy gardening.

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  3. Your garden is beautiful! I am not sure how to garden and plant things, but would love to plant a butterfly bush someday. I think I might have missed the time to plant, but I guess there is always next year!

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    1. Thanks Alyssa. A butterfly bush was one of the first things I planted actually. They’re really hardy and the three we bought have multiplied into six. One of them sprouted from a branch stuck in the dirt. It’s a perfect plant to start with and the hummingbirds love them! Not too late at all, I don’t think. 💕

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  12. My my, you have been busy! You’re right about the benefits of being outside and hopefully giving your body and immune system a boost. Hopefully it’s good for easing a little anxiety and adding a little brightness to your days, too. It’s such a big job though and even pacing will be exhausting, so I think you should be super proud. Your garden is absolutely stunning! I love how you’ve diversified it so much, like splitting it up with areas of different things, stones, decorative pieces, walkways. Hopefully when you’re having time off to rest you can sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labour, as they say. Beautiful!! I reckon you should write to a gardening magazine as I could see this being featured.
    Caz xx

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    1. Aw Caz, that is sweet of you to say! It has been a labour of love for sure, that’s taken ten times longer simply because I have to be so careful about pacing. That said, I find it better to at least wander around and pluck the odd weed even on my worst days, than lie in bed thinking about how crappy I feel. There are days when I feel like I’ve taken on too much and it feels a bit overwhelming but that’s when I let Mother Nature handle things and hope for the best. 😊💕

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