Gardening Activity

Today I introduced Little B to the idea of planting seeds. We had this great conversation on the way to nursery about how things grow from seeds and he told me all the things he would love to grow in our back yard. Watermelons were top of his list (they are his favourite fruit) followed by Elder flowers, then bananas. Oh dear. I felt really bad telling him no, nope, er-noooo to his three most favourite requests and seeing his enthusiasm dwindle in front of my eyes. But when he hit upon pumpkins as his fourth choice, well that was just brilliant. YES! Yes yes yes, let's see if we can grow a pumpkin! So on our way home from nursery we stopped at the shops and purchased a packet of Mammoth Pumpkin seeds. Slightly worried about the Mammoth word, but we will cross that particular bridge if and when we come to it.

He couldn't wait to get started, oh such excitement!

I gave him a flower pot, then he went to fetch his old plastic spade. I said he could use his hands for the compost but he was insistent that he do some proper shoveling with his spade, so I stood aside and let him do it His Way. We used an old plastic spoon as a dibber, and very soon three hopeful pumpkin seeds had been planted and carefully watered in.

We found a lolly stick and I told him the letters so that he could write his own label.

It was super sweet, a real delicious part of an otherwise ordinary, fairly mundane Monday. The whole experience reminded me of a very similar time with Little Lady six years ago, and also reminded me that I still have many of the very same seed packets lurking in the cellar!

I fetched them outside and we had a good look through the packets, opening them up so that I could show Little B how different all the seeds look. He was so full of excitement and begged for us to do some more, so I thought, what the heck, what have we got to lose? These seeds are old and I've got no idea whether they will actually work or not, but hey ho, we will give it a whirl.

We planted yellow and purple beans, cosmos (for Mummy) and two varieties of sunflower. Now I really must remember to water them (!)

It's coming together out here now, slowly but surely, although I would still love some bigger greener stuff. I keep visualising some huge pots filled with big lush green things, but those ideas will just have to wait a while.

For now, I'm really happy with my little pots filled with cheap n cheerful annuals, and somewhere cosy to sit a while when the sun is shining. Now then, here is a question for you.........

........shall I paint that wall????????????

It's in a dreadful state of disrepair and falling to bits, really it needs completely re-rendering and my idea is to eventually have a narrow raised bed built against it (using stone to match the house) for some permanent planting. But I'm toying with the idea of a quick fix for this summer and slapping on some paint.

Maybe white, or maybe a soft blue??

Or shall I just leave it be?

x

♥...more little snippets from the Attic...♥

Geranium Love

October 2012

Autumn Inspiration

Yarndale 2013 :: The Yarn Bombing

Comments

[Diane]

The wall is FABULOUS!! Don't paint it. I love the exposed brick, rustic look and seems to appropriate to your surroundings.

[Bernadette Mignone]

Gah! Do NOT paint the wall! It's beautiful and authentic and is perfect just the way it is. Looks charming!

[Carie]

I'd paint it blue, especially if it's the wall that you see from the house, it'll just make everything seem bright and cheery - although you might find that the painting gets a bit addictive!

[tizabell]

I love your wall just the way it is! Americans actually their paint walls to imitate the weathered look you have quite naturally. Isn't that crazy?

[Jan Bruneau]

Please don't paint it. It has so much character. Old world charm. Bright flowers & greenery cascading down would be beautiful. Once you paint, you are committed.

[Liz]

I would leave the wall alone! It makes such a wonderful backdrop for your flowers or any other bursts of color you'd want to put there!

[Kathryn]

I had some nasty looking rendered walls in my garden and I painted them terracotta - you can do a sort of ancient Roman effect quite easily by putting the paint on and leaving it a bit patchy. The old wall is actually quite nice xx

[Patricia McNeill]

absolutely with your colors

[Vanessa]

Dear Lucy!
First of all thanks a lot for visiting me on my blog. I was so so so very happy about that!
It's so sweet that Little B wants to grow plants from seeds, I wish you all the best for it and hopefully he will get a real Hugh pumpkin! I only have a small balcony but I there are plenty of plants, you would love that spread of colours and I'm sure that would be a creative Flash for you :-) And we both share that Geranium love! I truely do even if they are said in Germany to be the typical plants for the elder ones. I don't care about that, I just love them and they can take the summersun at noon :-)
Well then, to be honest, I would not paint the wall but I would try to have some plants grwoing up there. I'm curious how you will decide.
Well for now I wish you a happy Weekend!

[Tsering Cole]

What ever you do will be amazing I'm sure but I would go with blue ,I jussi love you're blog by the way been following you for years ,first time for me to post a comment though ,you cheer me up thank you .....

[Jane Thompson]

Soft blue would be a lovely foil for all your pretty pots. Pumpkins are such exciting things for children to grow, hope yours are successful; as for the Mammoth bit, they are pretty big, but I think that depends on the growing conditions and if you're growing in a pot they might not get as big as those, say, grown on top of a compost heap. You might need to start feeding it after a while though. Have a great weekend.
Jane x

[Donna Small]

Don't paint....I love it

[Carolyn Jackson]

Pleased you planted the Lobelia, I cut mine back when it dried off and now even though it is winter it has perked up and there are more lovely little blue flowers. It seems to self seed also which really like. Carolyn NZ

[Sue Kerkin]

I would leave the wall as is, it is lovely and rustic…..hope the weather stays nice and warm for you (and the plants)

[Penny]

How about putting some netting up and have vines grow to cover it....I think it looks beautiful just the way it is.

[Gina]

I love the look of it like it is. Your flowers add the color. It looks so natural, comfortable, and unassuming!

[Ana Inés]

Lucy, I think the wall is wonderful the way it is. if you paint it, it'll lose the magic effect it has on your beautiful flowers.

[Erin]

Leave the wall! It's perfectly rustic!

[Lindsey Toms]

Your yard is beautiful, I like the wall as it is :)

[Jayne]

Hi Lucy! Love the garden! How about bamboo screening? It's not expensive, looks fab & you could always take it down if you miss your wall! X

[Kath]

I think a lovely Lucy-coloured ripple mosaic! I can visualise it - gorgeous! And don't worry about remembering to water, your little man will remind you!

[Jo]

I would paint it pale blue, think white might look a bit stark, and it will feel so much fresher in your little garden

[Ada Bea]

Oh I'm all for slapping on a bit of paint and it will brighten it up until you can do more! A raised stone bed will look great.....off to read more posts, I've been away too long! :) x

[Liz]

Dear Lucy! I was reading your blog the other day, the one about you buying the plants, my husband was in the room and I said to him, I wish Lucy would paint that wall!!! Please do, it will make a huge difference and then you will have wished you had done it sooner!! A blue would be good, remember it could reflect the light so not too bright unless you want to of course!

[Kokopelli]

A soft blue with butterflies on it and a bit of grass. You could plant tomatoes in a raised bed there.