On Saturday we took time out and had a few hours in a local town called Bury St Edmunds, it's a lovely town to shop in as there are lots of little independent shops, which you can spend ages browsing in.
On the way back, Jay gave me a little bag, he had bought me a present. I know he is lovely! In this little bag was a flower printed tape measure a matching torch and this book.
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Now the idea of this little book is really a neat idea and I love it!
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Even though I love this idea and can't wait to get it filled I do however have a little problem. The only person that I could give this too is my dad and I know that he will not want to fill it all in but hopefully will do a little bit.
So this brings me to my little quest and it involves all of you out there that find a few minutes of your time to read my ramblings to help me.
What I plan to do over the next few weeks is post 5 questions from the book and I would be very grateful if you could post your answers to the questions in the comments box and then I can transfer them into the book adding the date and your name in the book with your answers.
You don't have to answer every question but if you do just the one it would mean so much. You all have so much knowledge and different ideas on gardening that it would be nice to have a collection of them.
Right lets start as we mean to go on, here is the first 5 questions, your answers can be as long or short as you so wish as every little bit helps.
1) What are your earliest memories of your time in the garden?
2) What plants evoke memories of your childhood?
3) Where does your interest in gardens and gardening stem from?
4) What were the first plants you remember growing?
5) How did you learn about gardening?
So that is the first set of questions, I do hope some of you will join in, and following is my answers to the questions above, I promise to keep it brief!
1) In my grandparents garden we were free to run around and play through the fruit trees and bushes and also with pip the dog and the chickens. And our own garden had a big hill in the middle which we learnt to ride our bikes down but ended up crashing into the shed as we forgot to pull the brakes.
2) Gooseberries in my grandparents garden and Hydrangeas as our neighbour had one in her front garden and I always wanted to go and pick the flowers
3) Both of my grandfathers grew vegetables. One was very relaxed about his garden and would let us help and join in and the other was very rigid and we could only look, but he would pull a fresh carrot from the ground or pluck a ripe tomato for me to eat which is a taste that can never be forgotten.
4) The first thing I grew were radishes, my father and rigid granddad had turned our garden in to one big vegetable garden and me and my brother were given a small area to grow things in. My brother decided to grow the budgie seed!
5) I learnt about gardening through my other grandfather, in the summer we would be weeding, cutting hedges, hoeing and even cut the grass with a Ransomes push mower. He taught us how to use numerous garden tools and how to plant seeds, pruning the fruit trees and bushes whilst talking and explaining to us the whole time as we were full of questions. Any food we harvested would be taken into the kitchen and we would help grandma prepare them for Sunday lunch.
I hope you enjoyed today's post and I will leave you with this quote
"No two gardens are the same. No two days are the same in one garden"
Hugh Johnson
Until next time x
What a lovely gift & your idea sounds huge fun, I shall tag along - 1) My grandparents garden too, my granddad used to enter & win local gardening shows/competitions. Each visit made to my grandparents house always saw me end up in the garden. His soil was very sandy & I used to enjoy poking my fingers into the soil & see the holes left behind. 2) Sweet Williams & Chrysanthemums, there were always Sweet Williams in my granddads front garden & my granddad & dad used to grow a huge number of chrysanths each year. 3) My love of gardening came from my dad & granddad, being a traditional old chap I didn't learn anything from my granddad but my dad has told me lots of what happened in the garden back then. 4) Carrots & spring onions in the little strip of land I was given next to the veg patch at my granddads. 5) Funnily enough books & google, I enjoy buying gardening books & learning something new. I'm looking forward to you next five questions, Joanne xx
ReplyDeleteHi Joanne, thanks for joining in, it's funny what we remember my granddad also grew geraniums and all my aunts would have flower borders full of them. Looking forward to seeing your next lot of answers x
Delete1) What are your earliest memories of your time in the garden?
ReplyDeleteMy father grew sweet peas up aisles of garden canes and was always training them upwards. I remember picking these wonderfully scented flowers in the garden with him. He also had 2 greenhouses where he grew tomatoes (tommy-atoes he used to say) and I remember the tomatoey smell when brushing against the leaves and picking the first tommy-ato, which we always shared. He grew big chrysanthemums aswell and had many large terracotta pots each containing one plant. He was always inspecting them and pulling off side buds. He liked to surprise me with the earwigs that went inside the petals.
2) What plants evoke memories of your childhood?
From the above it must be sweet peas, tomatoes and chrysanthemums. Blackcurrant bushes and potatoes also feature.
3) Where does your interest in gardens and gardening stem from?
Dad, of course.
4) What were the first plants you remember growing?
The first garden DH and I made was a small lawn with a six inch border. There wasn't much room for anything else! We did put in a pond at the end for DH and later on I had a go at planting carrot seeds in the border!
5) How did you learn about gardening?
Trial and error and listening to others who grew and nurtured plants. We also bought gardening books and read labels and sowing directions.
In the house we live in now we have an edible back garden and a greenhouse.
Home-grown produce is not as convenient as shop bought food but it tastes far better.
Love from Mum
xx
Hey Mum! glad your joining in. They were called tommy-arters in our part of the world. Now going to post the second lot of questions and looking forward to your reply x
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