Long Mizzle Garden

  Hello, m’ snowy jollies,   With the January lock down effect, it sometimes feels like life is on PAUSE in addition to FREEZE. When I start thinking about my weekly Long Mizzle correspondence, I find myself saying, “I haven’t got a single thing to gossip about!” But then I sift through my photo journal and realize, actually, nature marches on regardless and we have been garden busy in our own little way. Just today I squeaked in delight upon finding one simple, tiny snow drop. These bulbs came mixed in a pot of sedum that a neighbour gave me and I wasn't sure what they were. This is the same kindly neighbour that regularly pushes packets of seeds with hand scribbled notes through my letter box.  I can't remember what I planted in these pots, meaning more lovely surprises on the way...   One thing we have especially enjoyed this week is working on projects to encourage more wildlife into the garden. The kids got some construction kits for Christmas, so we picked a ...

Hello, how are you this week? I'm trying to keep the summer going by wearing my brightest attire and staying gaudy. (Dress made by my mam, 2006 ish) The sun is noticeably dropping in the sky and the garden is taking on new, elongated morning shadows. This means I don't have to be out quite so early to attend to the cut flower patch and more tea drinking duties can be honored. [Airplant in chazza shop swan pot. Succulents and cacti in shells] Very little outdoor gardening work has happened this week due to the tail end of Storm Frances. I have been busy doing some houseplant loving and revision for my upcoming RHS exams (ahhh, just two weeks away now).  Once the wind had calmed, the littlest one and I managed some beach time. Following a torrential downpour, Falmouth seafront was gloriously empty.     [Gylly Beach, Falmouth] We made the most of it, by having a lovely walk and barefoot splash in the sea. By chance we saw a couple of nursery friends, so what was meant to ...

Hello there, well that thunder and rain we were warned about didn't happen here. We just got a couple of mizzly mornings and today has been a tropical blaze again.     [ Morning mizzle over Penryn River] I hadn't yet finished my Saturday morning cuppa, when the kids ventured out brandishing scissors (o-oh!), playing a 'let's go to the garden centre' game. This kicked me into action, as I wanted some flowers for my mam and already they had started to dead head the best blooms.       I ran out and picked all the best ones before they could! They each cut and arranged a jar for Monsieur, upstairs still in bed. I said they could have the pick of the Californian Poppies, Calendula and Sweet Peas.   One thing all this heat and humidity has brought us this week... the dreaded tomato blight. This is absolutely the last time I try tomotoes outdoors! The ones inside the greenhouse are doing fine, fingers crossed. Here you can see the blight on the stem and ...

A happy mid-week to you,   What a hot week it has been. Here's Wonder Beast claiming the only cool part of the garden. As our temperature gauge on the back patio tiles hit beyond 50 C, Monsieur wanted to crack out an egg to see how quickly it would cook. Shame we didn’t have any.    I did manage to get a few fun, colour coordinated washes in though. (When we first moved in, my mam said she could see our washing line from the other side of town, but the trees have since obscured this view) As I type, it has just started spotting with rain here, and with thunder storm weather warnings issued, it is no surprise the local farmers been hurriedly bringing in the hay.    I’ve been enjoying my week off with the kids and in between mowing, mulching and weeding duties, Long Mizzle continues to reward us with ripened greenhouse tomatoes, French beans and more courgettes and cut flowers than we can keep up with.   [Courgetti and home grown tomatoes]    ...