It was a sunny start for the chickens today, like me they do take every opportunity to bask when sunshine is on offer. The chickens don’t have a cockerel, I don’t think we could get away with it. One has to try to be on good terms with one’s neighbours and I doubt that a 5 am start to the day would be conducive to … Continue reading Soon I’ll be busy (6 on Saturday)
Hello everyone! It’s been a cold week here in Belgium but the compensation has been some stunning blue skies against which the plants and bare tree branches look gorgeous. My gardening activity has centred around sowing seeds indoors, and laying down some mulch outdoors. I can’t stress enough how valuable mulch is in improving the soil, retaining water all through the hot summer and doing … Continue reading Old friends in the garden (6 on Saturday)
Hello! I’m diving back into the ‘Six on Saturday’ format but this one’s a bit different! Instead of showing you six things from my garden (which hasn’t yet shed its dismal February look), I’m going to show you six new gardening products that I thought were pretty cool, as seen at the Garden Press Event in London on 21 February. The Garden Press Event is … Continue reading Six cool things for a greener garden
Contrary to what advertisers will have us believe, not everyone likes making a big deal about Christmas. Having lived abroad for nearly 15 years, I now look at the UK and think it really goes over-the-top with Christmas buildup. It’s hard to avoid the commercial frenzy and excess that surrounds it. Here in Belgium it’s a quiet affair. That means: no Christmas carols blaring out … Continue reading Christmas crafts and plans for 2023 (6 on Saturday)
Hello everyone! I hope the change in the weather to cold and grey isn’t getting you down (if you’re reading this in the Western hemisphere. If you’re on the other side of the world, I envy you!). You might have noticed that I have been a bit erratic in my postings of late. I promise you I have not been lazy! No, I have been … Continue reading Some news and some plants for Six on Saturday 03 Dec 2022
I don’t think I have ever planted bulbs in autumn and got too hot doing it. But I did this week. It was 23 degrees C in my area of Brussels on 28 October, breaking meteorological records. As I popped tulips, alliums and iris into the ground and pots, I wondered what the future hold for them. Bulbs benefit from cold winters, so what happens … Continue reading Balmy October
I was dodging hailstorms shortly prior to typing this, foolishly thinking there was a big enough sunny gap between showers to do a spot of work at the allotment. There’s a chill in the air too, autumn creeps ever closer. The leaves are starting to shed – living right beneath a row of deciduous trees means I am acutely aware of their rituals and there … Continue reading Leafy Mouldy Six on Saturday: 17 Sep 22
This is shameful, it’s been just over a month since I last put out a post. There have been multiple distractions, upheavals, a holiday and a new school to fit in to that bumpy thing called life. Now it feels like a new chapter, both with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, feted as ‘Une grande Dame‘ by the Belgians and admired it seems the … Continue reading High time for Six on Saturday: 10 Sep 2022
It’s going to be a tough month, with little rain and more hot days of 30 degrees C forecast for next week in Belgium. We had a very welcome couple of hours of rain on Thursday evening, but that’s not enough. No hosepipe ban here yet, but they have had to pump water into the canals in order to keep barges and boats moving, and … Continue reading A challenging August: Six on Saturday
It looks like this is going to go down as one of the driest summers in Europe – so far, I say with trepidation. Despite the lack of rain, the allotment harvests have been incredible. I can hardly keep up with processing all this food in the kitchen. It’s hard work, of the old-fashioned sort, but I haven’t had to go out and buy fruit … Continue reading Vegtastic Six on Saturday
