Visiting open gardens is almost always a pleasant event, especially if the host serves Elderflower cordial, even the drifting hordes of lilac scented ladies do little to dispel the pleasure, though the stout dames in denim maxis, sensible shoes and overly snug shirts pulled unnervingly tight across their ample bosoms often send me scuttling off. But I was wandering around our garden yesterday and thought I too readily accept what I believe to be the truth, this is that others tend their garden to perfection and so set the pace by which we should march. I had been ‘twittering’ earlier in the day and discovered that Yoko Ono was now a follower of my tweets [don't get excited she follows everyone that follows her], on her profile she had written ‘I think it’s better to dance than to march through life.’, could it be that in gardening there are marchers and dancers?. The marchers being the Open Garden set, and the dancers, people like me, for whom gardening is a private activity, it is a process of self discovery, making amends and healing, a reciprocal relationship with the beautiful and unendingly fantastic delight that is the small, hard seed that sprouts into life and silently aches in its desire to live, to grow and to set seed, to make its mark.

I have converted part of the flower boarder close to the house into a small raised bed. It is constructed out of found ‘stuff’ from round the garden and house. The wood for the sides is made from a long old oak board, possibly from the house that used to sit in the garden, and two pieces left over from shelving, the sides are secured in place with sawn up poles from a redundant Habitat wardrobe and some cane hoops that last year supported the Delphiniums. I have used canes found in the railway carriage for the back and stout twigs for all other stakes. The compost is sadly bought and the string is not string as over Winter it vanished and is probably shacked up with all the missing odd socks. I have use plastic wires to line up the veggies and netting bought many moons ago to protect it all from those pesky birds and cats. The veg. are French beans at the back, a bit early but I have also planted some seeds between them for later plants and have a few more to plant out that are currently living in the sun shelter. In rows from the left are Carrots, purple ones, onions and 3 La Ratte potatoes.