Author Archives: midlifegardener

About midlifegardener

A new house and a new garden. Having spent the past 5 years mainting my father's garden I am now taking on my own gardening project down the road in a new single store dwelling. The Old Man has passed on but he remains in my thoughts as I develop the new patch

Potted history

In October, when I discovered that my big brother had already planted his spring bulbs and even sown his sweet peas, I decided to use my blog posts to see when I had previously planted bulbs and so I read … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening Times | Leave a comment

One Man and His Dog

I continue to use gardening to help me cope with the stresses and strife of life and if the definition of mindfulness is “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening Times | Leave a comment

“I’m a Pallet Man…”

There is more to having a garden than simply sowing seeds, potting on, weeding, planting out, dead-heading and harvesting. It is not all about the cultivars and compost, the maintenance and the mowing, the pest control and the picking out. … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening Times | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Blighted

“Tis because we be on a blighted star, and not a sound one, isn’t it Tess?” I decided to start this post as I ended the last – with a literary quote (welcome to Pseuds Corner). But this week I … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening Times | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Preparation & Performance

This week I learnt that plans are afoot for the 2022 Open Gardens Day in the village. I have been told the date (confidentially), but as it probably needs to go through the usual committees and organisational debates, I am … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening Times | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Shed Heaven

Meteorologically, winter is over. Spring was sprung on the 1st March and we can start to ease our gardening lockdown with the first sowings of the year. I have sorted through the welter of catalogues and now sit with packets … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening Times | 1 Comment

Feed The Birds

This weekend Mrs B and I took part in the Big Garden Birdwatch a kind of informal National Census of Birds organised by the RSPB in order to produce its annual avian Domesday Book. Although the BGB has been going … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening Times | Leave a comment

Big Butts and Turning Worms

Shorter days and longer lockdowns means more time spent on the internet, resulting in some interesting shopping results for the Midlife Garden. Anticipation of the next DPD or Hermes delivery is what is getting us through this pandemic. Even better … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening Times | 1 Comment

Green Shoots and Chili Songs

We are past the winter solstice and the days will start to lengthen. It is a time to once again look forward, rather than dwell on the present (poor pun, but apt in the case of our reduced, lockdown Christmas). … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening Times | Leave a comment

One Hot Minute – A Soul to Squeeze

“Hey”. It’s Mrs B. We are in the kitchen. She says to me “This is the place I was hoping to prepare dinner”. She has that Desecration Smile (whatever that is) as she looks at what is easily my best … Continue reading

Posted in Gardening Times | 11 Comments