Monday, 20 April 2009

HUGH'S PATCH, FROM SCRATCH.

The phone conversation went something like this....

"Hey Mum, wanna come round to my place on the weekend?"

"Yeah, that would be nice, Hugh"

"How about Sunday"

"OK....( mother mentally re-arranging her plans....) Can I bring anything?"

" I thought we might get that new bed ready in the garden. Can you bring the wheelbarrow?"

( Mother thinking.... my car is small, the wheel barrow is enormous but hey, I am inventive...) "No problem Hugh.... I might get some seedlings from Diana too, I need some anyway"

"Cool. Thanks Mum, see you then."

Diana had a stall at the the Stirling Autumn Garden Fair on Sunday, so I went for a spin, with the wheelbarrow snuggly fitted into most of my car and various other bits and pieces tucked in around the sides. My fork and spade were there and my whole gardening bag, complete with ho-mi, labels, twine, wire and a multitude of clipping, digging, and planting tools and various screwdrivers and a multi-grip wrench as well as assorted watering system repair odds and ends. I also threw in 2 bags of compost and a loaf of bread.... well, you just never know, when you go to Hugh's!

image Here is Hugh, proud owner of a pile of dead stuff and lots of rubbish...but hey, what are mothers for? image Luckily, this mother came prepared... and got started on the demolition while Hugh did another job...
image Hugh drilled holes in this bin to make an in-situ compost maker.... only I didn't bring any worms.... well, he never said..... image
In place. The herbs are going really well in the bed we made a few months ago
imageThat looks better... but very dry so I asked Hugh to find some pipe so we could use the water from the tank... image Like his mother, Hugh is innovative.... too bad if the pipe is joined to the house..

A moment later it wasn't....
image image We made channels for the water to run in and held it all in place with the fork.... while we had a drink to cool off...
image Hugh wanted the seedlings in 10 nice neat rows so the insects could eat them faster.... sorry Hugh!
I hate rows and rules... and regulations and governments and....ok that's enough....
image
We put a sheet over it all to shade it for a few days.... good luck and happy gardening and eating, Hugh.

There is nothing I would rather have done that Sunday than help Hugh get started on a new bed for his vegetables. It is a sweet feeling to have given your children the desire to grow delicious food for themselves. Hugh is a fabulous cook and I am looking forward to a meal or two in the future, using some of these things we planted today.

2 comments:

chaiselongue said...

This is lovely, Kate. I know how you feel - we're going to see our daughter soon and she now has a garden for the first time. I'm so looking forward to helping her get it started ... and trying not to be too bossy! I'm sure you'll have great meals from Hugh's veg.

Maggie said...

It looks like you had a great day. I hope to have a few days like that when my kids are off on their own.