Spring

Spring is lovely and long here, near Beaune in France. It starts in February with the daffodils blooming followed by the asparagus shoots appearing in March. Then the strawberries come into fruit. And then there are the eggs… Spring is when our flock gets broody and we are up to our eyes in eggs.

How to make a vertical garden out of recycled plastic bottles | PumpjackPIddlewick

Every time I tweet about our recycled milk bottle, wall garden I get lots of interest. And it kind of makes sense. After all, the cost is minimal, the space is minimal – could be done almost anywhere you have a vertical space, inside, outside – and looks rather cool (at least I think so).Read More →

learning how to water my garden at PumpjackPiddlewick

Becoming a good gardener has always been a dream. My grandparents had this amazing allotment on the outskirts of Amsterdam. My mother is forever creating beautiful spaces wherever she goes. And me, for most of my life, I have had a brown thumb. Why? Well, foremost, learning how to waterRead More →

How to build garden raised beds out of pallets at PumpjackPiddlewick

Recently we have had a lot of rain. Rain, rain, rain. Plu, plu, plu. (Don’t you just love the French word for rain? It sounds just like a drop of rain hitting a surface.) It’s a good excuse to build some new raised beds. This time out of pallets. GettingRead More →

Having the patience to grow asparagus at PumpjackPiddlewick

Our vegetable garden has this space off to the right that has been earmarked for asparagus from the very beginning. It’s tucked away to the side, not quite out of sight, but definitely a bit out of mind. The area one may have finally gotten to after all else wasRead More →