Five years ago our lives were very different.  My wife and I were both commuting for at least 2 hours a day whilst using a childminder to look after our young family. We were on a treadmill of long days and early mornings without a great quality of life.  Something had to break and unfortunately that was me.  From that point we decided to work our way to a different kind of life and now here we are on the Isle of Wight. We have opted to try and simplify our lifestyle.

We recently moved house and I was talking with a neighbour at the weekend whereby he asked me if I was a gardener.  I answered negatively – that sounded like a profession to me, but it did get me thinking.  I like the idea of gardening, but not being a gardener – to me that means doing it for others and that’s too much responsibility.

Our new garden is much bigger than any we have ever had before and has been neglected for some time.  There is an area of raised beds for a vegetable patch, these are overgrown with weeds right now, but I’m using a small corner of one of them to attempt to grow some runner beans.  First lesson – use long canes!!  This is my first effort.  I am also growing some tomatoes (in a grow bag), chilli’s in a pot, and a cucumber plant.

I would like my children to get some appreciation of where food comes from and the effort involved in producing it – that’s really important.  I also want to be able to prove to them that it can be done and its cheaper / healthier / tastier / better for the environment to grow your own food if at all possible.  As ever, time is the main problem, but now that I have left the rat race behind there is more of a chance that I’ll be able to spend some proper time in the garden.

Other jobs that I’d like to be sorting in the garden sooner rather than later (but I’ve got to get used to the fact that the seasons affect what grows and when so I’m not sure when the best times will be yet) include:

Weeding, digging over, and planting up the front garden so that it has a cottage garden feel (I’m investigating what this actually means)

Encourage the front hedge to be consistent (fill in gaps, grow higher).  Its brambles, ivy, and bind weed right now

Sort the lawn out so that its actually more grass than weeds

Clear out the pond, relining and refilling it, re-bedding slabs, and restoring the waterfall that used to run into it many years ago

Behind the pond is a shady area – I’d like to try and see what kind of “woodland” planting I can do here – I’m thinking ferns, moss and so on

Establish a hedge along the side of the garden for privacy

Recommission the raised beds for a vegetable patch and then work out what needs to go where

Have a wild meadow patch to encourage the bees and butterflies

Build a greenhouse or similar – something to keep the plants warmish in the winter

Replace the dilapidated shed before it falls down – this will require proper money

So my problem is that, other than watching Gardeners World on a Friday and having a bit of enthusiasm, I have zero gardening knowledge.  I can dig a hole and that’s about it.  I’ve tried learning some plant names but then promptly forget.  I generally describe plants as red flower, purple flower, long grass, dead twigs, so I really need to get my head around this and work out a strategy for remembering the names.

However, armed with the internet and the team at Gardeners World (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mw1h/episodes/guide) I’m sure I can make a pretty good go at this.  I just need to fit it in along with everything else.  I’ll be keeping you updated with what I’m doing and how it’s going – please let me know how you think I’m getting on and if you have any advice!