Today I'm attempting to 'leave the gardening to the gardener I'm paying'. My new gardener, Kathryn, is great, but I feel guilty about leaving so much to them, so last time they were here, I pushed myself to do too much gardening myself & really paid for it. Kind of negating the whole point of paying someone because I'm not well enough to do much myself...

Wish me luck!

#LivingWithME #MECFS #GardeningWithME #Gardening

Finished the planting for the front bed, for now. Obviously these need to fill out (some rain would be nice :eyeroll: ), and will be planting lots of bulbs in autumn.

The garden is starting to take shape. Given this area was just grass 3 months ago, it's not too bad at all. I saw quite a few ladybirds today, and regularly get goldfinches on the birdfeeders, so the garden is slowly coming to life. :plantmage6:

More plants awaiting planting for the other bed, but that's for another day. I need to rest for now!

@gardening @plants #Gardening #GardeningWithME

Placing out more plants, then planting. This is my happy place.

Doing a plant, resting, another plant, rest. #GardeningWithME is slow, but with music, the sun & birds, it feels rather peaceful.

@gardening @plants #Gardening #Plants #MECFS

We got the Sorrel into the ground and it's looking really good.

This (Rumex acetosa, an non-flowering cultivar) is probably the easiest vegetable to grow, ever, particularly important if you have few spoons.

Apart from watering it in when you first plant it, the only work is picking the leaves to use in cooking. I've written more about growing Sorrel on my blog, & it links to several recipes https://www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2016/05/spoonie-veg-sorrel.html

The taste is like a slightly lemon flavoured spinach, only, yummier.

@plants #Gardening #FediKitchen #EdiblePlants #GardeningWithME #DisabledGardening

We got the Sorrel into the ground and it's looking really good.

This (Rumex acetosa, an non-flowering cultivar) is probably the easiest vegetable to grow, ever, particularly important if you have few spoons.

Apart from watering it in when you first plant it, the only work is picking the leaves to use in cooking. I've written more about growing Sorrel on my blog, & it links to several recipes https://www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2016/05/spoonie-veg-sorrel.html

The taste is like a slightly lemon flavoured spinach, only, yummier.

@plants #Gardening #FediKitchen #EdiblePlants #GardeningWithME

Spent a mix of the afternoon potting up some perennials, with rests on our old futon sofa, with a 70's playlist. Such happy!

Have decided that I'm making room for the old sofa in my new greenhouse (hopefully going up in summer). This makes gardening with MECFS much more doable.

#GardeningWithME #DisabledGardening

The first phase of the landscaping was finished at the end of yesterday. Hurrah! It looks bare now, but it ready for planting.

The large paved area is for the chairs & table. The raised area next to the step is for the air sourced heat pump. The two raised beds will be for some fruit & vegetables, the lower bed will be a mix of alpine scree bed, Sorrel patch, & wisteria, the latter will be growing up the pergola. The pergola will be built in phase 3.

Exhausted but happy.

#Gardening #GardeningWithME #Plants

There is clearly quite a few disabled gardeners on the Fedi. Let's try using hashtags to when we post about gardening keep in touch with each other. Say:

#DisabledGardeners #DisabledGardening

I also use #GardeningWithME in relation to gardening with #MECFS.

Any other suggestions?

P.S. if you think you are disabled, you are disabled. No gatekeeping here. :plantmage6:

@gardening @plants #Gardening #Disability @disability

#GarlicPosting
Sorted through my harvested #garlic today, choosing the best ones for growing on next season.

The bulbs were smaller this year, the long dry Spring & Summer really impacted their growth. I tried to regularly water them, but my #MECFS symptoms were bad during that period & I didn't keep up with the task as much as I should. Still, I've got c. 80 bulbs, enough for me to share with a few friends & keep me in garlic for another year!

#GardeningWithME @plants #Gardening

New blogpost: Garlic harvest 2022, and news
https://www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2022/07/garlic-harvest-2022-and-news.html

#Gardening #GardeningWithME #Garlic @plants

#GarlicPosting

Yesterday we harvested my garlic crop, and as the weather is so dry (hot!) at the moment, I'm letting it cure in the sun for a few days.

The bulbs are smaller this year; maybe a combination of a drier Spring & me not being well enough to do any watering. Still, they are a better size that most supermarket garlic!

There are 8 varieties of garlic separated out into individual trays, & c. 80 bulbs of garlic all up.

#Garlic #Garden #KitchenGarden @plants #GardeningWithME #MECFS

Have boosted the #Garlic scape toot from 2 years ago, as just to tired to come up with a new one, and the info in the link hasn't changed.

#Gardening #GardeningWithME

What I also love about these annuals is that I just threw some seed on the soil last October, did nothing, and voila!

Very good #GardeningWithME growing!

#MECFS

@plants

Me: I'm really going to try and take a step back and carefully rethink how to garden with a chronic illness, when we move to our new place in Wales.

Also me: OMG, hardly any frosts, I can grow apricots!!!

#Gardening #GardeningWithME #MECFS @ChronicIllness

Sorting garlic = nil
Sitting outside in the sun tidying & putting my two tender plants into my greenhouse = 2

I wish I could do more, but #GardeningWithME means I have to stop before I start feeling too tired and too much pain.

#Gardening #MECFS #SmallGoodThings

Spent a short time in the garden today pruning the Quince tree, most of it sitting down. Not a heavy job, but now my body feels like it's run a marathon, up a mountain, with rocks in a backpack.

That's what it's like #GardeningWithME, in case you wondered.

#MECFS #Gardening @MECFS

So damn exhausted at the moment and barely have energy for the most basic stuff, and have now realised that the birdies have been getting all my blueberries as I've not had the energy to pick them.

Well, I hope the birdies have enjoyed the fruit!

#GardeningWithME #MECFS #Gardening

#GardeningWithME - marrows are what happens when you don't have the energy to even harvest a courgette/zucchini. It weighs 1.628kg.

I'm going to use the marrow for soup.
#Gardening #KitchenGarden #MECFS
@plants

I so badly want to go and plant out some #alpines now. But I barely have the energy to sit up for long, so I guess that's a no. Damn you #PEM / #MECFS!!!

#GardeningWithME

Managed a short time in the sun today, sowing parsnips and beetroot. Tomorrow it gets cool again (from 21 today to 10 tomorrow) for the next couple of weeks. I did push myself a little to sow these, but was nice to make the most of a sunny Spring day.

:plantmage6: 🌱

#GardeningWithME #MECFS #Spoonie #Gardening