Post Comment Love 23 - 25 February

Hello there, and welcome back to this week’s #PoCoLo - a friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any blog post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked, comment and share some of that love.

Please don’t link up posts which are older as they will be removed from the linky, and if older posts are linked then please don’t feel that it’s necessary to comment on those. If you were here last week it was great to have you along, if you’re new here this week we’re pleased you’ve joined us.

It’s hard to believe that we’re almost at the end of February isn’t it? Even with its extra day this year, in comparison to January it seems to have flown by. But it’s so great to see the longer days, and the daylight creeping towards the evenings.

My photo this week is one from a visit to the nearby Norwood Park Hall which I saw was opening as part of the NGS’s Open Gardens. Thankfully its opening coincided with a dry and blue skied day, even though it was a windy one, I’ve some more photos which I plan to share here soon.

But until then, thanks for linking up.

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Challenging what edible gardens can be

* I was invited to the press preview for and provided with a pair of tickets to Gardeners’ World Live so I’m marking posts from the show as 'Ad’ - as usual my views and opinions are very much my own. Be sure to check out all of my posts from the show.

This isn’t any kitchen garden. It’s one that challenges what edible gardens can be, and does it really well. It was one of my favourite gardens at the show, and as is so often the case every time you looked you saw something more.

Initially the borders appear purely ornamental, but every plant in this garden is edible.

Every plant.

Wow.

And you’ll even spot some conventional vegetables in there, along with plenty of inspiration I’m sure.

As with every garden, and one that grows edibles especially, insects are important and so the bug hotel makes every insect welcome. The round corten steel exterior filled with pipes of varying sizes, themselves filled with insect friendly materials also looked good.

As I walked around the garden - in fact I went round twice - I kept seeing more and more plants, some challenged me as being edible, but they were. The cannas I struggled with but its the root that you can eat, and while not something many of us normally have on our plate, it met the criteria for the garden.

Clearly I was far too excitable about the mushrooms growing along the fence as I’ve chopped part of them off - unbelievably this is the best picture I’ve got.

In the greenhouse the plants were enjoying the very warm day, but I was more taken with the extra growing space that these pea shoots and micro herbs were in. I’m keen to get some of these when I get a greenhouse sorted for here - as my plan is to have a greenhouse on the smaller side, so being able to make full use of its space is likely to be key.

It really was a special garden, and well designed by Lucy Hutchinson from She Grows Veg - who also has a fabulous Instagram feed, so do go and check that out for plenty more growing inspiration. It’s also a garden I enjoyed revisiting today on this greyest of grey and wet days.

Roll on the spring!

* With thanks to Gardeners’ World for inviting me to Gardeners’ World Live, it was as fabulous as ever!

Making some hanging lavender sachets, finally

Way back in 2014 I shared a link and a tutorial to some gorgeous hanging lavender sachets I’d seen and fallen in love with, and clearly had intentions to make some for myself. Well fast forward to our house move and I rediscovered the pieces of material I’d cut in preparation and two sachets which I’d mostly sewn.

THE TWO THAT WERE MOSTLY SEWN, NOW FINISHED

Thankfully I’d left myself enough clues about my original plans, and so with my ever increasing supply of ‘magpied’ ribbons (from clothes, Christmas crackers, chocolates and no doubt many more places) I went through and laid out items to decorate each of the sachets.

They were a great way to get back to being familiar with my sewing machine, after a longer than intended break. They were small, creative enough but not overly challenging, as the majority of sewing was in straight lines. I realised though after completing the two above that adding the hanging ribbon afterwards could be time consuming, and therefore likely to not happen - so I made a change, and pinned the hanging ribbon so it could be part of the seam at the top of the sachet.

And then I motored through them, until it came to finishing them off.

I’d filled them with lavender and pinned the gaps at the bottom closed and they were ready to be hand sewn, and hung. But it was always the job I never quite got to, putting it off - you know the sort. Until I realised that I could sew the gaps closed across the bottom by machine, and then at least they’d be done and no one would be none the wiser (that is until I just told you!)

And so my mini production line was off again.

It was simple really, and I don’t think look any worse for the adjustments I’ve made. Though I’d had my fill of sewing lavender sachets (for the time being anyway) and so I packed the remaining future sachets back into the box, but I know my future self will be pleased that I’ve added yoyos, buttons and ribbons for decorating and hanging so when I’m in need of a simple sewing project, I have one that’s ready made.

I’m really pleased with how the lavender sachets turned out, and have found plenty of wardrobes and cupboards here to hang them in, in fact you may have spotted one of them hanging in the bathroom cupboard with the new shelves.

I love that how each of them are different, and how they all use remnants of material either from old clothes that I’ve cut up, or from previous projects alongside the ribbon and buttons I’ve also saved. Plus they smell lovely, and thankfully not too overpowering!

And had you spotted that there are eleven finished sachets? Well it’s totally a coincidence that I finished these in the week leading up to my blog’s eleventh birthday, I picked up this project towards the end of January and while I’d like to say I plan ahead, well that would be a total fabrication! Spooky though hey?