Some of you may have seen my blog A powerful gardening for wellbeing story which featured a much loved friend’s lovely husband. He had been going through a horrid time in 2021 and really needed a pick me up. Bring on the beautiful vegetables.
The facts are well known that gardening can benefit the mind, body and soul and harnessing the power of gardening can improve our mental health and wellbeing.
Consequently, he made some fabulous, raised beds and grew hundreds of cosmos flowers and became a contented gardener.
I hinted at the end of that post………..
Couple of words for a sneak preview: Greenhouse and vegetables. The man is a gardener, he is The Chief Gardener.
An update on the Jolly Chief Gardener
The Chief Gardener had become a passionate vegetable grower and a jolly happy chap as well. He was still sowing some flowers for the pollinators and vases, but vegetables had become his new passion.
He was running out of room for his seed trays as a result of sowing flowers and vegetables.
Evidence was sent over of the seed trays taking over their conservatory. Of course, I laughed at the photos.
The crunch came when my dear friend wanted to use the table in their conservatory for supper. She sent a message with another photo. The table was covered in seed trays of germinating vegetables. Evidence can be seen in the photo above.
However, we did laugh about the situation, and I was really not surprised to see that photo.
Primarily, once you become a gardener, there is never enough space for sowing seeds it seems. I have a twenty-foot greenhouse but still end up with some seed trays in my conservatory. Primarily, potting on over 200 dahlia tubers is squeezing up the space I have!
Clearly, when more photos were sent over, a solution needed to be found.
My dear friend hatches a plan
The Chief Gardener had a birthday coming up, so a plan was formed. My dear friend considered ordering him a greenhouse in the hope she could use the conservatory again. In addition, perhaps even get to use the table for some supper!
Consequently, she placed the order for a new greenhouse.
The Chief Gardener was thrilled with his gift. First up, he chose an area in the garden for his lovely new greenhouse. Next came his super fast installation. Finally he filled his new greenhouse with tomato seedlings. He achieved all of this very promptly indeed!
A passion for growing beautiful vegetables
Ultimately, a fabulous present for a gardener. The greenhouse was displaying some very healthy looking crops. Also, the Chief Gardener was becoming experienced in growing the crops they wanted to eat.
Of course, I checked my tomato plants when I received his photos. His were fruiting more quickly than mine! I pretended to be cross, but really, it was a wonderful result. Especially for a new gardener. No wonder my dear friend is so proud of her beloved husband. I’m super proud of him and jolly impressed too.
He then sowed his calabrese and his radishes, lettuce, courgettes, beans. There was no stopping him.
In addition, he is now growing carrots, beetroot, and garlic.
I received a message from him towards the end of the year. The message read ” Looking forward to next year already. Learnt a lot this year that I want to put into practice.”
I am so pleased to say, the gardening bug has well and truly taken hold. How absolutely fabulous!
After beautiful vegetables, next came the fruit
The Chief Gardener decided to grow some fruit. He knew the benefits of a diet of fruit and vegetables. First off, some strawberry seeds for some delicious meals in the future.
Now, he has blackcurrants, redcurrants, blueberries, and raspberries as well, all planted in the garden.
To sum up, fabulous fruit and beautiful vegetables were grown and nurtured and they enjoy many fresh, tasty and nutritious meals.
And as we know, eating healthy food regularly helps us to regulate our blood sugar and gives us the energy we need to live well. This was one of the top tips posted on https://www.mind.org.uk/get-involved/mental-health-awareness-week/. A fabulous aid to living well.
The latest post on the lovely Chief Gardener can be found below. He became fabulously fruity!
The Chief Gardener grows a tasty fruit feast
Here comes The Queen of Thyme
As a result of all this gardening, more plans were afoot.
My dear friend decided that she would join in this gardening lark, after observing how happy her husband had become.
She had always loved herbs and decided to grow as many as possible. She bought books as well to learn what to grow and how to use the herbs.
And below you will find the first post about the beautiful Queen of Thyme
Behold The Beautiful Queen of Thyme
One of the books she bought was Grow Herbs: Essential know-how and expert advice by Stephanie Mahon https://amzn.to/42Z6eEy
A book with plenty of information on herbs. The chapters cover: using herbs, why grow herbs, herbs for every garden, and provides lots of information about different herbs. Also, has some good photos which are useful.
My go to books for beautiful vegetables
My own, go to book for vegetables, is RHS Grow your own veg by Carol Klein. https://amzn.to/420eX86
This one is a book I have referred to time and time again. The photographs are super clear and helpful as well.
You might well have seen Carol Klein on Gardeners World, so you will know how exuberant she is and full of enthusiasm. Consequently, her books are also full of enthusiasm and encouragement for both new gardeners and those more experienced.
So, whether you want to grow some beautiful vegetables and only have a small space, pots, raised beds or a large space, this book is useful for everyone. https://amzn.to/43jyTnQ
I also have her book: Cook your Own Veg https://amzn.to/3otFM70 which is packed full of recipes. These are split into Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, so super useful.
Plenty of recipes for the abundance of courgettes we usually have! There are also notes on harvesting, preparing soil for the following year and three sister planting. I thoroughly recommend this book.
This blog is a participant in Amazon’s Associate’s Program. If you click on one of these links above, and make a purchase I may receive a commission, at no additional cost to you.
Concluding this jolly tale
To conclude this jolly tale of beautiful vegetables, fabulous fruit, and herbs, we now have two more happy and contented gardeners.
Two gardeners who grow their own food and herbal teas. Super healthy people, who may be able to have supper on their table in the conservatory.
Mmmm, we will see how long the greenhouse remains large enough.
Actually, I have just received a message as I type this blog post…………
“Oh, my goodness Dahlia Queen, the table is out of use yet again. My Chief Gardener husband is turning MY conservatory into a GREENHOUSE again when he has one outside!!!!”
Whoops – I am laughing again, and so is the lovely Queen of Thyme!
I will keep you posted on what happened next!
Thinking about companion gardening ……..
One of my posts stars Remus Nautilus, my beautiful black cat. Companion gardener and all round show off! Click below to see him in all his glory
Companion planting with a beautiful cat
Also seen at the conclusion of my post Garden to empower, out the anxiety relaxing on the grass. He gets everywhere!
In addition, there is a post on my fabulously helpful chickens so click below if you would like to see that.
Companion planting with beautiful chickens
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2 responses to “The Chief Gardener’s beautiful vegetables”
Another great blog Dehila Queen. Keep up the good work.
Thank you Martin for the lovely feedback. Much appreciated.