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Early June in the garden

A garden in Cinderford in the Forest of Dean Well, the last month has seen all sorts of weather. Last weeks thunder storms took me off line for a week as my modem was destroyed. This is one of the best times for gardening as most of the vegetables and flowers are now either ready or are in the garden, …

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The garden in May

Gardening in the Forest of Dean Gardening in the forest of dean has it’s own virtues and problems. More on that later. Well, spring is truly here now. Our potatoes are doing very well, they are all in pots and bags this year. I’ll add some photos at the end of this gardening blog. I have been planting seeds in …

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Planting the vegetable garden

The vegetable Garden After all the horrendous weather this year, at last it is warm and dry enough to make a start in planting the vegetable garden. We still have lots to do of course but it is marvellous to be able to make a good start. Planting Potatoes This year all our potatoes are being planted in bags of …

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Back to normal after the snow

Snow in the Forest of Dean Well, like a lot of other folk we suffered in the latest snow and cold weather. It was impossible to get the car out because of the drifts, but the worst thing was having the boiler freeze up, so we had no central heating or hot water. We were both a bit ripe by …

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Planning the garden for 2018

Gardening Plans for this year We had a very mixed year in 2017. We did ok with most things and very well with leeks and potatoes but once again all our tomatoes fell to the blight, so we will not be bothering with them this year at all. We have also declared war on the dreaded cabbage whites. They decimated …

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2nd Year in The Forest of Dean

2 years living in the Forest of Dean This is our second year of living in the Forest of Dean. Time has certainly flown. Both Vanda and I agree it was a brilliant move. Life is slower out in the country, we are surrounded by the most wonderful countryside, and the Forest of Dean town we chose to live in, …

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The garden in December

The garden in December After all the snow our garden is looking fairly tatty. We are still harvesting leeks, carrots and a few other bits and pieces, but this year is not a patch on last year. Our sprouts are pathetic. They were well and truly attacked earlier by the dreaded cabbage white and never really recovered. Last year we …

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Beginners Guide to Starting a Vegetable Garden

Growing your own vegetables is one of the most rewarding parts of gardening. Yet planning and creating a garden can be a daunting prospect for beginners. Here on A Life in the Forest of Dean we have discussed our vegetable garden in June. In this post we look at some top tips to help you start your own vegetable garden. Start Small …

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End of summer garden tidy up

Tidying the Garden September is here and the weather is changing. Yesterday was bright and sunny, but today it is chilly and wet. Yesterday we took down the sweet peas. They have been marvelous this year but are now leggy and covered in greenfly. We can now see the clematis on the arch as the sweet peas really went mad …

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The end of the summer garden

Summer garden nearly over Not quite of course, but you can see the changes. We are still eating beans. The runner beans are producing bumper harvests. We also tried some french climbing beans. The purple ones are delicious and grow well, but the white and yellow are just not as nice, so I’ll give them a miss next year. Other …