Garden – Page 12 – CONVENT AND CHAPEL

Feeding the Multitudes

Published on March 18, 2013March 18, 2013 by conventandchapelLeave a comment

One of the great advantages of being in the country is having the space to grow veggies. I’ve played around in the past with some herbs and well-placed tomatoes in pots, but nothing of a serious scale or variety.

This week was a major milestone in my gardening adventures, with the installation of four large veggie beds – I think they are about 2.5m x 1m each, anyway, a generous size for me to play with.

In a flash, ably assisted, I fully planted out two of the beds – one with a mix of berries – raspberry, blackberry, youngberry, boysenberry, blueberry, elderberry, loganberry and, of course, strawberries. The other a bit of a mix – broccoli, leeks, radishes, asparagus (which I believe takes a few years to harvest, but then is bountiful for years to come), brussel sprouts, beans, celery.

Next weekend I plan to plant out another box under instruction from the neighbours with winter root veg – parsnip, turnips, swede, onions, carrots. I’ll then make the difficult choices about what will go in the last planter. I’m sure I’ll end up wishing I had five or six beds towards the end. The plan is to organise culinary exploits around the fresh produce available. I’m imagining summer puddings of berries, berry ice-cream and hopefully some berry liquers.

Whilst I’ll end up with a massive surplus (at least I hope so, otherwise it means I’ve massacred plants!), it’s an exciting stage for the Convent and me as we take a small step towards supporting ourselves and offering some hospitality to guests and neighbours.

A Tradition of Roses

Published on February 18, 2013July 9, 2013 by conventandchapel2 Comments

One of the first things I was told about Kandos was that the only roses that didn’t grow, were ones that weren’t in the ground. That certainly seems to be the case here as even the humblest of gardens have great roses.

In its hey-day, the Convent was well-known for it’s beautiful roses, including the trellises which were used as a backdrop for many photos. Some of the original roses still survive and are magnificent when in full flower.

In keeping with the tradition, I’ve started adding more to the garden, endeavouring to widen the variety. Whilst I’ll never compete with Marie from the Fairway Motel who has over 200 roses on display and is a highlight of the biannual Garden Fair, I should be able to do the Convent proud.

Apparently there is a “Saint” series of roses which will come in handy. I’ve already discovered there is a Good Samaritan rose, which will have to be the signature rose for the Convent. Whilst I bought two standards, it appears I was beaten to the punch by the nuns and, not surprisingly, there are already two old ones here.

Some of the new additions include two Pierre de Ronsards – their dusky pink should work well climbing the wall of the cement block garage.

A red Pierre de Ronsard and a pink Duchesse de Brabant that are struggling along the side cyclone fence.

Newly planted Iceberg and Cecile Brunner small climbers on the back wall.

A Crepuscle light apricot climber on the back side garden bed, which I think might be a star, with a Pope John Paul II alongside. A Lamarque old rambler has been added to the garden bed, which if true to form, may dominate. Other additions include a couple of small Champions in pots and a David Austen Molineux. A Pinky climber remains in a pot and one day may make it to the Grotto.

I’m hoping these new additions and the original roses will put up a reasonable show later in the year. Will do a rose posting later to see how well they all do. Being an optimist, I will put vases on my buying list.

The Garden – First Steps

Published on February 12, 2013July 9, 2013 by conventandchapelLeave a comment

Part of the attraction of a country property is the opportunity to have a rewarding garden. I’m a keen but unprofessional garden and eager to make something special out of this block.

At one stage I believe the nuns had the garden looking beautiful with formal hedges, garden beds and trellised roses. However after about 40 years of low maintenance, there’s not a lot left to show. On the bright side, it’s good soil and a lovely open block and well fenced with gorgeous old ash brick fence front and back.

One of my first challenges was the back driveway corner, one of the few parts of the block that could be seen by the locals as they came to church. Pretty ugly – dry dirt, overgrown shrubs and so many weeds.

As there was already an existing Primrose Jasmine and the yellow Banksia Rose I had bunged in, yellow and white seemed a cheery and appropriate colour scheme. What started as a few marigolds and daisies in the corner, escalated into a serious garden bed of roses, perennials, herbs and fruit trees.

The trees include a fig, golden hornet crabapple, bay tree, quince, medlar and prunus. I have a feeling some may need to be moved elsewhere in the not-so-distant future. My money is on the Crepuscle rose (a miniature vigorous pale apricot climber) to be the star of the show.