Our Courtyard Garden

Mom and I have quite a few plans for our ‘courtyard garden’ which is just outside our little kitchen.  Since we aren’t really able to go to a nursery at the moment due to a number of practical reasons, we have to grow everything from seed.

I am one of those people who want things done NOW! I want to see flowers TODAY, not in a month or two’s time (quite impossible!).  Growing everything from scratch is certainly very good for teaching me patience!

Living out of town is sometimes a challenge, but in a good way, I think. Instead of just going out and buying seedlings (not that there is anything wrong with that), we have to make do with what we’ve got and that can be quite a lot of fun!

Today I shifted a few things around in the courtyard to create a pretty garden atmosphere for my mother who is in the final stages of pregnancy. I love growing vegetables more than flowers, but I really enjoyed planning what flowers to plant this season!

I used tree stumps to raise the pots off the ground a bit. We have a toddler and a puppy in the house, and I don’t exactly want to come out and find bits of flowers and pots scattered around the courtyard one morning!

One of the shops which we supply with our flavoured fudges in the Knysna Waterfront, uses catering size cans of tomatoes, gherkins, etc, so we asked them to PLEASE keep the tins for us! Nancy hammered holes in the bottoms of the tins with a nail and filled them up with compost (she is our handy girl who loves jobs such as these).  Mom potted her precious strawberries in them and they really look great!

I made a display in both corners of the courtyard.

Here is the other side. As you can see, we have a lot of work to do before it turns into the ‘fairy garden’ that I envisage, but at least for now it isn’t messy. During the next few days I want to plant Lobelia, Phlox and a few other pretty flowers in the empty pots. Old tin cans or old enamel cups, jugs, etc, work very well as pots and create such a beautiful effect in a normally ugly courtyard. Mom and I can now sit on the couch and enjoy our flowers!

And, though the soil is still very cold and the days aren’t always too warm, I do have some veggies growing! The barley and the beetroot are doing very well, but others need a bit more TLC, I think!

I also wanted to show you this beautiful flower which I found the other day at our friend's farm. Can you actually believe God’s amazing creativity? He loves to make beautiful things and I encourage you to take time to praise God and recognize His incredible beauty!

I hope you are having a beautiful day,

Kelly-Anne