This will never do!!

Ok folks its been a while and for that I apologise. Why? Who knows but this year I shall blog more. Above is a photo of the polytunnel at work this time last year. It seems hard to believe that we are in an equivalent season when there are daffodils flowering in the garden now and snowdrops showing their heads through the soil.
Today was the first big sowing day for The Physic Garden. Chillies, Stevia, Goji berries, Strawberry guava and wild strawberries have all been sown, alongside 2 trays of salad leaves for the 365 Day Salad Challenge, as instigated by @Malvernmeet.

The idea is that you grow enough salad leaves, of varying varieties of course, to be self sufficient in them every day of the year. Not such an easy task to begin at this time of year as things may be slow to germinate but we will see. To date I have sown 2 varieties of mixed leaf from Thompson and Morgan, one which is crunchy and one which is spicy. They say they will germinate undercover all year round so we will see how long they take.
Lots has changed at The Physic Garden, the main thing being that Kristi has decided to concentrate on motherhood and her amazing newborn. So then there was only one-a slightly scary proposition but one which I am just getting on with. For the first time this year I am offering garden consultations as well as doing a series of workshops with the lovely Georgie at www.commonfarmflowers.com. The first one is next weekend and will concentrate on pruning and training fruit. For more info visit The Common Farm website or see www.thephysicgarden.co.uk.The garden consultations are based around the basic premise of The Physic Garden, which is that productive and beautiful should go hand in hand in the garden and are not mutually exclusive.
With this in mind I am setting about redesigning my own garden within the concept of a forest garden, but on a very small scale. So far I have taken quite a lot out and am concentrating improving the soil in a particularly difficult area, before planting. The challenges I face are firstly the fact that the space is approx 3m by 3m but also that one border is south facing and struggles with drought and the other, which is the one I am working on now, is north west facing and quite deeply shaded by a very large plum tree. Just as well I like a challenge then! I shall take photos as we go and blog regularly about how its going.
I'll leave you with this picture of midsummer at RHS Wisley. Here's to the start of the new season.