Gardening - Is It All Worth It?

Gardening Section

Recent articles:

The Garden Gems of Picardy

Rooting Out Those Pesky Moles!

I know that some people are anti-gardening. Perhaps it’s because of the amount of work involved. Well, there has to be some work to start with, but if your garden is planned reasonably well, the hard work doesn't have to continue forever, and I would argue that the rewards far outweigh the little bit of effort required.

My philosophy is that you should be able to enjoy your garden, so make time to sit and gaze. I don't worry too much about a few weeds, I never set out to make a show garden, I did it for us to enjoy.

Our plot is about an acre, divided roughly into a quarter for the house, outbuilding and gravelled area, another quarter for the lawn and flower beds, and the remaining half which contains the fruit and vegetable plots, but is mostly rough grass.

The house, outbuilding and gravelled area takes little time or effort apart from some flower tubs and hanging baskets which, in the summer months, require a daily watering.

The lawn of course, needs a regular cut and although it can be a bit tiresome the result is worth the effort, it takes about an hour and the reward is a nice cold beer on the terrace. I usually mow the lawn mid afternoon so after my beer I have a shower to freshen up and then it is time for relaxation.

The flower beds are mostly shrubs which are maturing nicely and need little attention other than an occasional hoe to keep the weeds down. I have a rose bed, newly planted this year so the roses will need pruning later and apart from that I have some annuals. This year French Marigolds, and they have been a picture all summer at the front of the lawn and around the rose bed.

Then to the fruit and vegetables: I have to admit there is a fair bit of the manual stuff going on here but when the weather is cool it keeps you warm and it provides some good, useful exercise. For the vegetables, I have ten raised beds each measuring 2.4 X 1.2 metres plus another area about 5 metres square. It is not massive but it does produce us lots of lovely fresh vegetables. This year we have grown potatoes, carrots, beetroot, celery, celeriac, leeks, parsnips, lettuce, tomatoes and butternut squash and all for the cost of a few packets of seed and a bit of effort.

I harvested my butternuts recently and the twenty or so fruit weighed in at just over 30 kg. I still have a few small ones that will hopefully grow on a bit yet. The value of the butternuts, based on a recent Hesdin market price of 3.75 Euros per kg, is over 100 euros. Makes it worthwhile in my book, they are very tasty, keep right through the winter and, yes, I have made a note of Sara Dobson's soup recipe!

Fruit is fabulous stuff. What could be better than fresh strawberries taken straight from the plant or raspberries freshly picked? Not much in my opinion, but we also grow apples and pears, redcurrants (homemade jelly is so much nicer than the shop bought stuff), blueberries, rhubarb and a thornless blackberry. We share with friends who have peaches, plums and nuts, so we are well provided for as far as fruit is concerned.

OK, there is a bit of work involved, but the rewards are wonderful and everything is fresh. No preservatives here – guaranteed.

Then there is the rough grass. It takes me a little over an hour to cut with the aid of the ride on mower and apart from the hedges, that is it.

It can’t be too time-consuming, I’ve even managed to find time to build myself a greenhouse in the last month or so. By building it from scratch to my own design, I can have the size I want (5 X 2 metres) and I’ve saved a packet when compared to an off the shelf job. Also it will give me somewhere to go on cold or wet winter days when I can’t do anything outside. I have already planted a young peach tree and a grape vine, both to be trained on wires, plus a couple of strawberry plants, and I have sown some carrots in the hope that we shall be harvesting a bit earlier than normal next year. Also planned are tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and lettuce. Now I am toying with the idea of some specimen fuchsias which can provide a spectacular show in the right conditions. I can also bring on my hanging baskets a little earlier.

So for me the answer to the question, “Is it all worth it?” is a resounding “Yes!” I have become quite a keen gardener. I never had the time in the UK due to work and other commitments, so I am making up for lost time and loving every minute of it.

Roger Dunger has an answer to the big question

The vegetable patch

Part of the garden

Who says size is not important! My biggest butternut

Part of the butternut harvest

The greenhouse