Who said Gardening was Stress Free?
It has to be said that on the whole gardening for a living is a pretty laid-back existence especially when you compare it to the stress of the corporate world but it does have its moments. Last year in the Black Forest was very hot and dry and these were the perfect conditions for a certain type of beatle that make their home under to bark of trees. The result of this infestation is death for the tree and all around us in the forest we have heard the sound of busy forest workers removing the affected trees, removal of the trees reduces the spread of the beatle. This was quite a blow for the forest as we had already lost a good number of trees early in the year. The snowfall this year was not as excessive as in some years but it was very heavy and wet. Yes I know that snow is made from water before anybody advises me of the fact but wet snow is much heavier than dry snow and this resulted in many trees breaking in half. We also have an infection of Asian Box Tree caterpillars in our box hedging. All of this might make any lesser gardener hang up their gardening gloves and call it a day but we gardeners are made of tough stuff and are not so easily deterred. It just makes us work harder so that we can overcome these minor setbacks. That’s life!
The Latest News from The Moosbach Garden
Well, it has to be said that there is quite a lot going on at the moment some are good and some are not so good but it’s all about balance, right?
So the goose has been sitting on her clutch of 10 eggs for 5 weeks but nothing has hatched, so something has probably gone wrong or the eggs were not fertile but I’ve decided to let her come to that conclusion herself and in her own good time.
Bramble, our resident cat has been very busy controlling the mouse population and has graciously allowed us to carry on living here.
The sheep, who are an English breed called Shropshire, are growing nicely and doing a good job grazing our fields.
The older chickens are not laying very much but I don’t have the heart to kill them so they continue to live in The Moosbach Garden retirement home for chickens, the young chickens that we bred this year are due to start laying by the end of this month and will start to earn their keep.
The exciting news is that we have a new addition to The Moosbach Garden family, a gorgeous Border Collie puppy called Luna. She is only 8 weeks old and has only been here for 24 hours but has already succeeded in turning our world upside down.
And Finally….
We are proud to announce that The Moosbach Garden will now be open to the Public on Wednesday afternoons from 12:00-18:00 and on the first Sunday of every month (April-October). Visitors can view the garden, enjoy a cup of tea and a piece of cake and buy top quality plants from The Moosbach Garden. On the 25th August we have an open day and you can pre-book our famous English Afternoon Tea, numbers are limited so we would recommend booking early. To book your place please visit our website by clicking here. Please note that you must pre-book for this event.
We can still be found at the Oberkirch outdoor market every Wednesday from 08:00-12:00 next to the coffee stand, please come and say “Hello” if you are in the area, we love meeting new people. As always, gardening questions are welcome, just don’t ask me about Brexit or Football!