Definitely not another insane garden project

Never let it be said that we do things by halves in our house (and garden). I mean, why build a normal greenhouse when you can build a whopping seven-metre-long, part-sunken greenhouse, built into a hill, made entirely out of reclaimed windows and wonky wood from the forest? It seemed a good idea at the time, our greenhouse. And four years on, I can honestly say it was – is – a good idea. It’s a thing of rustic beauty and has transformed our gardening lives. But it took four years to complete, in and around other projects. Four years. And it still isn’t 100% finished. It’s 95% done, and will probably stay that way for the rest of its – please God, very long – life.

Will we ever learn?

Not if our latest project, a wildlife pond, is anything to go by. Have we ever made a garden pond before? No. Is it going to be on a perfectly flat bit of land? Nah. Are we building a small pond, to make our lives as easy as possible? Of course not. Well, I guess it depends, would you consider a 4 x 4 metre pond small?

No, me neither.

Plus, we can’t get machinery into that part of the garden, so we have to dig it manually. And by ‘we’, I obviously mean Rob’s the one doing the digging while I’m sat here writing about it. (You can see why my friends and family call him Poor Rob.)

We’ve only just started – there’s that ‘we’ again – so here’s hoping this whole thing doesn’t turn into an epic four-year mission. We’ve allocated six weeks for the job.

*Manic laughter* But it’s going to be fine.

We’ve got the space for a big pond, you see. And we’ve talked about building one for so long that, now that we’re finally doing it, we’re doing it. We’re going all in and building the wildlife pond of our dreams. You know what they say, go big or go mad trying. Or something like that.

Here’s the pond area on day one, ready for digging, after being cleared of all the plants and weeds (it used to be a not-particularly-successful circular flower bed).

Will there be something resembling a pond here in six weeks, or will it still be a hole in the ground? (I can just imagine the village grapevine: ‘Have you seen what those crazy English people are up to now?’)

Time will tell. Hopefully not too much time.

Meanwhile, in the veg garden, we still have lots and lots of chard to eat.

A mixture of white-stemmed Swiss chard, a pink-stemmed variety called Pink Passion, and Golden chard, with its bright yellow stems. I sowed them all in early autumn last year (my second sowing of last year, after the typical spring sowing), and not only did it survive all winter long, it took off like a rocket in late March, as the days warmed up. We have masses of the stuff.

I’ve never overwintered chard before, but I guess it’ll go to seed fairly soon. So we’re enjoying it in as many meals as possible. I’ve also blanched and frozen some to tide us over until this year’s chard (which I sowed in March) starts to take off.

What to do with chard (or kale) this week

If, like me, you think curry is not just for colder months, you’ll like Meera Sodha’s potato, chard and coconut curry, which is packed with new potatoes, chard (leaves and stems) and peas. Perfect for late-spring, early summer days. If you don’t have any chard handy, I’d use kale.