Sunny Summer Day

Good Day Everyone,

I’ve really been enjoying being back home in England this past week. I arrived in time to enjoy a few days of the glorious weather England has been having recently. I absolutely love love love the English countryside. The bright colours of nature with the green hills and fields against the bright blue sky are great for lifting one’s spirit. From the vibrancy in the colour of flowers and summer berries to the sunshine yellow of the rapeseed fields, beautiful hedgerows, and not to mention fields of sheep, cows, and hens – it really is idyllic. Whilst Singapore is incredibly green and beautiful in its own right – it has more of a ‘man-made’ beauty about it. You just don’t get the stunning views of nature or see fields of animals or crops.

Although, it has turned a bit chilly these last couple of days, I managed to spend a few leisurely afternoons out in the sun. One particular afternoon, my hubby and I took his mum to Lakeside Plant and Garden Centre in Shropshire (website). It is a lovely family run garden centre that, as well as having the usual plants, garden furniture and ornaments, also has a dedicated farm area where various animals, that would otherwise be homeless, are now homed.  We saw a pigmy goat, pigs, guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, ducks and even wallabies.

The garden centre has an allotment area where the family grow fresh fruit and vegetables including tomatoes, peas, runner beans, potatoes, strawberries and lots more. Walking around the allotment really tugged at mine and my hubby’s heartstrings as one of the things we miss most about living in England is growing our own fruit, vegetables and herbs. During our last couple of years in England we had our own house with a small garden where we grew our own tomatoes, peas, potatoes, strawberries, carrots and a huge variety of herbs including basil, coriander, mint (our favourite herb), sage, rosemary and thyme (I’m sure there’s some that I’ve missed but you get the idea ;o)).

In Singapore my hubby has tried so many times to grow our own tomatoes, even experimenting with different methods but to no avail. Even our herbs don’t tend to do very well on our balcony :o( So this garden centre visit was a lovely treat for us. We even walked away with a few vegetable seeds for my mum to grow as she has a large garden.

Do you grow your own herbs, fruits or vegetables? What, in particular, do you grow? Or do you have your own allotment? That would be amazing!

Love Sheen xxx