Whilst we have been away in Greece, the plants in Harris have been having a bit of a fandango. I returned yesterday and dashed to get the dog from the lovely Karla who has had her for the last few days, and then straight to the greenhouse via a hello to my husband! (he understands)
I pulled open the big door and literally fought my way in past the huge clump of Inula which has shot up from a few inches when I left to 6ft on my return 3 weeks later. We grow it for respiratory infections and because I love the massive yellow daisy like flowers and the huge leaves. I can't remember why I put it right in front of the door, in hindsight it was an odd decision given its habit.
Beyond that, every bed is full of Roses, the new varieties we bought to augment the older Roses have grown hugely and the place is awash with blooms and the scent is overwhelming. Jo, now fuelled by Greek Vitamin D, is powering through the weeds which have grown perhaps faster than the plants we want. She is waging a one woman battle against the bindweed, it is un-win-able but valiant nonetheless.
This year we pruned all the Roses back really hard, replenished the compost in the beds, fed everything with our seaweed/comfrey mix and it is really paying dividends. The plants are all really healthy and I'm hopeful that we'll be in for a bumper crop.
As we make more, we have to grow more, which means that our productive spaces have to work much harder, so making sure that they all have the best conditions possible is really important.
I love the growing and harvesting, it is one of the most rewarding parts of our work here but it also carries a burden - if we have a crop failure, we would lose our key ingredients and there would be no products. So investing in the greenhouse and croft to ensure everything has the best chance is an essential part of our work.
In a few weeks there will be so many Roses to pick that we'll all be in the greenhouse on a huge picking spree. I can't wait. In the meantime, if you find yourself in Harris and you fancy a visit to the greenhouse, do get in touch and we'll arrange that for you.