Being from a colder climate I call the season here 'English Summer'. This year I am excited to be having two summers, and Australian and an English one... Well, at least part of one.
It's been six and a half years since I migrated here and it feels like a lifetime... In a good way. But I am still inspired by my British roots in so many forms, my mother is the worlds most amazing gardener. With the greenest of thumbs and much hard work she fed our whole family on home-grown, organic fare... Year round. Twenty years before it became trendy, back in the days when growing organic food was considered mildly nutty!
This perfect season has inspired me to do some serious work in the garden before the ground gets cold and the days too soggy.
At the Red Brick we love our Secret Garden, a magical and tiny courtyard surrounded by huge red brick walls, coated in wisteria, ivy, rambling rose and jasmin it's an absolute sun-trap in winter and a shady haven in summer. We were lucky enough to inherit an established and beautiful garden from the previous inhabitants and it's my all-time favourite spot for cups of tea, chatting with friends and nurturing its flowers, succulents and mosses. These past few weeks I have been a busy little bee building a new picket gate, laying red brick pathways, sowing, pruning, feeding and mulching.
One of the best parts of being in this part of town is our neighbours. We have built a great and supportive network on our little corner and are always there to help eachother out. There is a little stretch of dirt which joins the rear of the buildings shops and homes and we are beginning to create a shared garden space where we can relax on summery evenings, grow veggies and pretty stuff and share a wood-fired pizza or two!
This past weekend myself and my enlisted helper Mark have been mixing concrete and laying bricks begining 'project pizza oven'. We are using recycled red bricks from Marcias renovations at her Victorian cottage and Im a true sucker for free materials. We have a long way to go, but a few more afternoons of work and we should be there... Let me know if you need an invite to the Red Brick pizza night! X Steph
