An intro post as it’s been years since I’ve written one. Feel free to say hello in the comments if you’d like. ☀️🌷
#garden #cottage #slowliving #neurodivergent #autism #gardeninspo #runnerducks #calm
🌿 In @monalogue ’s garden: “My name is Mona and I garden a long, sloping cottage garden in Somerset. I’ve been gardening for about six years and it has brought me such a valuable sense of beauty and meaning. I grow thousands of spring bulbs in my lawn, and about this time of year they are at their best.
About the time we moved into the cottage, I was diagnosed with autism. It was a tumultuous time, there was a lot to come to terms with. I have been immensely grateful for the way the garden carried me through it all.
Whether I needed a quiet and reflective space to process, a manual task to work through more difficult emotions, or the comfort of learning about plants and wildlife, the garden was always there for me.
I spent the last year writing a book about this journey, and how I built my garden. It’s called ‘Growing: a year of living and nurturing with the seasons’.
I feel so lucky to have been able to connect with my garden, and I hope that through posting it on social media, others can share some of these positive feelings, or be inspired to grow something themselves.”
#GMinyourgarden is our series peeking over the fence into gardens across the country to explore their places in our lives today.
Hello and happy Sunday! With just four days to go until Growing: A Year of Living and Nurturing with the Seasons is out in the world, I wanted to properly introduce it.
It’s hard to sum up a whole book in a reel, but here’s a glimpse of what you’ll find inside: practical sections on keeping ducks, creating a wildlife-friendly garden, planting bulbs for beautiful spring displays, and growing food and flowers in a cottage garden style.
Beyond the practicals, this book also gave me space to reflect on why I garden and how it has become a central pillar of my wellbeing as an autistic adult. I hope it brings readers that same sense of calm.
Preorder via the link in my bio. Ordering now means a copy will likely arrive on your doorstep on publication day as it’s just around the corner (March 6th)!
#cottagegarden #ducks #runnerducks #garden #gardening #gardensofinstagram #bookstagram #slowliving #cottagecore #gardeninspo
May moments (and animals) from our cottage and garden. I filmed the third clip a few days ago when we had a nice sunset and our wisteria was looking lovely. I planted the wisteria seven years ago and then spent the next four or five springs being annoyed that it wasn’t flowering. It looks gorgeous now and does for a good few weeks. Now the problem is remembering to trim it enough to keep it under control. It dislodged a roof tile last year when I left it for too long 😅 anyway, starting to plant tomatoes and squashes out now. Polytunnel looks like a jungle already, which is how I and the wildlife like it. Have been doing chop and drop when plants finish and the spiders love the leftover material. Which again is a good thing. Going to put a moth trap out next month and see what we can find. Happy Sunday 🌱☀️
#cottage #garden #slowliving #ducks #home
Another video of the shell wall 🐚 it took 26 hours to make in the end, which was about 20 hours longer than expected 😂 the shells will fade over the years as it gets bleached by the sun. I’m very happy with how it looks though and love the different colours of all the shells. #gardening #garden #cottage #crafts #DIY
The tales of Beatrix Potter (from my cottage garden). 🌱☀️ thought I would share some more creature videos today. The garden has gone very wild in the last few weeks. Lots of nesting birds. Also a hungry fox, which has been getting quite close to the house this week. I assumed the dogs would deter it, but in the past they’ve sat very still watching and been entertained by it. We haven’t lost a duck to the foxes for a good few years now but this week it has pinched a wood pigeon that was visiting the pond. A bit sad as the wood pigeons nested under our bedroom window last year and we are very fond of them. #garden #cottage #wildlife #beatrixpotter #calm
Some May loveliness from the garden. Irises, alliums, cow parsley, and first of the food from the veg garden. Weedy and wild for the insects and birds! Wishing you a happy Sunday. 💚🌱 #garden #cottage #ducks #slowliving #calm
How spring feels in our cottage garden ☀️ it’s been a gorgeous sunny week. The clematis montana is in bloom and will shortly be followed by wisteria. Hostas are popping up around the garden, as well as wild things like cow parsley, daisies, dandelions etc - we like some weeds here. I’ve noticed and appreciated how much my perception of them has changed from dislike - tolerate - enjoy over the course of a few years. Seems silly to grow and enjoy marigolds but hate dandelions? Or grow ammi but weed out cow parsley? Etc etc. I usually take most out of the borders but leave in the grass. 🌱 #garden #cottage #ducks #spring #calm
Wildlife friendly things you’ll find in my cottage garden. The more I garden the harder it becomes to make videos like this because you realise things work in systems rather than lists, and I sit here thinking where do I draw the line/how do I summarise this thing that is so generous into a short bit of content. Leaf mulch for example is great at protecting the soil and returning nutrients to the surface layer, but it also overwinters insects, which feed the birds, which act as another natural pest control, and many things are kept in balance. Often the answer is less intervention = more. Less tidying and removing dead material, you can still move it out of sight if you like to keep a tidy space.
An easy way to make a positive difference to nature: this week (22-28 April) is Earth Raise, so @biggiveorg are matching donations to charities that are tackling environmental issues. They invited me to support a charity, so I’m donating to @soilassociation , and invite you to make a donation to an environmental charity too. Even small amounts add up to make a big difference (and they’re doubled by Big Give!)
This time of year is so gorgeous 🥰 we’ve had plenty of good sunsets in the last few weeks so lots of golden hour footage to share. Including the tulips (after they’ve softened a bit in the sun), an inquisitive wood mouse, pasque flowers in the greenhouse, mini meadow in bloom, and trees growing new leaves in a scrumptious fresh green colour. We started harvesting our asparagus this week too. 🌱☀️ #garden #cottage #ducks #slowliving #cottagecore
I had to remake this video since spotting the cutest wood mouse in the greenhouse last week. There is a resident bank vole in there too. It’s no wonder most of my tulips got eaten this year 😄 there is always something.
#garden #cottage #animals #ducks #beatrixpotter
My garden this week. Some lovely sunshine. Mini meadow, tulips and daffodils in flower and a strong understory of wild primroses. Ducks out and about, and the cutest little wood mouse (slide 6). We have bank voles and wood mice that are very fond of the big greenhouse and unexpectedly tame. I thought I’d have a go taking some proper photos with Aaron’s camera as the light was so nice. ☀️🌱 #garden #cottage #ducks #flowers #spring
