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gwenfar.bsky.social
Gwenfar
@gwenfar.bsky.social
210 followers 190 following 320 posts
Plants. Cats. ME/CFS. Also, Paleobotany, dinosaurs & earth sciences. #MedievalHistory #Disabled #FreePalestine #TransPeoplesRights #Anarchist They/them. Wales. #GardeningWithME #GreenParty

Also on Mastodon @GwenfarsGarden@rage.love
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gwenfar.bsky.social
Finally written up my notes from this year's garlic harvest. So if you want to know what did and didn't work, you've come to the right place!
www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2025/11/garl...

#Garlic #GarlicPosting #GardeningWithME #SpoonieVeg
A montage of 8 different cultivars of garlic that I grew this year. There is a label underneath each cultivar naming the variety. There is 70+ bulbs of garlic in all.
November 9, 2025 at 1:38 PM
gwenfar.bsky.social
Adding Alt Text image descriptions matters.

There a lot of people with a range of disabilities & needs, who can only understand what a photo in your post is saying if you tell them!

Without Alt Text, the attached photo would be meaningless.

Please add #AltText where you can.

#Disability 1/4
A cat sitting up looking straight at the camera and looking quizzical. She wants to know if you've added alt text.
October 27, 2025 at 6:54 PM
gwenfar.bsky.social
The 8 cultivars are here with their names :)
October 22, 2025 at 8:24 PM
gwenfar.bsky.social
My autumn article for @meassociation.org.uk ME Essential magazine.

Gardening with ME: the art of resting in the garden
www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2025/10/gard...

Hint: resting in the gardening is hard!

#GardeningWithME #MECFS #Gardening
Two magpies on a bird bath. The one on the left looks like it's screaming at the parent, who is on the right and looking away. Two panels. On the left is a person digging out a bulb of garlic. On the right is a hand holding up the large harvested bulb. In the foreground is a small mass of pretty pink geranium flowers. Behind it are lots of brown dead forget-me-not plants that need removing. An overview of the garden with a mix of brick raised beds, some plants in pots, and a greenhouse. There are a mix of late Spring colours including, purple, blue and pink flowers, and lots of yellow-green leafy plants and trees.
October 21, 2025 at 3:59 PM
gwenfar.bsky.social
The 2025 #garlic harvest. I tried 8 cultivars, but I've decided that I'm only going to grow the 4 on the top row again, as they were larger sizes overall. Garlic is my main crop. They are easier to grow, I find, and don't need a lot of attention. Spoonie Veg rating 1.

#GardeningWithME #SpoonieVeg
8 cultivars of garlic. I cut and pasted individual photos so that there are 4 cultivars on the top and 4 on the bottom. Each cultivar has a label with the name of that variety listed on it. It's about 70 or so bulbs of garlic all up.
October 7, 2025 at 4:34 PM
gwenfar.bsky.social
Just finished "Dinosaurs, how they lived and evolved", by @tetzoo.bsky.social and Paul Barrett. It covers the history & origins of dinosaurs, family trees, biology, behaviour, origins of birds etc. It's a great overview with lots of pictures & graphs to assist understanding. Highly recommend.
Front cover of the book, depicting a Ceratosuchops inferodios, from the Isle of Wight.
October 1, 2025 at 11:08 AM
gwenfar.bsky.social
The best plant? It's so hard to choose.

My latest article for the ME Association's, ME Essential magazine, is now out: Gardening with ME: the best plant www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2025/07/gard...

#GardeningWithME #Gardening #Florespondence #Bloomscrolling @meassociation.org.uk
A flower hanging down like a bell with chequered white and pink petals. On the left is a cobalt blue flower Hepatica, and right is several orange and yellow flowers of the Helenium. A single flower of the hellebore, which is white with pink veins on the petals. A photo of a two page article, Gardening with ME: the best plant.
July 2, 2025 at 12:24 PM
gwenfar.bsky.social
If you are interested in plants, you might find When the Earth was Green, by @restingdinoface.bsky.social of interest. This is my short review.

www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2025/05/book...

TL:dr I read the audiobook and it was fab, 5*!
#Plants #Paleobotany
The book cover of: When the Earth was Green. It has illustrations of some ancient looking plants with animals such as dinosaurs and mastodons.
May 28, 2025 at 7:31 PM
gwenfar.bsky.social
Sitting in the garden and it's just buzzing. When we first moved in it was just grass mowed within an inch of its life. Seeing and hearing all the bees makes me feel like I have achieved something good.

#Plants #Gardening
A garden with borders filled with plants including alliums, geraniums, purple cornflowers and many other flowers. It's a buffet for bees. Small pink alpine geranium with a bumblebee checking out the pollen
May 20, 2025 at 11:50 AM
gwenfar.bsky.social
Beautiful Siberian iris, 'Flight of Butterflies'.

#Plants #Gardening
A purple-blue iris with the inner petals just purple-blue, and the outer having purple-blue veins on a white background. It's very light and airy and suits its name.
May 18, 2025 at 10:54 AM
gwenfar.bsky.social
A blogpost with just photos - in case you need some pretty in your timeline. A sample below :)
www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2025/04/rece...

#Spring #Plants #Gardening
Numerous small royal-blue flowers above light green foliage. A couple of small purple reticulata (dwarf) irises, with yellow tongues on the lower petals. Two golden-orange crocuses that have maroon stripes on the outside of the petals. A single dark maroon flower with very faint pinker edges. The stamens are cream and the pistils dark aubergine. It looks very elegant.
April 9, 2025 at 7:16 AM
gwenfar.bsky.social
Gardener Dan was here today, and we planted my new gum tree together, now looking very smart next to the driveway.

This is Eucalyptus gunnii France Bleu. It's a much smaller gum tree than most, growing only c. 2.5m high x 2.5m wide, instead of 10m tall.

#Gardening #Plants
A c. 2m high gum tree in a large grey planter, against a terracotta coloured brick wall. Closer focus on some of the branches & soft grey leaves, looking great against the light terracotta bricks.
February 13, 2025 at 4:35 PM
gwenfar.bsky.social
It's Imbolc today. First garlic shoots.

#SpringIsComing #Imbolc
A vegetable bed with black soil and new green shoots coming up.
February 3, 2025 at 12:27 PM
gwenfar.bsky.social
My latest article for @meassociation.bsky.social ME Essential magazine is out, and it's on growing Alpine plants.

Gardening with ME: growing alpines www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2025/01/gard...

#GardeningWithME #MEAssociation #Gardening #Plants #Alpines #ChronicIllness
Two pictures: the one on the left is the pink with magenta stripes, Geranium cinereum 'Ballerina'. The one on the right is Erodium 'Ardwick Redeye', which has 3 white petals and two white and pink splotched petals. An example of a small alpine scree bed that has a wooden border. There is a range of rocks of different sizes, and different types of plants, including Erodiums, Geraniums, Saxifrage and Sempervivium, sat amongst the rocks. A group of alpines in small terracotta pots, including Sedums, Erodiums and Semperviviums. A photo of a two page article, Gardening with ME: growing alpines. It includes a few photos, which will be shown in the blogpost with alt text.
January 22, 2025 at 2:58 PM
gwenfar.bsky.social
I've struggled to blog recently. If I have the energy to visit a garden, I don't have the energy to write up a post with detailed photos. So i'm trying something simpler. Let me know what you think.

Dyffryn Gardens www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2025/01/gard...

#Gardens #ValeOfGlamorgan #Wales #MECFS
A collection of large terracotta pots with plants showing the range of colour possible in the middle of winter, These are mostly foliage, including trees like pines & Mahonias, and grasses. A large tree with no leaves, next to our path in a parkland. It has a pleasing shape and looks lovely against a blue sky. A large tree stump that has been turned upside down so that the roots kind of spread out like a fan. It has mosses, fans and lichens growing on it. A light pink flower with five petals that are speckled with maroon dots towards the middle.
January 12, 2025 at 6:08 PM
gwenfar.bsky.social
Just planted a little Haworthia succulent in my adorable stegosaurus pot. So cute!

#Plants #Dinosaurs
A small white plant pot in the shape of a Stegosaurus, with two miniature Haworthia shoots planted in the middle of the back. The Stegosaurus pot with plant from another angle.
January 9, 2025 at 2:05 PM
gwenfar.bsky.social
We went up to Penarth Head Point. The views were breathtaking today.

#Penarth #SouthWales
View from the top of a hill looking down to Penarth Pier and the Bristol Channel. Because you are looking directly at the sun, it kinda looks like it's at dusk, with a magical glow. A similar view, only from a panoramic angle, looking less directly at the sun so you can see the clear blue sky at midday. View from the opposite side, looking towards Cardiff and a very tiny & blurry Severn Bridge. It's clear blue sky, and the sea/channel is a darker blue. Its beautiful.
January 3, 2025 at 6:28 PM