When I moved into Eshaness the only place I had for pots of flower was on the shelf above the kitchen sink. It was not too long until I had that shelf full of herbs, my lemon, and apple trees that I had grown from seeds.

Because the walls of this David A Stevenson engineered lighthouse are three feet thick if you can get a board across the recess you have a natural spot for flowerpots. It was not too long until I had placed shelves in the main room and my office. This gave me plenty of flower space so I thought at the time. Pretty soon I had those windows full of all kinds of things. I then moved to putting small pots on the little shelf were the two parts of the windows came together.

Now with all the possible windows space containing something growing on it, I am no longer a frustrated gardener but a successful window gardener. The plants I am the most proud of are the spring bulbs I forced by putting them in the refrigerator for a couple of month and then on the shelves and my rosemary, parsley, chives, and dill grown from seeds. You can see these in the pictures provided.

Just in case my flowers die the lighthouse caretaker got us beautiful tulips with fairy lights in them so I have beautiful flower all year round. I have placed them in the front window to greet all visitors.

The kitchen garden -notice appletree sprouting on right Click on picture to enlarge

Front window garden Click on picture to enlarge

South window with some of bulb flowers Click on picture to enlarge

As always,

Sharma

I love to hear from you so contact me by email at sharma@eshanesslighthouse.co.uk

You can find more articles in the archive under Island Miniatures/Lighthouse Letters.

I have two books which are directly related to this column. The Last Lighthouse tells how we bought our lighthouse and in Scottish Lighthouses our lighthouse is featured in the 31 lighthouses presented. You can order autographed copies by clicking on the name of the book.

Other books you might be interested in ordering and having me sign are my book for children, Moonbeam Cow, and "Scotland - The Complete Guide and Road Atlas", a beautiful book for which I did the text and "Irish Lighthouses" featuring 30 beautiful Irish lighthouse stations.