Rain stops play

With rain forecast for Sunday afternoon, I got down to plot 129 as soon as I could in the morning to make a start on tidying the flower garden. Two huge heaps of dried twigs (mostly brambles and michaelmas daisies cut last year) were ferried to the back of the plot ready for burning. Despite the fact that I really need to get on with weeding the flowers I ended up with a lovely bonfire - the piles were just irresistable! Fortunately I did have time to plant spring garlic (Cristo) and do some weeding before I started to feel the rain in the air...

Dwarf daffodils

Peas!

The weather is not so good this weekend, but I managed a couple of hours on the plot on Saturday, planting peas (Hurst Green Shaft). I'm trying a little experiment, with the first and third rows sown with mycorrhizal fungi at the base of the drill. I used the fungi last year, but have no idea whether it contributed anything or not, so this year I'm planning to half-and-half everything to see if there are any noticeable differences.

It's March - time to start planting in earnest :)

Yesterday was such a beautiful day! A perfect day for being out in the garden, the sunshine made even the hardest jobs feel a little bit magical.

Following the removal of the damson trees and clearance of the brambles behind the shed, I had to reposition the robin's nest box (no-one has started nesting in it this year, so it shouldn't be a problem). The robin was darting about whilst I worked, so I hope it took good note of its potential new address. I also had time to clear and refill one of the raised beds, which I planted up with beetroot (the old favourite, Boltardy) and Autumn King carrots on tapes, as well as dig over a new bed for peas. Burning through a pile of dead wood from the clearance took about an hour, and I think so far I've managed to get through about a fifth of it!

The garlic is all up now, and the onions and shallotts are doing well too. There's no sign of the broad beans yet, but it's still pretty early in the spring.

Jobs for next weekend:
Finish preparing the pea bed, and plant peas
Prune apple tree
Clear brambles and reposition compost bins
Clear out greenhouse and prepare seed trays