Digging and Weeding

Considering I managed about 5 hours on the plot today, there’s not much to write about.

I want to put  some brassicas in at the top end of plot 5 where  I’d piled a load of the compost. Since that’s now  gone, apart from about a two inch layer, I thought I’d dig it over. There was a weedy patch – boy have they grown – so first to transfer those to the compost heap.

Bit of a happy surprise, a very large bunch of spring onions hidden in there, so rescued those. As I trundled the barrow to the  compost bins, I noticed some weeds in the compost by the potatoes. They were easy to pull from the loose compost  but what really surprised me was how warm the compost was. I suppose being black it absorbs the sun.

It was really heavy, digging over. I kept thinking that nobody will believe it’s taking this long to dig this over. The soil is pretty compacted and it’s very wet still so it was a stand on the spade to force it in and then strain to turn over job.

Well eventually it  was dug over so after a bit of a recovery break  I got the Merry Tiller out to break the clods up.  I suppose I was a bit tired by now, not being a physical type, so I lost control of the tiller a couple of times,. Nearly took out the onions and a glass cloche  but I didn’t.

After I ran over it once it was obviously too wet for the tiller. The soil was panning as I walked behind it so having roughly  broken the biggest clods I called it a day.

Tomorrow, weather and life permitting, I’ll add a load more compost from the pile I painstakingly moved to the other end of the plot and rotovate again. Larry told me that demonstrated my management  expertise. I think, just possibly, he was being sarcastic.

Did grab a nice bunch of radishes off plot 29 as I left.  Crunchy with just the right amount of heat. I’m sure I heard the French eat them with butter.  Sounds a bit strange and fattening so maybe I resist the urge to try that.