turned out nice again...

Another gloriously sunny winters day and an absolute joy to be working in the garden. Things are much drier than a week ago although the soil isn’t really workable yet. I didn’t let that put me off though, and got on with a lot of jobs that needed doing.

First off was to continue widening the main plot by nine inches. I know it doesn’t sound much but on the length of the plot that extra could give me another 20 or 30 pounds of food! Previously I’d cut back and lowered a privet hedge to allow more light to the plot but I can’t get too close or the hedge roots will start to draw water and nutrients from the veg. After removing the turf I dug out about six inches deep then broke up the heavy soil with a fork before throwing in a good helping of compost and raking back the topsoil.

Next job was to relocate a load of raspberry canes. The space they had occupied is now needed for vegetable production and there are some odd corners of the garden where the rasps should thrive. As with the plot widening, each planting hole received a shovel of compost and I also added a handful of bonemeal to each one. I’m not bothered about getting a crop this year as there’s plenty of other fruit, especially the strawberries which I’ve increased for this year.

A bit more tidying up and pot sorting in the greenhouse before finally I washed and scrubbed a batch of large containers in readiness for this year’s crops. Because I grow both tomatoes and potatoes in containers I make sure they are properly cleaned so as to minimise any possibility of disease transfer.