Spring break

I was wondering why I was starving and dying for a cup of tea.   I came inside and realised it was 11am already. On the dot.   No wonder then. I’ve been digging away this morning, madly trying to get the soft fruit orchard done and dusted.

And in just the space of a sentence it is done.   Shame it took me about a week. I’m dead pleased. I have put down weedproof fabric too. And tried to hide it with a layer of mulch.   I don’t think this will last very long. One huge downpour or a high wind will ruin the pretty effect. But for now it looks a picture, and that’s fine.

I had to come indoors and take off two fleeces and get a sunhat. And add more bandaids to the new swollen thumb where last week’s bramble splinter refuses to heal.

And then plunge back down to the vegetable garden and finish up with the silly straight edges. A mania for a messy garden would be a whole lot easier.   But straight it is. I have even crept up to the side of the potager which never had a madly well defined side.   And to celebrate this nice new crisp look , I have planted about a hundred and fifty bulbs all along the edge. That will blur the boundaries in June if they all sprout.

Artur came by to assist briefly. He loves all the soft soil – it’s perfect for rolling in. But he really only came by to prod me into feeding him a bit of cat food. Cupboard love, alas.   But he has been attentive all day. I never see him coming as he is so well camoflaged against the stone and soil.

Still, it did mean that I went up to the potting shed to give him a snack I  found the garlic bulbs that needed planting out.   And I discovered his favourite sleeping place.   The apple crate full of summer bulbs that I hauled out from under the table this morning and plonked onto the potting table. Typical: you put out a rug on a chair all sort and squishy and comfortable. But they choose the grubbiest part of the potting shed to play in.

It’s a tedious chore, but I have planted three rows of garlic in the correct quadrant (I also needed to remind myself which crop rotation I was in). And for an encore, I have dug the bean trench.   And filled it with a layer of manure ready for the greedy feeders of late spring.   I had to put in some green poles just to mark out where it is.   This weekend, I’d like to plant more broad beans close by.   They should be up and over by the time the beans demand all that tedious watering.

A late lunch and  a litre of water I think. And then back out to start pruning the mighty mulberry tree in the courtyard.

I was determined to get it all pruned without having to climb up into the branches as I’ve done for the past two years.   I’m not mobile enough to leap about a tall tree at the moment.

And to the relief of the Chelsea and Westminster hospital physio and pain management staff I’m delighted to announce that it’s possible. Just a tall ladder, courage and long arms.