A halfway lawn

Was eaten to distraction by mosquitoes or some such, so not a good night. Things always seem to strike just before 4am. So I started with a seated job: planting yet more strawberries through the weed proof fabric. I think it’s going to work. And Jan and Jane will be very pleased to see a part of the garden they will never have to weed.

Admiring the handiwork it was then time to attend to the other scruffier parts of the potager. They too needed to be cosseted from weeds. So up came the weeds, down went the last of my fabric and on went the mulch from the lawnmower. It covers up the stark black of the fabric quite nicely.

Amazingly I noticed that the mole has been busy digging up the path that I made earlier. In broad daylight. I really ought to learn more about these creatures. I stupidly thought they only work at night. But then it’s dark underground, so what does it matter? Or am I just being ignorant. It does mean that the mole is making a mockery of my path. The grass seeds aren’t going to sprout on those mounds.

But no more of this effete vegetable garden work, it was time to head down to the terraces and get to work cutting off the heads off the Verbascum stalks and generally hacking into the vinca major (or is it minor? A major problem anyway) and the brambles and nettles. Had to unearth my heavy walking boots and put my mobile phone in my pocket in case I chopped my foot off with the new mighty blade on the strimmer. Nearest ambulance Vernoux.

By the end of the day I can confidently say that we have almost a lovely lawn on the first terrace below the house. Well halfway there. There are some broken branches of cherry trees rotting away on the steep slope. And they have been wrapped and weaved with nettles and the nasty vinca tendrils.

I think it was the first time in months I could recall gentle rain without thunder storms. Lovely.