Dusk digging

I’m sure it was only a few weeks ago that it was dark at 530pm. Tonight I managed to get in some extra digging and only stopped at 630pm. Wonderful.   I need to get as much time as I can in the garden and that means going until dusk and almost dark.

I arrived this afternoon to that wonderful early spring weather of sun, no wind, not hot, but full of promise.   The bird song is quite enchanting and I had to do a lap even before I emptied the car.

I bought more of the super cheap mulch from Castorama on the way up.   Twelve bags which might just cover the soft fruit area once I have the weedproof fabric down.

Seeds have germinated both on the floor of the living room near the big window, and in the potting shed.   The shed was toasty – and a bit warm for the plants. They were parched, but I don’t think I’ve lost too much.   I must get the strawberries out of there and into the ground as soon as I can.   And plant the garlic. And move the cornflowers on.   If I stopped to think about how much I want to do, I wouldn’t get anywhere.

So I just put my head down and watered all the pots and then grabbed the sorry three prong fork and headed down to the orchard.   In no time I had the area weeded. I must have loosened all the last bits before I left.   It looks a picture.   And now I must build up the sloping end with upturned clods of earth, and get on with mulching.

I had also marked out the new edge of the potager before I left. This is to make the path from the house to the pool narrower and neater.   Less mowing, more room for flowers.   Up came the lawn edges and I have upended them and added them to the back of the soft fruit orchard edge. I think it’s going to work.

This was my dusk digging. Tomorrow I will take pictures and remove the smaller bits of earth and grass I couldn’t see in the dark.