Mild weeding

Oh, there you are.

I know.

But I really have been too busy weeding in this mild autumn weather to be indoors at the machine.

Or else I am drying out in front of the fire because I have been caught out in a sudden downpour a long way from the house.

But I did manage Operation God This Is A Mess Asparagus Patch this week. And you get the thrilling pictures.

Yep. Really bad.

And I can’t be brutal with the weeding as there are some self seeded coriander treasures in here. Plus I didn’t want a wet day to be sitting down and then have to roll over like a beetle, stagger up and dash for cover if it rained.

I overdid the hauling of the horse manure earlier and am feeling a bit ‘elderly’.

(Wow, almost clean hands. that’s a shock)

But even though this is a long patch, (30 feet?) once you get in the rhythm it’s fun work.

One bucket for bindweed roots, one for acceptable compost material.

Add in one cat who just loves bare soil.. and romping in the asparagus jungle and it was a marvellous day.

Now I have to warn you, these really are the ‘after shots’.

Coriander left standing in plump clumps. Some Swiss chard that hasn’t been munched by hares or deer yet.

And little spots of lovely horse manure where the asparagus fronds are still standing proud and refusing to go into autumn glory.

I have quite a few gaps from zealous mole rat munching of previous years. So I will probably dig up a few plants that are outiside this patch and add them in. And probably go hunting for more bindweed roots buried very deep under here. If mole rats ate bindweed roots our lives would be glorious.

At least the before and after shots of the path beside the asparagus is an obvious ‘isn’t she marvellous?’ image.

Brambles, ivy and wild clematis doing their annual incursion.

Plus lots of self seeders on the fabric. If I could actually keep the path fabric really taut, this wouldn’t happen.

But as a lot of the self-seeders were coriander I actually managed to snack while I worked.

The whole bed now needs a good load of compost and then it will be properly sorted for winter.

And if you are wondering why I kept these shots quite tight….

The next bed beyond the line of jostaberries and the raised kale beds is where the giant patch of raspberries ought to be thriving.

It’s an utter dog’s breakfast up there.

So bad I’m not even going to show you.

Have some of this instead.

Or a shot of the very, very old days when this top potager was tamed.

Or as we in the trade call it…

Mulch porn.

I will endeavour to get it sorted before the really cold weather makes hands in the soil tricky. But I need to have a go at the soft fruit orchard next.