Digging for therapy

Why is digging such good therapy? It makes my back ache, my limbs stiffen up a couple of days later, I get really thirsty, feel absolutely shattered and look like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards after. But it's still one of my favourite garden tasks and I've been thinking about the reasons why this evening. For me it boils down to this:

Digging allows me time to think; to let my mind wander over events past, present and future.  I get to watch the birds fly between the hedge and the bird feeders and find pleasure in watching my cat Jasper slip into the plastic mini greenhouse to bask in the warmth of the sun sheltered from the chill wind.  Sometimes there's the chance to chat across the fence with my next door neighbour's husband about tasks that neither of us got around to over the past months but will definitely do this summer (yeah right!).  Then there's the true pleasure in standing back, leaning on the spade and looking at the work done. It all adds up to being good for the soul.

This weekend has been about just that. Digging that is, not the soul. To set the scene: I need another couple of beds this year as 2 out of the 4 are currently in use.  I recently moved all my herbs in with the rhubarb for a more permanent position; I'm now growing sage, golden marjoram, thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary and mint......with room for a couple more.  So that's one bed in use. The other bed is currently hosting some 'all year' lettuce which has left me with only 2 beds to grow veg in this year (impressive maths!).

So instead of adding more raised beds I've gone for single-digging deep beds and used John Seymour's 'the New Self-Sufficient Gardener' book as guidance.  First I used an old plastic sheet as a rough outline and cut the outline of the bed with a mattock. Then I cut out a line across the width of the soon-to-be bed and cut out the turf before digging down to the depth of the spade (also called a 'spit'). The turf and soil dug out was put onto a plastic sheet for the time being.  Then working backwards I repeated this, putting the turf into the trench previously dug and chopping it up before digging up the top soil and shovelling it on top.  When I reached the last trench I filled it with the turf and topsoil from the first trench.  As I went along I got rid of any roots and stones I found but still finished off by raking over the surface and removing any that had managed to escape first time round.

The soil will be nicely aerated this way and, as the width of the bed means I won't have to stand on it, should remain so.

I began the job yesterday - eventually giving up because every time I went outside it rained and every time I came in the sun came out!  But today's weather was better and I was able to spend several non-interrupted hours finishing it off.  The plan now is to divide it and use a small section as a seed bed and the rest as a holding bed; for this season at least.  Looking at the picture below I think it would look more attractive with additional planting around the edges.

1 bed done, 1 to go

It's not the most straight-edged bed (perhaps I should have used string as a guide) but still, I'm pleased with my handiwork. Hopefully I'll be creating the second one next weekend.  Ooh, I've just noticed there's enough room between the new bed and the fruit cage to put in a small triangular raised bed to grow some strawberries in.  That's another job to add to this year's list then!

You win some, you lose some

A trip to Ireland, then Milton Keynes (this girl knows how to travel!) and bad weather intertwined with bouts of illness equals very little time spent in the garden over the past few weeks.

Came back from Ireland to find that something had eaten all the leaves off my carrots despite the use of netting and some slug pellets! Still over the past few weeks my pea pods have appeared, the sweetcorn is flowering and I've been able to eat my own broccoli, rhubarb and some teeny weeny beetroot (well, I had to thin them out so one or two small ones have made their way into my salad for tea).  The broccoli wasn't huge, but enough for me in a meal, and there's still some florets coming on the plants.

Looking forward to eating some of these straight from the pod

Weeny beet; grated on a salad they're...
well....great!

Really delighted to see the peas coming on though; considering I got nothing at all from planting dwarf beans seeds.............I wonder if mice got to them?  Haven't seen any holes in the soil though.

Managed to strim a third of the field before the bad weather came in a couple of weeks ago (it is July isn't it?!! sure it's not October?) and now I keep looking at the rest of it growing and waiting for a chance to get out with the brushcutter again. I was hoping the weather would be kinder this month so I could keep on top of the strimming. Ah well sometimes you just feel like you're losing the battle.....but I will win the war!

at least it's not brambles and thistles this year

still got access to the shed........just about!

The Plympton Pippin apple tree that had the frost damage seems to be none-the-worse so far. I've wrapped up the damaged area using a piece of that fibrous material you use to line hanging baskets with.  It's good for retaining water, which will help the scar to heal.  One of the Sunset apple trees got attacked by Blackfly and several of the leaves were curling in and wilting as a result and it generally looked tired and poorly!  There was only one thing for it.....the bug spray I'm afraid!  I try not to use chemicals on the garden but every now and then I don't feel I have a choice.  If anyone knows of any other non-chemical way of getting rid of Blackfly from an apple tree I'd really be interested to hear about it.

A couple of weeks ago I bought some herbs from People and Gardens who are based where I work;  Basil, Lemon Basil, Purple Basil, Sage, Thyme and Oregano.  I've planted them in the bed with the cauliflowers in, as most of the caulis died off and left me with some space to fill. I haven't had much success with herbs in pots for some reason so I'm hoping they'll do well in the bed.  So far everything seems to be surviving. I also bought a pumpkin plant and a courgette plant and planted in the same bed.  The pumpkin has already started to spread along the bed but it shouldn't interfere with the herbs and both are flowering nicely.  Once the fruits start to show I'll mulch around them to keep the moisture in the ground.

Today was a goo day for getting out in the garden so it was time to attack the weeds that have grown up along the path into the garden and the Alpine bank I'm trying to create as you enter.  An accidental dislodging of a stone on the bank revealed an ants nest.  Talk about frantic! Operation 'Rescue The Eggs' kicked in instantly and I was so fascinated to watch them that I just had to record a little of the highly coordinated recovery plan!

Oh and I almost forgot to mention - I was surprised and delighted to discover recently that my two surviving cauliflowers have grown hearts! Brilliant - I thought I'd failed on that one.  Fingers crossed they grow a bit bigger. I read somewhere that it's a good idea to bend the leaves over the hearts to keep them white, so I've done that today and I'll be keeping a close eye on them - the Cabbage White butterflies are hanging around - time to get more fleece I reckon.