It was still chilly in the morning so we started off in the car port, which had become very cluttered and untidy again, making it difficult for me to get to my veggie box and clothes airer, with hardly any space to put the airer up. How husband manages to accumulate so much stuff and clutter everything up I don't know. Well, I do - he never throws anything out or puts things away after he's used them. I had the same problem with my utility room in the last house - husband used it as his extra shed, despite having 2 sheds in the garden. Drives me nuts, I am by nature very tidy and organised, whilst he's the complete opposite.
Once that was done, the next job was to replace the rotted plank along one side of the biggest gravel bed. As it was so rotten and warped, it wasn't holding the gravel in, I was fed up with constantly having to shovel up the gravel where it had fallen on the path. 2nd job done. We stopped for lunch and a short break, then went outside again to carry on, it was a bit warmer by this time. We dug up a small Acer that was in the space where the new raised bed was going, I put it in a pot for the time being until I decide where it's going. We positioned the raised bed, ready for us to start filling it today, whilst I got on with pruning the roses and doing some weeding. A good day's work, we were pleased with progress, although both of us had sore backs last night. We're ok today though.
So today we'll fill the new raised bed - the bottom layer will be a couple of large bags of rough topsoil which a neighbour was giving away last year, having had some work done in their garden. Then we'll put in our own homemade compost from last year, with some bought bags of peat-free compost on top. I need to do some more weeding and pruning of shrubs that I'd left to die back over winter, and start clearing another small gravelled bed that's going to be another flower bed. That'll be enough for today. I'm so happy to be able to finally start working in the garden again, it feels like months and months since we last did anything out there.
I'm doing a rice pudding in the slow cooker today, we'll be glad of a nice sweet treat after the garden work. Salmon baked in a foil parcel with ginger and lemon, with new potatoes and green veg for dinner, followed by the rice pud.
It's raining right now but is forecast to stop by mid morning and the sun come out, with a temperature of 12 or 13 and less wind, so even better than yesterday for garden work.
There was still frost on the grass in my garden most of yesterday! Too cold to do anything outside
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm so jealous! It's still too cold to get out in our garden, that wind is bitter! I've not been outside yet, today, so we'll see. It's supposed to be quite warm on Thursday/Friday - but wet. I guess I might be able to get a few bits done in between the rain! xx
ReplyDeleteSounds as though you're well on the way to having some very nice home grown veg.
ReplyDeleteWell done with the clearing out. It's so nice when it's all done. xx
ReplyDeletePop all your cuttings in the bottom of the bed, it will help the soil and add nutrients for the future of the bed. I'm hoping for time outside today.
ReplyDeleteWell done, sounds like you had a productive day.
ReplyDeleteI managed twenty minutes in the garden this morning, just snipping off the old ferns and some trimming and tidying. We were both going to do a lot more later on but the sky went dark and rain threatened so I thought I'd make a quick start and then retreat. Now it is pouring down and Alan has a good excuse not to garden.
ReplyDeleteOh well, it is a start and every little helps. :-)
I saw Sue's entry titled Sooze in Somerset but read it Snooze in Somerset, which piqued my interest so here I am visiting you from Saskatchewan, Canada, where we are enjoying balmy temperatures in the minus-30s and I am envying your spring weather. Also, you live in Somerset, which catches my eye because I have way-back ancestors (Jones, Hoddinott, Cook, to name a few) from the Frome area. Here where I live, surnames remain for generations as some members of families tend to stay around, and I assume it's the same everywhere, especially in rural districts where farms are inherited or taken over by adult children. Anyway, hello!
ReplyDeleteYou have done a good day's work there! Isn't it lovely to be able to tick jobs off the list 😃
ReplyDeleteYou did a great deal today. We are finally warming up a bit which is lovely. Still cold by UK standards, but almost balmy for mid winter here.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.