The First Taste of Spring Today.
By this time in January you can really start to see that the dawn is breaking just that bit earlier every day and by 5pm the sun is setting.
Feeling full of cold and going hot and cold (is this what ‘man flu’ is like??) I dosed myself up with everything and went out in the fresh air to get rid of it.
The guys from Access are coming over this week to fit the polythene cover for me so I can get the beds warmed up for the potatoes going in. So I thought I should make an effort and make the garden look presentable.
It was lovely, the sun was on my face and I weeded my square foot beds and Mel (writer of the square foot gardening book) was right, it felt easy to do one foot at a time. I did all of them in about half an hour. It took longer to clear the lawn of unmentionables left by the dogs and rake up the leaves.
I decided to make some labels for the plants that are already in. I had visited the ‘Lost Gardens of Heligan’ last summer and took a photo of the beautiful plant labels they displayed. The writing was ornate on a simple wooden board. So I copied that idea onto my little plastic ones for now. If I can find some lovely wooden ones at the shows, I’ll treat myself.
I also covered the beds with some fresh potting compost from the garden centre. The soil needs enriching because it is quite clayish. Just by sprinkling the compost on, it all looked so much nicer. A bit like changing the bed at home, it’s the same bedding, just nice and clean and tidy.
The sun set in the sky with a beautiful pink tinge at 5 pm and I looked at the raised beds feeling I’d done a good job. My cold feels much better too.
The chickens were funny today. By the time they let me into the run they were already pecking at my bowl in my hand – I don’t like them when they do that, all their heads were in the feeding dish as I’m trying to scoop the sticky porridge for them. I came out covered in porridge as well as 6 chickens all with the stuff dabbed on their heads and wings. I wish I had video’d it. It was hilarious.
My friend Sue who visited me has renewed her desire to garden again thanks to reading the blog. She is keen to get started so we can share seeds and ideas with each other. It will be so lovely to create our gardens together.