Gardening

I’ve weeded and/or hoed the entire part of the front yard that is garden, and cut back the weeds around the edges to stop them flowering before we can spray them.

David has strimmed the drive (and we will weedkill that too, once the weather is suitable – i.e. not raining/not 36°C/not windy).

I created a compost mountain, from all the unwanted growth, and it isn’t finished yet!

I did a bit of tree “surgery” on the “pig” damson…

It’s coming out anyway – ugly, rotten to the core & the damsons, according to M. Lorin, are only fit for pigs – and I thought it would do less damage when felled if I removed the lowest branch...

Of course, I’ve had to hide the evidence…

The tree will definitely cause less harm on its way down now (it’s about half the size!), and there’s still another small branch I might be able to reach (when no-one’s looking!)…

I’m slightly sad there are no home-grown courgettes, but I don’t think it’s too late to plant them, if Botanic has any left…

I bought a length of rope last year – well, you never know when you might be glad of a bit of rope!

This year I’ve been so grateful for it – and pleased that it’s either hemp or flax, so quite rough to the touch: I’ve been clearing round the earth closet, so I could plant some ferns there, and decided to move the beams that were there…

I’ve moved about 8 or 9 (or maybe 10 or 11?), all of which were too heavy to drag without the rope. So that has been an absolute bonus! Because of its rough texture, it “gripped” the wood nicely to give me enough purchase to drag them to the “rotting wood pile”

I had to saw a couple of the beams in two, they were far to big to drag, even with the rope (and still a struggle in their diminished form). I’ve also hand dragged/carried about another half-dozen smaller beams to the woodpile.

So, there is now lots of nice rotting wood for whatever it is that you create these pile for… Stag beetle larvae?

And the edges of the garden are also a whole load tidier!

It’s pretty good being able to justify one’s purchases. [MJM: if you’re reading… I might have lied a bit about taking it really easy…] And I was right about a nice bit of rope!

Since the weather changed for the better, I’ve been starting work around 6 am (it’s too dark any earlier, and I can’t see what I’m doing)…

There’s nothing to make you feel virtuous like having done an hour’s hard physical work and it’s not yet 7 am; you particularly deserve that freshly-baked croissant!