The pre-spring clear-up
The garden has been a bit neglected since Christmas. The lawn doesn’t need mowing at this time of year, of course, and apart from the daffodil bulbs coming up there’s not much happening with flowers, but the plot was getting decidedly weedy and the greenhouse was cluttered with old pots and plants that never quite made it.
So I cleaned out the pots and dug over the whole plot, turning the weeds under a spade’s-depth of soil and digging in the rich manure and compost mix that was left in the trugs from the unsuccessful butternut squash trials.
It took a muddy hour and a half, all told, but it was very rewarding and, at the end of it, we’ve got a nice weed-free plot, which can now sit and settle until we start planting again late next month.
It was also a useful opportunity to do a little audit of the remaining crops. I have some doubts that we’re going to get many more worthwhile sprouts; after I took away all the yellowing leaves it was clear that the remaining vegetables are far too small, and there will be barely anything left of them once they’ve been cleaned and prepared.
However, on a more positive note it looks like the carrots are now far larger since they’ve been left in the ground a couple of months longer. That should mean they’re heavier, so we still have a chance to push the total for the 2007 harvest over the £200 mark, but it’s going to be a close-run thing.
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