Inspired by a nice sunny morning, I went out, spade in hand,
this afternoon and dug over the veggy patch where the peas and
beans are going to go. It's had a two inch blanket of
compost/manure since the autumn waiting to be dug in.

Soil was wetish but workable, but I did use a large board to
stand on (actually part of a church pew!).

Managed to dig over where the root veggies were as well, so I'm
pleased with the day.

--
Roger T

700 ft up in Mid-Wales

"Roger Tonkin" wrote in message
...


Inspired by a nice sunny morning, I went out, spade in hand,
this afternoon and dug over the veggy patch where the peas and
beans are going to go. It's had a two inch blanket of
compost/manure since the autumn waiting to be dug in.

Soil was wetish but workable, but I did use a large board to
stand on (actually part of a church pew!).

Managed to dig over where the root veggies were as well, so I'm
pleased with the day.

--
Roger T

700 ft up in Mid-Wales
=================================================


Hope you get that Pew cleaned up and dried ready for church in the morning!!

Mike

---------------------------------------------------------------
www.friendsofshanklintheatre.co.uk
www.hmscollingwoodassociation.com
www.rneba.org.uk
www.nsrafa.org

On 22/02/2014 20:12, Roger Tonkin wrote:

Inspired by a nice sunny morning, I went out, spade in hand,
this afternoon and dug over the veggy patch where the peas and
beans are going to go. It's had a two inch blanket of
compost/manure since the autumn waiting to be dug in.

Soil was wetish but workable, but I did use a large board to
stand on (actually part of a church pew!).

Managed to dig over where the root veggies were as well, so I'm
pleased with the day.




Well, I went out with good intent, but was waylaid on three occasions by
friends and neighbours. Lovely, but not as productive as I'd hoped and
certainly not as productive as your efforts. Nevertheless filled a
large tub for the garden waste recycling, plus quite a bit to keep my
worms chomping away. Hope to get some more done tomorrow, but need to
do a bit of shopping for an elderly neighbour first.
--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay

In article ,
says...

Inspired by a nice sunny morning, I went out, spade in hand,
this afternoon and dug over the veggy patch where the peas and
beans are going to go. It's had a two inch blanket of
compost/manure since the autumn waiting to be dug in.

Soil was wetish but workable, but I did use a large board to
stand on (actually part of a church pew!).

Managed to dig over where the root veggies were as well, so I'm
pleased with the day.

Too wet here to prepare potato patch but yesterday morning was sunny,
and mild enough not to need a jacket. I spent it cleaning the old
battered/spottyleaves off the hellebores which are all in flower with
snowdrops among them,cleaned up the wall of dead fern behind them.
Hellebore bed looks good, gave it a feed of pelleted chicken manure.
Then raked up all the twigs dropped on the lawn by our birch and the
neighbours ash. Just the thing to start a waiting bonfire of earlier
prunings. Bonfire site is beside herb garden so got distracted clearing
more dead stems and heads there, to go on it. Decided not to cut back
the buddliea heads yet as in the past few days four bullfinches have
been busy stripping out their seeds. Paused for cup of tea before
lighting bonfire; the heavens opened and that was the end of outdoor
play for the day. Today; rain again.

Janet

"Roger Tonkin" wrote.


Inspired by a nice sunny morning, I went out, spade in hand,
this afternoon and dug over the veggy patch where the peas and
beans are going to go. It's had a two inch blanket of
compost/manure since the autumn waiting to be dug in.

Soil was wetish but workable, but I did use a large board to
stand on (actually part of a church pew!).

Managed to dig over where the root veggies were as well, so I'm
pleased with the day.


I will be surprised if I can get on our allotment soil to do anything like
that for weeks yet, even if it stops raining every day or so. Our soil is
extremely sensitive to being worked if it's not dry enough and that was one
of the first things the oldest inhabitant of our site said to me when I
started there. I tried to rush it one year and learnt my lesson having
destroyed any friability I had built up, in fact put it back to the start
again. Things will just have to catch up and they will.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

In article ,
says...

"Roger Tonkin" wrote.


Inspired by a nice sunny morning, I went out, spade in hand,
this afternoon and dug over the veggy patch where the peas and
beans are going to go. It's had a two inch blanket of
compost/manure since the autumn waiting to be dug in.

Soil was wetish but workable, but I did use a large board to
stand on (actually part of a church pew!).

Managed to dig over where the root veggies were as well, so I'm
pleased with the day.


I will be surprised if I can get on our allotment soil to do anything like
that for weeks yet, even if it stops raining every day or so. Our soil is
extremely sensitive to being worked if it's not dry enough and that was one
of the first things the oldest inhabitant of our site said to me when I
started there. I tried to rush it one year and learnt my lesson having
destroyed any friability I had built up, in fact put it back to the start
again. Things will just have to catch up and they will.

My problem is not impatience but the fact that I'm not going to
be around for a month, from mid-March to mid-April!

I'm trying to get ahead of myself.

--
Roger T

700 ft up in Mid-Wales

I've been slowly clearing excess vegetation and silt from the largest pond. Yesterday, I'm pleased to say, I caught not only the usual clutch of overwintering young newts, but also a full size frog and an adult female newt, taking up residence in advance of the expected abundance of food in the shape of frogspawn and tadpoles.

So with breeding season upon us, that's put an end to a cold and mucky job :-)