I am so pleased! Today I managed to dig a patch about 3 foot wide by 13 feet using an ordinary spade! Normally my back will not cope with more than a short trench or so and most of my digging is done with a 'Backsaver' spade I was given second-hand many years ago. (See Blog for 21st Dec 2015 in the Archive on the right of this page).
However, it is such a cumbersome tool I don't take it down to the plot every time and I needed to dig in a patch of green manure in readiness for planting the Onions and Garlic I have sprouting in the greenhouse at home. The soil was just right and the spade easily cut through the Italian Ryegrass I had sown last autumn. Cutting out the next spit with the Backsaver is a bit awkward.
I then decided to hoe between the autumn planted onion sets as the weeds were beginning to appear and the soil had capped with all the rain we've had. I was about to start hoeing from the path when I remembered that hoeing should be done backwards so went to the far end of the row and started there.
I usually prefer hoeing with my 'Swoe' which looks like a golf putter and has only one rather slim shaft leading to the head but it is too easy to cut through the roots of an onion with the tip so I got out my ordinary Dutch Hoe. Having a shaft leading down to both sides of the blade means you know exactly where the tool is cutting and it is easier to miss the growing crop!
However, it is such a cumbersome tool I don't take it down to the plot every time and I needed to dig in a patch of green manure in readiness for planting the Onions and Garlic I have sprouting in the greenhouse at home. The soil was just right and the spade easily cut through the Italian Ryegrass I had sown last autumn. Cutting out the next spit with the Backsaver is a bit awkward.
I then decided to hoe between the autumn planted onion sets as the weeds were beginning to appear and the soil had capped with all the rain we've had. I was about to start hoeing from the path when I remembered that hoeing should be done backwards so went to the far end of the row and started there.
I usually prefer hoeing with my 'Swoe' which looks like a golf putter and has only one rather slim shaft leading to the head but it is too easy to cut through the roots of an onion with the tip so I got out my ordinary Dutch Hoe. Having a shaft leading down to both sides of the blade means you know exactly where the tool is cutting and it is easier to miss the growing crop!
As you can see in the photo I work down between the rows and then, as there are only a few weeds, hand-weed between the plants. I
have left room for the hoe to slip between the plants but it was easier not to bother this time.
In the background you can see the patch I had dig over with no green manure showing as I turned it into the bottom of the spit each time.
Having done that I raked over the ground inside my greenhouse frame to level it. A few slabs down the middle as a path and some polycarbonate sheeting to glaze it and I will have somewhere for the more delicate crops.
Finally I dug up a few leeks and picked some purple sprouting to take home. The cauliflower supply seems to have stalled despite the warm weather.
have left room for the hoe to slip between the plants but it was easier not to bother this time.
In the background you can see the patch I had dig over with no green manure showing as I turned it into the bottom of the spit each time.
Having done that I raked over the ground inside my greenhouse frame to level it. A few slabs down the middle as a path and some polycarbonate sheeting to glaze it and I will have somewhere for the more delicate crops.
Finally I dug up a few leeks and picked some purple sprouting to take home. The cauliflower supply seems to have stalled despite the warm weather.
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