There is so much to do at this time of year that today I planned carefully to stop me getting sidetracked. I went prepared to do two jobs, plant a row of Broad Bean seedlings and prepare one of my big net tunnels for moving to another patch.
Of course before I started there was unfinished Association business but it took me only a short time to bang in some posts and rope off the horse litter 'bin' beyond the Trading Hut before arriving at my plot and emptying the kitchen waste into the compost bin. I then set about the first task off clearing the mulch of horse litter from the strip where I planned to put the Broad Beans. What to do with the old mulch is a bit of a problem as I don't want to dig it in unless I bury it deeply. I used some to mulch between the rows of beans and peas and a barrowload went into the bottom of my compost bin. Hopefully the wood shavings will soak up some of the fluids and rot down before I use the compost.
While clearing the mulch I noticed quite a few raspberry shoots so I decided I had better dig the strip over, not easy without my Backsaver spade but I should have realised there would be a problem from when I dug the other side of the raspberries last week! I actually found it easier to use the fork to tease out the roots and shoots even though I had to go down nearly as far as I had to on the other side of the raspberries.
The picture shows how strong the shoots were. Why is it that the roots always seem to find something to hide beneath like the brick?
Of course before I started there was unfinished Association business but it took me only a short time to bang in some posts and rope off the horse litter 'bin' beyond the Trading Hut before arriving at my plot and emptying the kitchen waste into the compost bin. I then set about the first task off clearing the mulch of horse litter from the strip where I planned to put the Broad Beans. What to do with the old mulch is a bit of a problem as I don't want to dig it in unless I bury it deeply. I used some to mulch between the rows of beans and peas and a barrowload went into the bottom of my compost bin. Hopefully the wood shavings will soak up some of the fluids and rot down before I use the compost.
While clearing the mulch I noticed quite a few raspberry shoots so I decided I had better dig the strip over, not easy without my Backsaver spade but I should have realised there would be a problem from when I dug the other side of the raspberries last week! I actually found it easier to use the fork to tease out the roots and shoots even though I had to go down nearly as far as I had to on the other side of the raspberries.
The picture shows how strong the shoots were. Why is it that the roots always seem to find something to hide beneath like the brick?
The strip was only a couple of feet wide so I had to use the spade to cut down each side to avoid digging chunks out of the neighbouring rows. When I had finished I had a huge amount of raspberry roots and shoots for such a small space - especially as I had dug the pathway alongside the raspberries ostensibly to cut off all the wandering roots!
Raspberry roots are almost as bad as Bindweed so I was very careful to collect all the bits into the barrow and took them to my incinerator where they will dry out before going up in smoke.
When I looked at my watch I realised it was lunchtime and too late to plant the seedlings and there was no time for the preparations to move the tunnel. So the seedlings came home and will have another couple of days hardening off.
Raspberry roots are almost as bad as Bindweed so I was very careful to collect all the bits into the barrow and took them to my incinerator where they will dry out before going up in smoke.
When I looked at my watch I realised it was lunchtime and too late to plant the seedlings and there was no time for the preparations to move the tunnel. So the seedlings came home and will have another couple of days hardening off.
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