Starting the autumn dig in earnest!

Sunday 19th November
I had just one task I wanted to complete this morning. I wanted to dig over the old pea and bean patch that will become the brassica patch next year.
I started by using the spade to cut a line along each side of the patch and down the middle. I then fetched the barrow and started digging a trench along the fence, loading the soil into the barrow and looking carefully for any bindweed or thistle roots. Having trenched one half and got a barrowload I emptied it at the other end of the other half - along the path. I then started digging half the patch with my Backsaver spade. Soon after I had begun I realised I had forgotten to put on my back support belt so I wasn't sure I would be able to finish. However in about 15 minutes I had dug that half and was shovelling the heap from the barrow into the end trench.


Having worked so hard and got quite breathless I then decided it was a good time to take a break and join the café crowd for coffee and cake.
I chatted for far too long before returning to repeat the process for the other half.  This sort of rough digging is ideal for the Backsaver and doesn't stress my back at all. Indeed I have to pace myself or I get out of breath. I'm not sure I would have paid the £99 it costs to buy one so I'm glad someone long ago gave me this one. (If anyone wants to try it, just get in touch. It is especially good if your back struggles with any amount of digging.)

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I plan to mulch this patch so felt it would be better with a fairly flat surface so I got my cultivator out and ran it over the soil working from a board I laid down the centre. The cultivator works a treat as long as the soil hasn't dried out.
​Last time I left the plot I forgot to cover the compost bin and close one of the brassica tunnels. (Fortunately the pigeons didn't find their way in.)
This time I only forgot the compost bin!