Cricalix.Net

Spring appears to have finally arrived in the Midlands. Cherries are blossoming, trees are getting leaves, and the temperature is above 15 ° C during the day. This means for a large number of us that the gardening season has started, and this year it includes me.

I’ve decided to rip out most plants in the lower bed (towards the house), and extend it by about a foot into the lawn. I’ll be converting this space into a vegetable garden with a bit of green thumb luck - carrots, peas, broccoli if all goes well. To that end, I’ve spent the weekend pulling plants out, and digging up the entire bed to add 150 litres of farmyard manure, and 50 odd litres of topsoil. I’ve found muscles I never knew I had as a result.

I’ve also put in some logroll to keep the lawn out of the bed, and allow me to raise the bed slightly if I want to.

I’m keeping the tree on the right, and some small plants to the left to give the bed a mixed appearance. I’m going to aim for companion planting if I can. I’ll be letting the bed rest until next weekend, when I intend to start planting my various crops and other plants. The blue pot holds some coriander, and there’ll be another blue pot under the tree with lavender.

I’ll be ripping out a few more plants over the week in the left bed - some of it is just old and not worth keeping any more. The bed also appears a bit tired, as new plants aren’t taking, and the old ones aren’t really growing. More manure shall be applied, and perhaps some bulbs for summer.

I have to admit, I’ll be happy if I get 1 carrot out of the garden, as it’ll vindicate that I can grow things!