Before and after my digging.
It seems I work twice as hard when I'm off work and believe me, I work hard at work. This weekend seemed like a slog at times and my back was complaining like mad last night. I've had a good go at digging over the long border and I've also cleared away the dandelions at the back of the hen's run. I've moved quite a few things around.
On the veg front, Luke has dug a new patch, about a third of the size of the original veg patch. He dug in two huge bags of compost and three bags of sand so the drainage and goodness in the soil has been improved considerably.
I have finally got around to planting some peas. I'm doing them in succession in order to have a continual supply (because when I'm picking them I find I pop them in my mouth without realising) so I've dug a row about 20 cms wide and 5 cms deep, given it a soaking and dropped in some rock hard peas. In two weeks time I will do the same again in the next strip and then a fortnight later I'll complete the length of ground set aside for the peas.
Now that Luke has a bigger vegetable patch he's been able to plant up his early potatoes. Even with the extra dug patch he still can't fit all his potatoes in so in the next few weeks I think he'll be doing the same again. Growing spuds in the new ground is a good way to break it up more. Next year he'll grow them in a different place as in rotation planting so the ground's nutrients don't get depleted.
We took lots of photos, using Luke's black shirt as a backdrop so the tulips were the stars and there was no background to compete with them.
Tulips in the pot are great for adding colour anywhere you need it - I've put five pots of this orange tulip out at the front door for a happy welcome.
Chicken bottoms, before Shakira was put in the broody box.
A dust bath in full flow!
The broody box; Shakira is in it - the other two have come to say hello.
All this was watched over by dear old Shakster who is currently broody (meaning she wants to sit on her unfertilised egg till it hatches – which it won't). To cure her of her broodiness we have to make her surroundings less inviting to snuggle down and sit for days. This means she goes into the 'sin bin' broody box – a cage with chicken wire flooring so she doesn't get too warm. Some chicken keepers advise feeding them the most basic of food if any food at all but we can't help but make sure she's fed and watered. She is separated from the other two and when they wander over to check her out she does her Jurassic Park impression of one of the dinosaurs and emits this screech whilst puffing herself up to look as big and imposing as possible. She is the most prone to broodiness of our chickens and this happens a few times a year. She'll be in there for about four days till she's got over it. Her droppings will go back to being pea sized rather than peach stone size and they'll stop smelling as awful as they do. She'll also be okay around the other two and before you know it they'll be back together again. We don't like putting her in the sin bin but otherwise she will upset the others and sit in her nesting box for weeks.
Can you see the little robin on the upturned cherry root? He's using it as a lookout.
Our flowering cherry bursts forth.
Whilst the clematis is just starting to open up.
I also sadly dropped some soil on three tulips and broke the stems but something good came out of it in that I now have three beautiful stems in a vase.
I don't even feel like I've had time off because the last two days have been full of digging, kneeling, planting and bending and my poor old body is ready for bed. I hope you enjoy the photos whilst I fall asleep.G'night.
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