SO, we are heading for the second week in April and we are still suffering from a cold, dry spell. We barely reached 5 degrees today and with a chill wind, it felt even chillier. There is certainly no prospect of seed sowing into the soil.
However, it has been quite a productive week. Lead by our chairman, we had a massive bonfire to get rid of a mass of hedging. A load of tree chippings arrived, allowing us to top up our paths – a good thing as they were getting quite muddy in places. In passing I had a chat with my neighbour and we wondered about converting to a grass path. Barrowing 10-15 loads of chips each year is less than an attractive prospect, but would grass cutting every week be any better?
Paths have been topped off with wood chips
We have also created the first of our planned mini-beds using some old scaffolding planks and waste timber. We intend to operate these as ‘no dig’ ‘deep beds’ as an experiment. This first one we will try out with onion sets and shallots in the first year.
Our first micro-bed
So, all in all, not a bad week, but the sense of marking time awaiting warmer weather continues. I wonder if the plants feel the same!
