Bean there, dug that!

The good weather has meant a busy time for us at home and work, and the blog has fallen behind a little. Finally, finally managed to finish off digging the first raised veg bed. No time to rest on our laurels though. This will be our bed for peas and beans, which are currently out-growing the greenhouse! However, the bed is still very low in organic matter, so we’re going to raid out old compost heap during the week to try and get a few bags of that precious black gold onto the surface of the bed. If all goes well, we hope to be planting it up next week.



The cover is a (very slightly) modified one from Lidl. Our old veg beds were the same size as this one – the size dictated by the old garden. Imagine our delight to discover that not only did these greenhouses fit perfectly width-wise (four feet) when we originally got one, but also that two of them were exactly the same length (twelve feet). Although nothing is planted in the bed yet, the cover is on to try and warm up the soil. Underneath, it is being regularly watered and part of it is covered in cardboard to try to get the worms really going! Not sure if that will work, but we’re desperate to try anything that may speed up the readiness of this bed.

They say the simplest things in life are often the best and that one can get most joy from simple pleasures. The seed ordered from Brown Envelope Seeds arrived last week (only taking a couple of days to arrive). There is always excitement at the arrival of new seed: the prospect of it growing and anticipation of eating it. Certainly the packets look very nice – photos of the plants inside and hints, tips and information on how to grow them. The first of these will be sown soon and we’ll let you know how we get on.

Finally, just to remind everyone about the Self-sufficiency weekend at Belvedere House and Gardens this weekend (17th – 18th April). We haven’t been before but are thoroughly looking forward to it. Not sure which day we’ll go, and yes, we are tempted to go on both by the look of the programme. We’ll let you know how we get on.