All work and not much play

It is a curse of good weather that you just never seem to have enough time for everything, which often leads to not having enough time for anything. This is perhaps exacerbated more so than normal in April when the garden, and the veg plot in particular, needs a lot of attention, yet the evenings just aren’t quite long enough yet. That is not to say, of course, that we aren’t enjoying our time. We had a wonderful visit to the self-sufficiency show in Belvedere – a bit smaller than expected perhaps, but a wonderful array of experts, speakers and workshops against the stunning backdrop of the grounds to enjoy.

With the weekend lost to such and similar extravagances, it fell to the evenings to get some bits and pieces done in the garden. First up we took some steps to address our compost problem with the purchase of a Lidl compost bin. The old compost heap still hasn’t been fully dismantled and moved yet – a job we’re planning for the coming weekend. However, we located this small bin next the house, so it should be handy for the kitchen scraps. The other bins will probably be located a bit further away out of sight (and smell). The old compost heap did donate a couple of bags of worm-laden material to get this new one going.

The old compost heap also donated a further two bags of lovely, well-rotted compost for the bean bed. After settling in on the bed for a couple of days, this was forked into the top few inches of the soil there, and the first planting of the year (and (small fanfare please), indeed, the garden) were made in the shape of the Broad Beans, which had pretty much outgrown the greenhouse, let alone the toilet paper tubes they’ve been living in for the past couple of months. They're being kept under cover to harden off for the next few days (we had a bit of a frost here the last couple of nights), but are probably strong enough to survive without protection after the weekend (when they'll have to be staked). The peas will be following soon, possibly this weekend (or possibly not, depending upon how we get on with the old compost heap). Let’s just hope that that accursed good weather lasts a little bit longer.