I was a bit out of sorts on Saturday. I think it something to do with going back to work. I picked up the poo trailer and went to the lottie. It has been bright blue skys for weeks but this morning it was grey. Would it rain? It has been forecast but we had not seen any yet. I decided that I would empty the contents of the poo bin onto the pea bed. It took seventeen wheelbarrow loads to cover the remaining Pea bed and that just left a foot or so of well rotted manure in the bottom of the bin. It should have been a relatively easy task but about half an hour in it started to spit. Slowly but surely the rain became heavier. I toughed it out and the rain abated about ten wheelbarrows into the job. I should say at his point that I had only gone to lottie to drop the poo trailer but got carried away. All I had was the clothes I stood up in, my shovel and boots. No hat, no waterproofs and no brew.
Feeling distinctly damp I carried on the with barrowing. The rain came on again is if to say "I warned you once". I pressed on and finished the borrowing now all I had to do was empty the trailer into the bin. It is not a tipping trailer, it works by handraulics as Fred Dibnah might say. The muck has to be shovelled. It is not a hard job, it takes a little over ten minutes to do but as the rain got harder the job got more tiresome. Trailer emptied and fixed back on the car and as I cleaned up the pathing slabs the sun came out and rain stopped. Bloody typical.
I stood in the Sun with the steam rising off me as I warmed up. Whilst gently steaming I surveyed the Asparagus plot. I figured at least three of the spears were ripe for harvest. I took my pruning knife out of my pocket and ventured up to the crop. I had been waiting for this moment for over two years. I cut through the stem which was like cutting cheese. It was quite a moment. I had a nibble off the end of one stalk and found it to be crisp and green. Very nice just raw. As my spirit revived I dug up a PSB [Purple Sprouting Broccoli] that had gone over and was to drop it off at Steve's for the chucks. I cropped some more PSB for myself but I think that will probably be the last of this season.
I took the trailer back to it's weekday home and dropped some PSB to A & C, owners of the horses that provide the contents of the trailer. I dropped in at Steve's with the PSB. Steve had a brew on the go so we had a chat about stuff and had a look around the garden. Steve's got algae in his pond so we had a chat about how to get rid of it. I fixed my pond algae problem with a small bag of Barley straw. It has miraculous properties. I do not why it works but it does. Add in some fish, tadpoles and a few snails and you have a effective algae clean up squad.
After that I went home for lunch. Then off to the ironmongers for 'ose, not letter "o"s but water hose. The watering at Mo's is a bit onerous. I got a cheap hose and a fancy hand spray attachment so now it is a quicker job. When I got back I went to Mo's and cut the hose to length and fitted the attachments. All good to go. I set up the canes for the Toms, which are coming on nicely, and planted the Chilli Peppers in their new homes. Their new homes been those plastic water barrels you get on office water coolers. First chop off the pointy end of the barrel, fill with compost, one plant in each barrel, good watering, put the pointy lid back on and stand back. I took the Cabbages and Lettuce trays back up to my house as they are ready for planting out and took some trays from my greenhouse down the to Mo's.
We had a nice dinner with friends on Saturday evening. Casandra, not her real name but whatt H and Miss L have christened her, gave me a bottle of Gin for setting up her potato bags. I think the key is that they have started growing and are showing above the soil. Time to bury them again Casandra.
I did not do much on Sunday just went to Derby with H and Miss L to get Miss L something for her wardrobe.
The step over Apple is full of blossom and looks smashing in the garden. The minaret Apple is in full bloom too. The Raspberries are making a bid for freedom so I best reorganise the stakes, a job I have put off all winter. Then on Monday it rained....and rained.......and rained, stopped for a little while and rained again. Everyone was complaining but I was delighted. Just what the lottie and the hedgerows need.
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