The heat certainly kicked up at the start of the month…
Pushing beyond 30 Degrees some days. The work continued though, although even I had to cower in the shade on the hottest day of the year.
More because I spent 6 hours out under full Blue skies and late 20 Degree heat the day before treating reclaimed pallets and wood with preserver/colour; so I was a little precooked.
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- First of the Raised beds has been started, put in place, backfilled and some plants placed in it. Lupins (Richmond Mix) and Echinops Ritro
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- The arrival of 100m of Weed Control Fabric means I could cover more of the areas I want to use once the stock I wish to put in the ground is ready to be planted. Helping keep the weeds at bay till that time arrives.
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- The Potatoes are coming on nicely!
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- The first 3 Bonsai beds are now covered in Weed Control Fabric and a thin layer of Fired Clay over the top to help with moisture control and allow humidity.
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- The Lettuce is starting to come along nicely also!
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- Sweet Corn developing well.
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- The first “Grown from Seed” Bonsai Material planted. 4 Japanese Pagoda Trees!
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- Higher Level workbench created and placed behind the shed.
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- The Green Manure (Alfalfa) I sowed last month is starting to take hold.
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- Another large chunk of ground turned over and an initial de weeding done, now covered with Weed Control Fabric.
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- A thin row of Giant Sunflower seeds were sown at the uppr edge of the plot, and I also added some Lupins, also grown from seed. This will hopefully give a little colour at the top edge, perhaps a little bit of a windbreak when the Lupins get established. Not often the wind blows from the top of the plot down, but when it does something to diffuse it is always welcome.
I hit the area where Asparagus has been grown for a few years by the previous owner, I initially thought it was going to be easy going turning the soil over; oh was I mistaken…
The root mass is thick and well dug in, the soil fairly compacted because of that and it’s very much a fork breaking risk laying hard into it. So I had to resort to turning over what I could and gently breaking the roots of the Asparagus when I could. This will take a few passes and attempts no doubt!
Also, as I started turning over the very top end of the plot the really good soil seems to have vanished in pretty much a straight line across the plot Nine Tenths of the way up. The level of soil decreasing dramatically as the quality diminished. I may resort to using raised beds right across the full width here or even cheat and place a Polytunnel or Two across the plot. It’s either that or bring in soil, manure and other organic matter to rebuild the depth and quality…