Categories: uncategorized
Date: 06 November 2004 17:59:59
We have just worked out that we have been in the new house for nearly 11 months! I harvested the last of the potatoes today, which should have been done about 6 weeks ago. Still, only a few were rotten, and the rest we will have with our roast chicken tomorrow. The reason for the lack of rot was the fact that we grew them in a bag of compost rather than in the ground, so they are less soggy. I think this is definitely the way to go for next year, and it's a lot easier at harvest time. Might try a more permanent dustbin though.
The garden is rapidly returning to its usual winter waterlogged state - I tried to dig the potato bed today where we grew the rest of the potatoes and my wellies got stuck in the mud. The bed itself is infested with creeping buttercup and couch grass which are a real menace. To try to combat the poor drainage the plan is to build raised beds, which should at least lift plant roots out of the mire. It does however involve a lot of work to set up, which will be our project for the winter. To this end, and under the urgings of two otherwise organic gardening gurus, I have sold my soul to the chemicals and applied glyphosphate to lots of the really nasty weeds. They still have to be dug out, but at least they won't reproduce if I miss a bit of root. I do feel awfully guilty though, having made myself a 'no chemicals' promise, but I am told it is the only way to get rid of them and that I am saving myself hours and hours of work later on digging the shoots out. Hmmm...
We are still picking the odd raspberry, I had half a bowlful once but usually its two or three at a time. They are delicious though, very sweet, so we look forward to greater things next year.
Someone has moved in next door and begun to plant things in the garden, things like fir trees and large sheds. I'm getting paranoid about them blocking the light to our garden, and at one point I was all ready to throw in the towel, turf the lot and apply for an allotment (that was the day I thought I saw a whole Leylandii hedge going in - on closer inspection it turned out to be several mixed fir trees, they could still grow big but at least they're not Leylandii). Just a slight overreaction there.
Enjoy the fireworks (and I mean that literally - we will).