Saturday 21 February 2009

Onion Planting and Making a New Path

Spent a great afternoon in the garden today. First day this year that it's been mild enough to stay out all afternoon, so I got lots done and worked up a bit of an ache.
I put the onions in, though it's a little early really,as my nan set the pace by planting her's last week. Dug over the bed for the peas, and am pleased to note that the soil is looking really good with it's texture finally starting to look crumbly and much lighter than previous years. All that trenching and composting is finally starting to pay off. It was also pleasing to see that systematic weeding has cleared the ground of well established root systems so there were only surface weeds to pull out and they didn't take long.
I took the opportunity to dig in some half rotted compost, while the bed was freshly dug. To be honest I just needed somewhere to dispose of it, as I'd discovered a half sack of semi rotten green waste left in a bin since last autumn. I can date it to last autumn as the whole contents were a distinctive pumpkin colour and I can remember gathering up all the pumpkin pieces from a mass pumpkin carving session. I probably don't need to mention that it stank, absolutely and completely. And that was before I disturbed it.
So I had to bury it, and fast! As I put it in the ground, I wondered exactly how many gardens this smell could taint. I kept expecting windows to be suddenly pulled shut and children to be called indooors. And of course I spilled some on myself, not just a wee bit either. Still such a mucky child, I managed to get it on every bit of clothing. I swear, that smell was worse than pigs for sticking relentlessly to you. I put everything in the wash, scrubbed and bathed and I could still smell it. Still can actually, I think it's lodged in my nose! Or my imagination!
Just for the record, I pruned back and mulched the raspberry cane before leaving the garden, and yes, I did put in a new path at the side of the pea bed.

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