Closing

I have now closed this blog and transferred everything to Wordpress .

Growth

Most of what I planted is growing, the potatoes particularly well. However, as predicted there is a an abundance of weeds as well imported along with the topsoil. This was not the sort of freebie I expected.

Germination

Today I can definitely say that some of the seeds have germinated and plants are appearing as opposed to the odd excrescence which could just as well be a weed.

Progress

Some signs of rabbit footmarks prompted the installation of plastic green fencing round the bed. This is not visually attractive but hopefully effective. There are signs of either weeds or lettuce emerging in that planting but nothing elsewhere.

Raised Bed

The frame for the bed was completed earlier in the week, and today it was filled with top soil. This involved a visit to the local quarry for topsoil.

This was a journey with Landrover and large trailer into a science fiction landscape. Piles of rock, gravel, sand and something labelled dust (perhaps from the moon) tended by vast machines, set deep in an Angus hillside. The loader had wheels twice my height and a bucket on the front about three times the capacity of my trailer. A gentle shake of this giant deposited one and half tonnes of top soil in a single torrent. Even the weighbridge master counselled caution on the road home.

The soil itself looks excellent and the bed is now filled to overflowing with some to spare.

What next? Some mature compost, a little organic fertiliser and plants and seeds....

Little Progress

The weather has certainly improved, quite extended periods of sunshine this last day or so, but other pre-occupations have intervened and the nearest I have come to gardening is to watch the Beechgrove Garden

Lawn

I have a mulching mower which obviates the need to take the clippings off the lawn. I have finally managed to cut the grass for the first time this season Because it was so long, I set the blades fairly high the first time. This left the grass with huge tire tracks but at least the clippings mulched reasonably well. Cutting it short the next day has left some clipping on the surface but an almost respectable looking lawn.