Bulbs, Brassicas & Smart New Beds?

The forecast for today was ‘fine in the morning, turning squally later’, which has turned out to be exactly right – the gusts of wind tonight have been strong enough to blow a sheet off the roof of next door’s carport, & yet it could have passed for a spring day earlier.

I made the most of the day by going to the Hill & planting out a couple of dozen daffodil bulbs at the front of the plot – they were being sold off at the garden centre for 50p a bag before Christmas, & this has been the first chance that I have had to put them in.

I was delighted to spot that the garlic has FINALLY put in an appearance – hurrah! I really thought that they weren’t going to grow, as they’ve been in so long with nothing apparently happening. Heartened by this, I then set about tidying up the brassica bed – I took the netting off & gave it a good weeding, & took off any yellowing leaves too.

Whilst I was putting the netting back, I started to give some more serious consideration to the paths & bed edges – I know that this has been a subject that has seen a lot in the way of pondering & very little in the way of action over the last two years, but I’m spurred into action by the prevalence of free bark chippings in the park (seen when I took the Christmas tree over to be shredded), & all the gardening magazines with features showing ‘jobs for January’ making construction of raised beds look pretty simple.

Having noticed smoke rising from a bonfire at John Badger’s plot at the bottom, I wandered down to discuss the matter with him. I saw that he still has celeriac & swede growing, & made a mental note to include those for this year, to add a bit of variety to the fresh produce available at this time of year. He bemoaned the state of his leeks too, so it’s not just ours which are poor – which is something, I suppose.

So with my path/bed plans a little firmer in my mind I set off to Wickes & bought appropriate wooden gravel boards & timber for posts, then spent a Krypton Factor-esque half hour working out how to fit 8’ wood lengths (A) into small hatchback car (B) such that I could get the tailgate closed.

Satisfied with the success of my mental & physical exertions, I went home to cook a tasty chicken & bean casserole made with purple giant & climbing barlotti beans – yum!