Path Maintenance

 

We are finally having a good burst of warm weather and sunshine (for which we should all be grateful) which brings with it the need to get the watering can out.  I normally have the whole site to myself in the evenings but it was like Piccadilly Circus at the Hill yesterday, with plotters coming in to do a bit in their greenhouses.

I, meanwhile, am making good progress on the paths - I'm hoping that the weeded and stamped down paths with a black plastic base and deep chipping top will save me time in that I'll only be weeded the beds, not contending with the paths too.

I have a sneaking suspicion that in 5 years time I will be weeding out the rotted down chippings and cursing the very idea of putting down black plastic as that breaks down, but that's a concern for another day - or even decade.  For now, this looks smart!  I still have about a quarter of the plot paths to cover, but I am well on the way. 

Meanwhile, the runners' profusion of flowers are giving way to teeny beans, and the sweetcorn is shooting up.  I'm eating the tail end of the broad bean crop, and digging potatoes as I need them.

And when everyone has gone home, I can enjoy the stillness again, and this rather lovely view across the valley.

Brilliant Beds and Beans!

Just because I haven't noted here what's been going on at the Hill doesn't mean that I haven't been busy for the past six weeks.  Admittedly, some of that busy has been 'busy on holiday', but furious weeding before and after times means that the plot is in reasonable order.

Turns out that my prediction was right - the runner beans *have* shot up and the broad beans *have* been wonderful!  The first early potatoes are pretty good too - bit variable in size, but plenty of yield from each plant.

In an attempt to prevent so much time being taken up by path weeding, I'm going through my once-every-few-years path maintenance programme whereby I lay down some sort of weed suppressant and load up bark chippings.   There's a mountain of chippings free to use, and I bought some black plastic from the store shed a few weeks ago, so I've made a start on that too.

There's still plenty of light until late into the evening but noticeably not quite so much as a month ago - and it feels like summer hasn't even got going yet either!