Caked in Dirt

Finally, we have had a couple of dry days – the weather went so far as to show a hint of blue sky and sunshine in between the clouds. With yet more rain forecast overnight, I headed down to the plot to see if it was dry enough to do some prepping for the new growing season.

Upon my arrival, there were good signs that the water was draining and the water table had dropped a little. No standing water on the plot and no visible water table through the gaps in the veranda. I could even walk down the central path, albeit carefully as it was still a little squishy. The soil was still very damp and certainly not dry enough to hoe or do any work with. So I headed across to Geoff’s plot.

Geoff has very kindly lent us four of his raised beds again and I spent a happy couple of hours weeding along the paths between the beds. It’s so important to keep the paths clear to avoid tripping and having enough space to weed the beds comfortably. Pleased with my progress, I switched my attention over to the beds. These didn’t take too long to weed although I ran out of time to tackle the last bed.

I really don’t know what we would do without Geoff’s beds. We certainly wouldn’t be able to plant anything until May at the earliest if we only had our plot. More rain is forecast this week so it could well be into May before we can grow anything other than weeds. It’s so frustrating as other people (with dry plots!) are beginning to plant out and have their plots ready to go as soon as their seedlings are ready and the risk of frost is over.

In the chicken coops, everyone greeted me with shouts demanding treats. Dotty was so impatient that she began pecking my legs to try and hurry me up! Over in the New Coop, Mavis and the others have settled into an uneasy truce about food. To help ease tensions, I refilled the second food bowl and I’ll keep it in there over the next couple of weeks. If Mavis gets possessive about the food, the others will still be able to eat from the other bowl.

Covered in dirt from head to toe and armed with two boxes of eggs, I headed home pleased with the afternoon’s progress. Assuming the weather isn’t too dreadful this week, I’m hoping to take advantage of the lighter evenings to do some work.