I love the sun!!!

Wow! What a fabulous day today!
I got up this morning to a frosty, foggy day, but by 10.30am the sun was starting to break through and so I got to work!
On sunday I had collected a trailer load of well rotted manure, so today I finished putting it over the two beds which were already dug.
It seemed to take forever to complete the task, but once it was done, I got to work digging another patch. I havent finished it yet, but it is well underway!!!
The third patch runs behind this one, but is longer, as it is going to go right up to the water butt.
I am so enjoying this now! My onions are coming on really well, I have more than 30 happily growing on the windowsill, I'm going to harden them off this weekend, then hopefully get Alex to fix the greenhouse and they can go in there. I need my windowsill for other things!!
I'm really hoping for more sunny days, it makes the job so much more enjoyable, and has really lifted my mood!!

Just a quickie

The onion sets I potted up last Wednesday are now sprouting, more and more each day are poking their shoots through the compost.
Trying to find a heated propogator now so that I can start some chillis off

A whole day in the garden!!!!

I had a whole day in the garden yesterday! I did loads, although at times my fingers were so cold, I thought they would drop off!!!
First job of the morning was to start potting up my onion sets. A friend suggested that if I started them off in pots, it would give them a better chance against mice and birds, as they would be bigger, and have roots to hold them in the ground once I plant them out.
This job took ages! I used the old compost left in the driveway since the summer, it was very wet, and VERY cold!!!! It probably wasnt perfect conditions for the poor bulbs, but hopefully they will forgive me! I stopped once and went inside to wash my hands and get a cuppa to warm my hands back up, but eventually they were done!

I still have as many bulbs left though, so will be potting more on Saturday! I used two varieties, both bought from poundland I think!
After that, I started digging another bed. I was a little stuck, as because the previous bed had been slightly wider than planned, I was going to be left with either a very narrow bed, or a very wide bed, which I wouldnt be able to use the middle of without standing on the seedlings!
I decided on the wide option, but didnt take it back to the hedge, so I am going to make two beds in the wide space.
I also spent a bit of time in the greenhouse trying to tidy up, but I was so terrified of the the mice running up my trouser leg, that I was a bit distracted to say the least!!! I'm going to aim to finish clearing it this weekend, then I'm going to set some mousetraps, after all, I dont want mice eating all my plants this summer!!! I'm hoping once that is done, Alex will replace the glass in the greenhouse, then I want to get some wood preservative and treat the wood, before putting my plants in it next month!!!

Squirrels!

This morning I saw the first red squirrel for the season. We havent had any in the garden for ages, so I was really pleased to see this one. I tried to get a photo, but my phone wouldn't pick it up through the window. However, I have some from last summer, so if I can get them from photobucket to here, I will show them to you now!

A really lovely day

I am so chuffed! Today I decided to go out, even though it was overcast and raining, then, when I went out, the rain had stopped and the sun came out!
I started digging the bed, to the right of the gate today, both kids were out, as was Alex, so no distractions!
Fortunately, Alex got home, and he came back about 20 minutes after I started, and then he helped out!

With Alex to keep me going, not to mention double the labour, we forged through the bed, and had it dug in no time!
As we were working so well, and the sun was shining, we moved on up to the Rhubarb patch. Our hearts sank when we saw how overgrown and unkempt it looked, but we both got to work, and by 4.15pm, as the sun was going down, and I had to go and pick up Eilidh, it looked pretty good!

We cut back the nettles and raspberries to the fence, cleared the long grass, and Alex even started clearing the nettle roots, it really has started to look looked after! We can definately see where we have been, and it was so enjoyable doing it with Alex, we chatted away as we worked, and he started to see my ideas for the garden coming to life.
Hopefully we will do more tomorrow, if we have as good a bash at it as today, we should have another bed dug and the whole section behind the blackcurrants sorted!
There were even signs of new life, the Rhubarb is sprouting, we met a beetle, and I found some bulbs starting to grow too!!!
It may be only February, but spring is starting to show!

Close to giving up today

Had set aside the day today to empty the trailer of poo onto the cardboard. Predictably, all my helpers disappeared, (someone's xbox may go on a little holiday!!) so it was down to me!
had a wobble halfway through, it all seemed a bit too much for just me, and the lack of support was overwhelming, but picked myself back up, told myself it would be worth it, and started planning the pep talk I would give the family when they had tea!!!
2 Hours, 45 minutes later, it was done. About 2/3 of the garden is covered now, so still need more cardboard and poo, but I managed it! Feel quite proud of myself now, and glad I persevered.
I did take the photo, but it was rather dark by the time I had finished, and it is impossible to see what I have done! So, I googled a wish this was my garden photo instead!!!!

Poo!!!!!

Oh my!! A day spent shovelling poo, what has my life become???


Gillian took me to where her daughter goes horse riding today to get some fairly fresh horse manure, before we left, Lochlan helped me to cover the whole garden (one bed) with cardboard, so now it is ready for the poo to go on top. I'm not expecting to use this side of the garden this year, so it was ok to use fairly fresh stuff.
Gillian couldnt help with the shovelling, as she has hurt her back, so she helped me guide the trailer in, we parked next to the piles of poo, and I started forking it into the trailer. It took ages!

By the time I had got this far, I was shattered, and my arms were really aching. Fortunately the man (owner??) came over for a chat and to find out what I planned to use the poo for. When I told him, he said "Oh, I could have done it quickly for you with the loader" needless to say, I encouraged him to do just that, and fortunately he did!
I was a little worried as the tyres on Gillians trailer nearly popped under the weight, so we had to remove some of the manure from the trailer, but eventually it was all done, and by the time Rachel had finished her lesson, we were ready to leave.
Once I had had a cuppa, and warmed up a little at home, I went out and started barrowing it onto the garden, now it really was down to me, no loader available this time! It took quite a while, and a lot of effort, but I got the first four barrow loads onto the carboard. It is only a very thin layer, and 4 barrow loads certainly didnt go very far, I think I will need at least another trailer of fresh to cover this garden, not to mention the well rotted stuff for the other garden! I am going to be burning all those new year calories at this rate!

Next week I am going back for some well rotted stuff, so better get a move on laying this load!