At last the plot was dry – to the extent that I now have to keep an eye on the pond bank plants and make sure they aren’t going to dry up.

I did the fortnightly removal of algae from within the pond. I also used the small fork to scrape lots of weed from the sweet flag at last and I hope it might pick up a bit with new growth soon. I placed more foraged bark on the front bank. I stuck my arm in the water and it turns out that the billowing in the liner is actually the fold, not the wall. So there’s nothing really to be done or worry about. Maybe a frog will hide in there one day.

I opened beds 6, 7, 8 and 9. I raked and composted beds 8 and 9, so they are now ready for action. Beds 6 and 7 need to dry off a little before I rake them over and add compost.

Mum brought down all my new logs, including the huge one from the ditch in Church Lane. I’d first seen that floating in a flooded ditch, then seen that it was huge when the water level had sunk somewhat. Finally I decided that I wanted it in spite of / because of its size.

I broadcast poppy, candytuft, godetia and larkspur seed in the front bed. The callicarpa is now getting leaves. I wonder if it will be a refuge for birds in a few years. I placed another new log and tried to get it to sit as flat as possible to keep the lemon balm and helianthus back. I might dig it down into the earth a little more.

I filled a hole behind the helianthus and lemon balm with broken up helianthus sticks. There are more helianthus sprouts coming up, so hopefully this won’t be too empty of desired plants.

I added some candytuft seed to where my pink and white  tulips have disappeared in Bed 3. There’s a bit of a gap at the moment, but new irises are coming up this year.

I dug over the patch of ground right by the shed and added a scoop of leaf mould. The black leaf bin is absolutely full of ants, but there are no birds anywhere to help me out. Once Bed 10 or 11 is empty again, I think it’ll have to be emptied and left for animal attention. Hopefully I can attract more birds to the plot meanwhile. I planted a big foxglove in the patch. I want more foxgloves this year for their wildlife worth. I might try and get that one out of the terracotta pot too.

The garlic and onions are looking good; only  a couple of little slug nibbles. I placed a coconut with mealworms soaking in water for young birds. It was completely empty the next day.

I transplanted poppies and godetia that were evicted when I planted the remaining garlic bulbs in pots at home. They’ve gone into gaps in the trellis bed.

I placed another big log along some empty space under apple tree. Assuming that my reserved logs are enough to edge the future woodland area, I believe I have all edging logs now. I have some thinner, less straight pieces set aside for fitting in that area and elsewhere in beds set aside too.

Bed 2 has been open all winter and was a good example of how covering the beds really is beneficial. It had many more weeds and the soil was tougher to deal with. I weeded it all and pulled up all the chard. I put the roots on the compost heap and then broke up a pile of helianthus sticks and covered the bed with a little layer of those sticks and then covered that with a layer of shredded chard leaves. That was then covered with compost to make a lasagne bed. Little red bits of stalk showing here and there may mean that the blackbird destroys the bed while I’m away, thinking they are worms.