We did lots of logistics today and got all the scavenged cardboard down to the shed, along with my new plastic tiles for avoiding the mud, a bucket of hügel sticks, and the bags of leaves from Normandy. Bad road signage and a closed road included, we also picked up 3 bags of compost (still frozen!) and 4 bags of manure from the garden centre.

I pulled back the plastic on Bed 1 and scattered hügel sticks across the wet cardboard. I’m not 100% sold on them, but I think I’ll stick with it (ha ha) for the remainder. I was concerned about the depth of the beds, having put cardboard down, so further reading assures me that it’s a temporary layer. It’ll decompose in time and be soft enough for roots to grow straight through.

The manure turned out to be absolutely perfect stuff (and only frozen in the middle!). It’s fine, rotted chippings and feels like the perfect base layer for the beds before I add leaf mould and compost. It was also discounted, so I need to get lots more!

I put 4 bags onto Bed 1, which I think will do for now. Then leaf mould and compost, with maybe more compost in the spring. The moment I walked away, the two robins turned up to see what was happening. I’ve covered it up again now, so I’m not taken by surprise by any mean weather elements.