Today there was a team of 4 at work in the plot: me, Mum and Suzy and Helen. What a great way to make progress! While the other three did amazing work on the two potato beds, which of course will be the first ones in use, I finished off the ledge.

The retaining plank is now properly in place and supported by metal pegs. I’ve brought soil along from the other end to raise the step and the rest of the boundary flower bed is now pretty much dug over. Two of the bean poles that previously stood in the plot now edge the bed, which is just waiting for all the nasturtiums and sweet peas I’m going to grow to go wild all over the fence and hide what’s beyond.

I also cut and turned over what I could of the flower bed that runs along the right hand side, from the elder to the Braeburn. The compost heap still stands in Elder Corner, but after more work on digging through that, it’s getting lower and lower. It used to be about 2′ 6″ high, piled up with all kinds of garden rubbish that wasn’t going to rot down any time soon. Now I’m right down into its lower levels, still picking out potatoes, bulbs and hard sticks to get towards the actual compost.


We’ve been picking out good clumps of grass as we come to them, and transplanting them in the bald patches that aren’t getting much foot traffic for the moment. It’s nice to see how well the line along the front flower bed has taken. One day, the rest of those muddy paths might just be green too!