More deadheading, but I’ve not done all the cornflowers yet. There was lots of other “proper” work to be done.

Some of the leaves on the chard had gone a bit limp and I realised that the soil was as dry as a bone. The elder in the corner is very leafy, so no doubt really drying out this corner. I weeded the whole bed, then watered every inch with two watering cans. I used (all but) a bag of compost to mulch over the top. When I go back in two days I’ll see if the limp leaves have perked up at all and pick some leaves.

I weeded all down the veg bed and on the opposite side of the quinoa bed. I thinned out a few beetroot seedlings, pulled a couple of carrots that were being eaten. There are a few tiny spinach plants in the quinoa bed that I tried to avoid, as well as what looks like a few carrots coming up!

I weeded all down the right hand side, which was mostly a matter of the triangle. I discovered early on that the stump is falling apart below the surface. Big pieces of rotten root have come out of the ground and the stump is quite undermined now. There is of course a red ants’ nest down there – one managed to get up on my arm and bite me.

I’ve moved the hyssop from the front to along by the lavender near the tree. This soil is very dry too and needs lots of compost on it too, so I’m not worried about having a bit of a bare patch at the moment. Next year I expect I’ll just fill it with flowers, like in 1 and 7.

I dug up a bunch of dandelions and nettles from the ledge, which has been taken over by aquilegia all of a sudden. Not quite sure how I’m going to renovate the ledge with these in the way. The speedwell seems to be waking up a bit too. I think I’ll just wait and see how the next month or two goes.

Also suddenly appearing are all these seedling in the wood chip under the apple tree. I’ve a feeling that they might be nigella, as that doesn’t seem to have a specific start time as far as I can see.