Bed 11 is now complete for winter. It’s been fully edged with cardboard, lined and then give a fat layer of manure. The pile of my own compost in the bed has been spread on top as the leaf mould layer. I should have remembered hügel sticks, but didn’t think of it until too late.

There was half a bag of manure left over, so that’s been put onto Bed 5. That’s already reached its compost level, but it’s very deep, so the manure’s gone on next and I’ll add more manure and compost as we go. It’s a deep bed, which is good because that’s where I’m planning to try parsnips there.

Bed 9 has a new cover now, as the old one no longer fits. It’s been open for a week, but nothing had been disturbed in the leaf mould level. I had to tread on it a few times and it’s quite soft and spongey, so should settle down a good bit further, especially with the compost on top.

I walked around the plot a little after lunch and found the very first bulb poking up. This should be one of the narcissus bulbs.

I was going to leave Bed 6 until spring, but the ground is dry enough that I thought I’d make a start on it. I’ve left the newspaper in place and cut away the edge grass. Half is now lined and edged and I’ll aim to do the rest tomorrow. As this is a wet bed in winter, I must try and remember to hügel stick this one in case it helps to hold any of the water.