Hard graft

With the better weather I have made it outside to carry out some serious grafting!

This is the raised bed that I constructed last year. I have finally got round to making it level on the ground before lining and filling with compost and some manure. The lining is great for keeping out weeds whilst letting moisture in. I popped on the netting to stop cats from using it as a giant litter tray (not Dorothy and Ange might I add). You can see from the pic above that the ground looks muddy. It's heavy clay hence the raised beds make it easier to grow anything my heart desires = happy Marge :)

Tell you what, I am aching though from moving the bags of soil and raking and lifting etc. Who needs the gym eh?

This is the second of my raised beds. I decided last year to put raspberry canes, which were in containers, in here and they are happy chappys! I hope in a couple of years that they will be bushy but they are only a year or two old so they are doing brilliantly. I pruned them at the end of the growing season (around Nov/Dec) and then around end of Feb gave them some general fertiliser to add some nutrients back to the soil. Raspberry plants have shallow roots so I am cautious when digging in, weeding etc.

So after all that work what did I do, have a cup of tea of course :)

My next job is to plant out the sweet peas and to prepare raised bed number one for growing new yummy things.