This will be the year

Yeah, yeah, you’ve all heard it before, but seriously, this will be the year.

When I came back in 2010, it was the end of June before it stopped raining and I could get started. Far too late. (Nor did I appreciate how totally crap the soil in the vegetable plot was until my garden guru cousin Peter wrote to inform me that the rocket was flowering before the leaves were large enough to eat because it was starved of nutrients and was desperately trying to reproduce before it perished.)

And last year, after Mike died, well, my heart just wasn’t in it. No surprise there.

Thanks to Krys and Becky, the vegetable plot did get dug over (compost added), but, to be honest, without Mike around, I was hard pressed to think of any vegetable I liked enough to make it worth growing.

Berries, I thought. I like berries. So, blueberry and raspberry bushes (and a black currant) were purchased and planted in the plot. Truth be told, I didn’t get all that many blueberries.

The raspberries were also very disappointing – until I discovered that four out of five of the bushes I’d bought were actually the late fruiting variety. Lots of raspberries in October. How odd.

I did get lots of cherry tomatoes in and they were yummy, but no great horticultural breakthrough, given that they will grow absolutely anywhere.

And so to 2012

Easter Monday. It’s a lovely day and I’m thinking of going for a walk. But, no, I decide. Let’s get into the garden.


The hyacinths I planted last autumn are looking pretty, but I’m not sure the fuchsia is going to stage a comeback.

First things first. I spend some time raking up twigs and thousands of pine cones.

Now I want to move the fruit bushes to side beds. This requires digging and weeding said beds. My neighbours Sally and Jamie, out for a walk, stop to chat, comment on what good quality the side bed soil appears to be. I cannot help but agree with them. Is this where the decent soil in my garden has been hiding? How annoying would that be?


I transfer the blueberry bushes. Difficult to tell from the photo, I know, but there is already a great deal of growth on them. Lots of blueberries this year? One can but hope.


I transfer the raspberries, including a few, small new ones. The roots of these appear to be connected to the larger plants, so not something appearing from the seeds of fallen fruit. Who knew raspberries did this? (Lots of people I’m sure, but until this moment, not me.)


Last year’s strawberries seem to be coming back nicely. Not sure how well the fig tree in the back pot is doing.

Go inside, make myself a cup of tea, come back to sit and admire my morning’s work. I really should stop now, but…


Maybe just dig over part of the vegetable plot? Yes, why not? I’ve actually bought some manure and a bit of topsoil, which I add. This really is going to be the year.

Next day

Oh, my god, how much do I ache? And why the hell is my ass so sore? Surely it’s all fat? Where are the muscles hiding?


Take my cappuccino down to the garden. Okay, the sore ass is worth it. Look at the garden! What a great start.