Preparing the beds

Under the watchful gaze of the friendly scarecrow, our winter wheat is continuing to flourish.

Behind his (her?) back, all is busyness, as 24 eager Gardener’s Apprentices…..

learn that today’s task is to ready the raised beds for Spring planting.  What, though, lies behind the mysterious shadow (a welcome moment of sunshine, that!) in the red plastic bucket?

And why would we need to use a measuring tape as well as a rake?

A peek inside the bucket revealed coils of string and scissors.  Hmm.

What exactly would we be doing?  Well, the beds would have to be raked…..

and any remaining large stones removed.  Fat worms, though, would stay firmly put.

Meanwhile, the dimensions of the beds (the length and the width) would have to be measured.

String would be cut to size…..

and tied…..

criss-cross across the bed…..

in order to mark out the planting areas.

Sweet William plants…..

and fuzzy-leafed sage…..

are ready to plant.  Seed potatoes…..

and peas, radish, lettuce and carrot seeds….

are on next week’s task list.

Taking a closer look

Goodness it was cold on Friday.  A biting bise wind.  But gardeners go out in all weathers; and so, therefore, did we, albeit briefly. 

Our task was to find out a bit more about soil; specifically, what goes on underneath the surface.  What might we find lurking there?

Armed with magnifying glasses…..

and child-sized trowels and forks, we squatted down on our haunches (well, they did – I don’t think I have those any longer!) and so the hunt began.  Soon excited squeals were to be heard.

‘I’ve got a worm!’

‘Eeee – a worm; eugh!’

‘Another worm!’  All carefully put back into the garden (quite possibly soon to be ‘found’ again by another ‘hunter’!)

And then, ‘Roman pottery!’  Hmm!

And, ‘Look roots!’

 

Followed by, ‘I’ve got a plant.  It was buried!’

As well as, ‘Rocks!  Rubbish!’  All of which went into the wheelbarrow.

The only disappointment I think was that we didn’t find any snail eggs.  That and the fact the the millipede was too fast for my camera – all those legs, you see!