Getting busy outside

Spring colour is certainly abundant now with bursts of purple, orange and yellow all throughout the garden. I really do love this time of year for the joy these flowers bring. This time of year also brings an abundance of grass which presents an opportunity, and a fair bit of work along with that!

The opportunity is one that can't be missed. This bulk organic matter that has been created from carbon and nitrogen, mostly drawn from the atmosphere and combined with minerals presented by the soil life, has been produced in one place but is now needed in another. All I have to do is cut it and move it. Quite the job really. With 240m of swales and plenty of this long, tall, lush grass it will take a fair whack of time to accomplish. But I've made a start this week. So all good!

I managed to complete the lower swale earlier in the week and it looks amazing. I also planted a few more trees and also some currant cuttings which will hopefully take off. I started the top swale and finished the areas where I have smaller plantings in addition to the trees such as around the apricots and peaches, at the house end of the swale. After mulching around the trees, all the excess went on to the swale cut out. It still has quite a bit of bare earth that needs to be covered so spring presents the opportunity to do this. It really is rewarding to stand back and appreciate the scene once the task is completed. Looks like a garden - just whats wanted for a young emerging food forest.

Watch out for the video where I show all my efforts - coming soon!!

In the egg department this week I found the tiniest egg from a chicken that you'd see! It is probably equal in size to the black bird eggs that are pictured in this beautiful nest that I came across while preparing one of my veggie beds for planting. I had thought I was a bit behind maintaining this garden and this poor little bird confirmed it. As I went to work clearing the overgrowth a black bird flew out. I was a bit surprised by this and really disappointed when I came upon this nest. There had been three eggs when I found it. I moved it to another spot in the garden, but as suspected, mum hadn't returned and a little rodent has probably carried off the third egg during the night.

While out in the garden I managed to harvest the broad beans that I'll process for the green beans inside - I enjoy those with a salad! I had harvested globe artichokes earlier in the week and preserved them. You can see the results of my efforts in this weeks video - so check that out if you haven't already via link at the top of the page!! The third photo above is a picture of my worm castings. Some seeds do make it through - including tomato seeds - these volunteers look healthier than the ones I've been carefully nurturing so perhaps I'll promote these to the garden!!

Thats it for me. A beautiful sunny morning is inviting me to join it outside. Hope you all have a lovely week.

Cheers