Time For Plan B

Wednesday turned out to be our warmest day of the year so far reaching 16.7°C or 62.1°F.

Some of the grass paths on the plot were in desperate need of strimming so as it was dry on Wednesday afternoon it seemed like a good opportunity to get the job done.

I wasn't really planning on getting any other jobs done but in the back of my mind was the need to prepare the bed for our early brassicas. Tuesday's rain had put an end to any hopes of digging over the ground. I loaded my trusty three pronged hoe into the car as I had a plan B in mind if I had some time to spare after strimming the grass.

After strimming the grass and a welcome cup of afternoon coffee I decided to try Plan B. I was hoping that the top of the soil would hoe and create a suitable depth to allow us to plant our brassicas. After all they are supposed to appreciate firm ground. My plan seemed to work okay. I didn't want to disturb the wetter and claggier soil beneath as this wouldn't break down into any sort of tilth. Who knows by the middle of summer the plants might be glad of all that moisture retained lower down in the soil.

After hoeing through the bed once I added lime then fish, blood and bone. Then all this was given another good hoeing to incorporate it into the soil. Some slug pellets were sprinkled over the soil before the whole bed was covered with weed control fabric and weighed down with three barrow loads of partially rotted wood chips.

We'll now have to see what our brassicas make of the compromise once they are planted out.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett