Apparently, my local reservoirs are now 98% full, if not overflowing, after all the recent rainfall, which is not only good news but makes up for the difficulty in being productive in the garden over the last few days. Some of my plants seems to have visibly benefited from the downpours, too. A couple of the strawberry plants, in particular, seem to have really shot up, though why just two, I don’t know.
The coriander seems to be coming through – I hope that’s not wishful thinking, i.e. weeds instead – and fingers crossed this year I will be able to harvest the leaves. A couple of years ago, coriander was virtually the only crop I had, as the garden was too full of the previous owner’s bushes, and it was an excellent crop. Then last year, the first sowing resulted in nothing, so I did a second sowing, which bolted, but which did produce some seeds which I am now using in my cooking.
The broadbeans are starting to get to the point where they need to be tied back, even though the plants are still small, so this evening that has been one of the jobs I’ve done. The other main job was digging up yet more of the lawn and removing the dandelion roots from the soil. I also managed to get a fair amount of couch grass out as well. It was quite back-breaking work but very satisfying. The soil where the lawn once was is looking rich and healthy, full of worms, so I look forward to growing on it.
I’ve now got about 40 litres of water from the rainy spell – some in milk cartons and the rest in my two watering cans. Not sure that I will need it just yet, though, as the forecast is for rain, if not snow, over this bank holiday weekend. I do so hope this will not be the case, as it was lovely seeing the sun (briefly) while I was doing my digging a little while ago. I think the plants would be glad of some of the same tomorrow and beyond as well.
