Still Digging (Part 7)!! Restarted !

A Touch of Frost

I had fully expected the digging and removal of the Dandelions, Creeping Buttercups and other weeds, from the main, central bed on N2 plot to have been completed before Christmas. Up until Sunday last, the soil was still too wet to walk or work on. I finally managed to resume digging by late morning on Sunday the 9th, which was a cold but gloriously sunny day. By late afternoon, working across the bed, I had double dug, back approximately 2 feet of ground, removing roots, weeds and debris as I turned over the damp clay soil.

Frozen Raspberry Bed N1 Plot

 Heavy overnight ground frosts have been a feature of our local weather, for a week or so recently. Any newly dug soil is breaking down nicely thanks to the effects of the frost, although the weak Winter sunshine has left the grounds' surface fairly damp and sticky, as it melted away the frost. I spent most of last Monday continuing the work on the central bed. Many of the large Dandelion roots were slightly easier to remove from the soil encasing them, due to the fact that the combination of frost and sunlight had made the soil less sticky and more friable, across most of the bed. I continued with the digging and weeding on Tuesday and by the time it was getting dark, I had progressed back down the bed another 2 feet or so.

About 15 Feet to Complete

There was a particularly heavy frost on Tuesday night and as it melted on Wednesday morning, it left the soils' surface slippery underfoot so I decided to move my digging efforts to one of the smaller beds. These smaller beds seem to have a greater depth of top soil on them, as opposed to clay, thus making the digging easier and removal of weeds slightly quicker to do. By Wednesday evening this bed was almost fully dug over and weed free, with only a couple of feet of ground left to deal with. One and a half good sized barrow loads of roots and weeds were removed from this bed alone. It has been very noticeable, (and probably due to this years wet weather), just how many Slugs, Earwigs and Cut worms, plus their eggs, have been apparent within the soil, whilst I have been turning it over. I expect there will be a large rise in the number of these particular pests next year, with an upsurge in their efforts to attack various vegetable crops at will. I was glad to see a few Cut worms, still encased in their tombs of soil, where they had been frozen to death, by the recent frosts.

First Barrow Load of  Roots from Small Bed N2 Plot

 Yesterday was a none starter due to the fact that someone told me it was only 12 days to Christmas, (that's funny I thought, I haven't seen any Partridges in my Pear tree lately). I decided it was time to get some shopping done. Having eaten a host of mince pies, already, since yesterday, it was time for my favorite shopping experience again today, (the local supermarket). Just as well as its been raining heavily for most of the day, making more digging etc out of the question, except for digging into some more mince pies that is, love em!

  There's always tomorrow!

1 Creeping Buttercup Root

Frozen Leaf & a Few Snowflakes