Two and a half hours' work and what emerged was a lovely fertile bed. Now double-height edged, raked and watered, it has rows of
Red Titan Beetroot, little plants that have been sitting in modules for 6 weeks or more. I bet they're ready to spread their roots a bit! Cornflower
Black Ball in rows for cutting too, a deep purple flower, from The Garden House seed. Can't see anything there? No, me neither - just wait two weeks and there'll be a lush carpet of red, green, steely grey and what I think will be pink
Candy Stripe Cosmos.
What should go in next is spinach and french beans, before the Leeks - 50 of 'em bought from the man in Poix de Picardie Market on Monday. Also I read somewhere that veg patches often had Gladioli - for cutting or for insect confusion? Either, it will do, as I have some sitting in a pot waiting to go in. Maybe some of the Pot Marigolds as well, with the Welsh Onions.
Digging I came across a yellow toad deep in the earth of the bed. Two slow worms, one quite small, the other about the size and colour of a new HB pencil - silvery/ochre and black - slid their ways over the ground, and a little lizard, brown on top, orange underneath, played dead while I moved it out of the spade's way.
Then I was reading Summer's Permaculture Magazine, and here's a beautiful permaculture potager, laid out in diamonds and tapestry patterns. Maybe the leeks could be in the form of a circle or a spiral...
Still to put in: Crambe, Cosmos and Bidens, Nasturtiums, a French pumpkin and a round 'Nero' courgette. Then a French Cornichon into the greenhouse I think.
There's a gorgeous little
blog entry from Jardin d'Orsan about how to protect top fruit from wasps and other predators, and coincidentally produce large and succulent fruit at the same same - with paper bags!
Then I was reading Summer's Permaculture Magazine, and here's a beautiful permaculture potager, laid out in diamonds and tapestry patterns. Maybe the leeks could be in the form of a circle or a spiral...