February 25, 2008...1:13 pm
Alpine Garden: Stage 2
We checked the weather report for the next ten days and no frost was forecast so we decided to plant the alpines on Sunday afternoon as it had finally stopped raining. If you squint really hard you can just about see the plants.
Okay, I admit it’s not quite there yet but all it needs is a few more bags of alpine mix and a lot of patience as the plants settle into their new home. I’m sure it’ll look great in five years’ time!
Whilst Jon planted and spread gravel, my conscience got the better of me so I decided to fork the lawn to aerate it. Fortunately, we’re not lawn-proud, we have come to accept the moss that has colonised parts, but some of it was looking far too muddy and suffering from soil compaction. As I was monotonously forking the ground – even the dogs thought it was boring and they think weeding is good fun – I noticed we weren’t the only active ones. There were various hikers on the path alongside the river, canoeists heading down the river and a herd of about twenty pony-trekkers wending their way up the side of the valley. Meanwhile, I was getting sore hands and feet, wishing I was indoors watching the Carling Cup Final.
Not so good news on the mushroom front. Naughty Megan found the box this morning, along with the fish food pellets. She’s already ate two watch straps this weekend (she carefully spat out the metal bits) and chewed a Swatch in half, so she is not in the good books. Hopefully some of the mushroom box is salvageable but we’ll have to cross our fingers and wait to see what emerges.
Almost forgot! (Because I didn’t do it.) We have planted our first new potatoes of the season. They are a second early, blue-skinned variety called Edzell Blue, which should make for an interesting looking salad when we begin to harvest them in July.
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