Progressing

Well February is renowned for false springs and then last week has seen it live up to its reputation. The warm days and lack of precipitation have enabled the plots to dry and the sunny warm weekend weather have enabled me to stress my back with two two hour digging sessions.
Saturday was the warmer day and saw me in the greenhouse to start with. I have to say it was actually too hot in there and I suspect that both of my automatic openers have given up the ghost. Whilst the onions, leeks, and cabbage seedlings planted 4 and 3 weeks ago are enjoying the warmth - a little too much perhaps, it has led to a few other problems. My lilies which are overwintered in pots in there are all starting to grow, and the asparagus, which was put in there to keep it away from the frost is also doing likewise; not a good sign as I'm at least 3 weeks away from having the bed ready - more on that a little later. I've therefore had to improvise another cold frame and move it all outside again, where hopefully the cooler temperatures will hold it back.
The other reason for being in the greenhouse was to repot two of the Aloe Vera, and to pot up the surviving Fuschia cuttings - shame I haven't a clue what variety they are.
Lunch over and done with I made my way down to the Bracknell plot. First job of the day was to finish bed number 3. On the way I stopped off in Wickes and brought myself a new rake. I've been looking around for a while. Whilst my standard 12" garden rake is okay, it's not really up to leveling large areas. Having looked around the Wickes Builders Landscaping rake seemed to be the best value for money, and at 30" wide it certainly makes life a lot easier. My only gripe is that the handle is a little too short. I'm over 6' and an extra 12" in the length of the handle would make it more comfortable to use.
Bed 3 finished, as far as I'm able until the over-wintered onions finish in June, I moved to sorting out bed 2 below the cabbages. The main reason for doing this was that the soil level had dropped since the bed was created last year, and I needed to clear a little more space to enable me to keep digging. Soil redistributed I moved to dig a further section of the bed that until now has been covered with heavy duty matting of the sort found in children's play grounds. The council had dumped a load on the site this time last year, and most of the plot holders took the opportunity to acquire some. As I progressed down the bed I noted that whilst where the bed had been uncovered the soil was actually drier than that that had been covered. The matting was now working against me. Having dug out another 3 foot stretch, most of it remaining as 9" square sods laid along the top of the bed, I called it a day. My final act was to remove the next section of matting in the hope that we don't get deluged again in the week and it will have dried to a more workable state for next weekend.
Sunday saw my return to the Sunningdale plot, principally to make some progress on the asparagus bed. First job was to sort out the scaffold poles supporting the runner bean frame. I'd had to hastily put two angled poles in place last August to stop them all from being blown down a second time. Both of these poles were resting with one end in the middle of where the asparagus bed will be. Having removed both poles I repositioned one vertically at the end, marked the position of the foot, removed it, dug a 9" square hole 3' deep, dropped a load of pea shingle in the bottom, replaced the pole, refilled it tamping it down, then scattered the remaining shingle on top. I'll give it a couple of weeks to all settle in properly then do the other pole at the other end. Hopefully these will provide enough resistance to stop the beans and peas from being blown down again this year.
After weeding the 3 foot section of the bed I'd done in the middle of last year, I shifted what was left of last years manure pile to this point. I was a little disappointed that it hadn't rotted more. Perhaps covering it with the carpet to stop it drying out had actually stopped it from getting wet enough.
Manure pile moved I cracked on with the digging, getting about 7 foot done. The problem I can now see is that, I'm going to have to pile a lot of soil somewhere whilst I create the bed. The crowns need to be planted on ridges, the top of the ridge being about 2" down from the final soil height and each ridge being about 4" high. After the crowns are planted then the soil can be replaced filling the bed. This means to create the beds I'm going to have to move a 4" depth of soil across a 4' wide by 21' long bed somewhere else, create the bed, then move it back again.
I'm now considering digging enough of the bed to get the next timbers in, which will add 15' to the length of the bed, moving the soil to the undug end, planting the first 15 feet, coving this, then sorting out the remaining 6 feet. Time and weather will I think dictate the outcome.
To round things off I planted the first of this years potatoes, well actually the left overs from last years late planting, and a few self-chitted leftovers from last years early crop. I haven't actually got a clue as to what variety any of them are. We'll find out in about 16 weeks.