We’ve spent this month doing more digging, tidying and re-arranging the layout of some of the beds. The raspberry bed had an old compost bin at one end, made from pallets, which we inherited from the former plot holder. We’ve been topping it up with fresh material as it has been composting down over the last couple of years and have been thinking about getting rid of it for a while so we can extend the bed (Sue is a raspberry freak as well as a strawberry nut).

The bin looked really well made, held together by huge nails which I thought would be nigh on impossible to get out. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been putting off the job but I got my orders from you know who so thought I’d better give it a go. Armed with my mighty mattock and a determined look I took aim, gave one side of the bin a tentative test tap and the whole thing fell to bits! It must have been the determined look that did it. Anyway, the compost was really good and we got about a dozen wheelbarrows full which we spread over a very claggy section of one of the other beds which was almost entirely clay. We’ve now extended the bed and will be moving the raspberries soon. All in all it was a really good result.

We’re still harvesting carrots and parsnips and the garlic is looking good although it’s not growing as fast as last year.