Starting a Garden late.

It so long since I wrote a blog post that I had to sit and stare at the screen for a few minutes before I remembered what to do. I am hoping that this isn't a false start and that I can pick it up once again.

Time, or rather lack of time is a curse of the modern world and that is no less so with running a small holding. Although we have successfully cleared some of the busyness from our lives the sheer volume of jobs associated with our  (relatively) small piece of land means we never seem to catch up. Add to that a very wet winter and spring, and a big project inside of the house and we are way behind. When I say way behind I don't just mean no planting I mean nothing, Zilch, no preparation no mulching no nothing, and here we are and its almost May.

Sheep but not sheepish

As our economic survival relies on us producing a good part of our own food, I decided today that I really had better start. I have missed the best start times for some veg, and I may not have time to prepare enough ground to grow all that I would like, but I have decided that with a pragmatic approach I can still grow a good few things.


The first possible problem with this plan is the sheep. They still have access to the vegetable garden at the moment, and their destructive capabilities are impressive. So nothing out in the open then. This means my little plastic green house is my target for the day.

Gone to seed winter salad leaves.

Being limited in this way is no bad thing in my experience, When faced with the possibility of a huge quantity of work it can be a bit overwhelming, sometimes in fact it can paralyse you to the extent that you give up before you start. One thing that I have learnt, or to be more accurate that I am constantly learning is to tackle one small job at a time. Start small finish your small job, start the next and get wherever you get to. Its amazing how much I can accomplish that way.

So my garden job for today was to clear the beds and water. I also hosed down the walls which washed off snails, mould, green slimy bits etc. I will do the same again tomorrow, the reason for repeating the task is that any weeds I missed today will respond to being watered and poke their heads up ready to be pulled out tomorrow. The beds will soak up the water so when I add compost and seeds everything should grow.

Needless to say I had help! They are insatiably curious and there is not room in one small greenhouse for three fully grown sheep.......and a cat........and a couple of chickens.... and two large dogs and a handful of duckings..............