Marching on

It's been a busy week and I won't lie to you - I'm glad to finally have a rest! There's always lots to do but I seem to create more and more jobs for myself, despite organising things better this year. So, what have I done? There's been some work for wildlife and plenty of sowing. Here's what's been going on this week:

Wildlife Gardening

The plot of land that  was earmarked for a forage area has now started to take shape. The land for the wildlife pond has been cleared and dug and I've put in a liner (using sand as a base to make sure that the liner is cushioned a little.  To fill it with water I used rain water from the top two water butts, letting gravity do the job for me. It's always a good idea not to use tap water as this contains too many nutrients that can cause algae to grow and upset the natural balance. I also think that chlorine is no good for amphibians and as we get frogs and newts in the garden, it's only really sensible to use rain water. Stones and gravel was bought to place around the pond but at the moment while I'm letting the liner settle in, I won't be adding decoration around the pond for a day or so. What has been added is wire netting on one side in case any wildlife falls in and can't get out. That way they can climb out with the help of the wire. Finally, I placed a camera trap to overlook the pond to see if we get any night time visitors. 

Not very attractive yet but it's a start. 

The blue tits have been checking out the nest box and I've switched the camera on in there to watch their progression. They've been quite noisy in the garden and they're not the only birds around. The other species that are prospecting for nest space are the starlings, great tits and blackbirds. There'll be others too but these are the birds that I've noticed getting ready for breeding season in my garden. 

No Dig

This is coming along really well. I had mentioned before that I might need to buy in some organic compost but so far the veg plot is filling out nicely with just the homemade compost.  

I'll have to dig out some of that grass, but I'm hoping that the cardboard will keep out some weeds.

There's nothing like freshly added compost to get you smiling!

The robin watched me all the time but never came down to look for insects. Instead, as she sang so gently and kept me company, I gave her some mealworms later on. I'm challenging myself to complete the no dig area by next weekend. 

More sowing

Flowers and veg seeds to sow have been on the list of jobs this week. At Christmas I was given a seed advent calendar from my husband and so I've got some lovely insect friendly flowers to grow! So far all my seeds trays are either in the polytunnel or the windowsills at home. As the polytunnel shelves will start to heave, I'm going to clear some space in my green houses and set about adding more seed trays there too. 

This weekend I have sown:

Malope

Rudbeckia

Calendula

Marigolds

Summer Squash Patty Pan

Courgettes

Marrows

Pumpkins

Winter Squash Crown Prince

Sweetcorn  

Marigold seeds are sown on the surface of compost - these ones are seeds that I collected from last year's flowers.

It took less than a week for the tomatoes to start germinating!

Haven't quite got round to all of this just yet!

So now I'm going to have dinner and put my feet up! I hope that you've all had successes with germination this month. Until next time x