Ah, good. The rain's come on.

Not something you'd normally hear me say, but we've just now planted the maple tree (Acer pseudoplatanus "Brilliantissimum") and put down four inches of mulch on next year's corn bed (I know, I know, wrong time of year but I'm mainly putting it down to improve soil fertility), and a bit of heavy rain is just what the doctor ordered.



Can I just point out that I'm not mutating into a clone of a certain crofter from the Antipodes? I'm wearing the hat because the wind gives me earache. Mind you, having said that about the rain we've only just lifted all this year's leaves from the paths and grass, and I can honestly say that they haven't been dry since the minute they landed. A couple of years ago I succumbed to gadgetdom and bought myself a leaf blower (to get them off the gravel path without taking a load of stones with them) but there just hasn't been the opportunity to use it this year - everything's been sodden for weeks. Hmm. East Anglia has drought, Dorset has floods. No wonder the Department of Asshole Ideas thinks that a pipeline is the answer.

Also today I lifted the three leaf bins that we filled when the council was kind enough to give them to us free a couple of years ago. As promised, the leaves have broken down into a lovely woodlandish light soil, with the help of some ants which still managed to be angry despite the season. I've read that the "leaf mould" is nutritionally quite poor and best suited for mixing with other stuff to make a seed compost, but this year's is going in a heap to improve the soil where the russet apple tree will be planted, mainly because I'm moving the bins to the other end of the garden nearer the path and grass that the leaves come off.

Also in this brief break from the rain I managed to take some snaps, so here you are; now you're up to date.

The squash bed, under carpet mulch and green manure

The soft fruit beds take shape

Winter in the Polytunnel I:
lettuce, pak choi, mooli, corn salad, rocket and chard

Winter in the Polytunnel II:

mange tout, overwintering peas, dodgy overwintering broadies

Anyone who actually looks at the list of what we're picking right now might have noticed "mange tout peas" making an unseasonal appearance. These were one of my highly experimental plantings in the tunnel and did very well despite the unseasonably dull weather. I wish the same could be said of the land cress, which hardly struggled above ground! I'll let you know how the peas taste when I actually get to eat some; Witchypoo fondled them thoughtfully this morning, but we went for roasted shallots in the end.

And finally for anyone interested, the crop bars that
have to support the hose and suspended shelf