After a strange beginning to the year, then a global pandemic closing down many countries, some unexpected snow and heavy rains, things have finally settled down and the weather has become much warmer. We have measured around 37ºC today so the work in the garden is restricted to the first few hours of the day.
By 11:00 it's far too hot for manual labour out in the sun.
Things have moveed on well in the garden over the past couple of weeks since we borrowed a quality rotavator to clear the land. The machine did a great job but there is still a lot to do by hand, around the trees and other obstacles.
The whole place is looking much less like a jungle and more like a Portuguese garden.
January...
June...
The majority of weeds are gone and the trees should feel the benefit of more water from the ground. There was a small issue with a wasp nest in the borehole head which meant I had to get the lid off the box without being attacked but some ingenious use of tools allowed me to unlock the hasp and flip the lid right off the structure. After a couple of days in the blazing sunshine the wasps decided it wasn´t a good place to stay and I think they´ve moved on.
Unfortunately, the back garden still needs a good deal of work. We are planning to install proper drainage and add a deck area round the back door and build a raised flower bed along the train station wall.
But the rubbish patch has now been cleared and Janet can make a start on the herb garden. I found various bits of junk in there, pieces of metal, car parts, old toys and more.
The next phase is to make sure all the deep rooted things are gone then define the required planting beds for Janet's herb garden and the vegetable patch.
Next year should be very interesting.