A busy day

Phew. What a busy day. Garden Dad started to dig over the raised beds to break up the awful soil and add some mulch. There is still loads of work to do and, being very aware that we should already have started early sowings direct into the ground, we have opted for Garden Dad's suggestion of gradual soil improvement over the next few years. After all, stumpy, bent carrots will be tastier than no carrots.

While Garden Dad was busy with the heavy labour (his choice - I offered) I supervised the sowing of various seeds;

Sweetcorn
Aubergine
Cucumber
A few varieties of squash, marrow and courgette
Dwarf French Beans
Runner Beans
Creeping Thyme
Celeriac

Garden Girl thought we were growing oranges when she saw the shrivelled sweetcorns but wasn't disappointed when she learned we were growing our own sweetcorn. There is something about very small vegetables that Garden Girl and Boy both love; peas, beans, sweetcorn - maybe they think they are sweets! I hope they grow well.

We also planted some more Sweet Pepper seeds after every single one failed last time. My second attempt very nearly came to an untimely end though when Garden Boy upended the seed modules. Luckily we managed to salvage all but one seed so here's hoping some of them will take.

We discovered an ants nest in the greenhouse, underneath the piles of compost bags. Garden Girl and Boy both enjoyed watching the busy little creatures but having carefully considered them she concluded 'I like ants outside but I don't like them inside on my shoes.' I agree.

We ran out of room on the potting tables so Garden Dad took a break from digging and built a new shelf for us. When I say potting table I really mean an old wardrobe on its side and an old coffee table, but they do the job. We were given a potting table by a friend this morning, which we had intended to move into the greenhouse, but it was great having a table outside to work on today so we decided to keep it outdoors.

When she got fed up sowing seeds Garden Girl went to assist Garden Dad removing big stones from the raised beds. She has always had a great interest in collecting stones so she had the credentials to be very skilled at this job. Had we kept all the smaller stones she has collected over the last two years we would have been able to make a very lovely gravel driveway by now, but hindsight is always too late!

Garden Girl was enjoying herself with the stones until we realised she was simply moving them from one raised bed to the next. She didn't want to put them in a bucket and I think we spoiled the fun pointing out her error so she returned to help me sow seeds.

Garden Boy was once again quite contented emptying out handfuls of soil and sneaking some into his mouth when he thought I wasn't looking. He also spent a lot of time trying to practice walking. He has very recently taken his first solo steps, a feat he is very proud of. He grins and claps as soon as he stands up and walks faster and faster as the excitement builds and he gets closer and closer to his destination. The trouble is, his skill doesn't extend to a sloping garden and he frequently found himself face down in the grass unsure why his legs weren't working right. Still, all that effort and fresh air means he will sleep well tonight, as will the rest of us.