Getting organised-ish

Ok, today it didn't rain. Yeay! But we missed most of the morning after having a lie-in. Oops! So we decided to work extra-hard and get the plot sorted out... creating a plan for the coming year. Or attempting to, anyway!

You can just about see in the picture above that we marked out where the beds are going to go with nice blue string. We've decided to have big beds as permanent features, and sub-divide them if we need to with planks for walking on. (This will help to not compress the soil.) We've marked out 4 beds on each side of the main path so far, with some narrower beds along the far left boundary line for the permanent features - the gooseberry bush, raspberry canes and 2 small globe artichoke plants.

It's getting confusing trying to work out what needs to go where. Crop rotation sounds easy, but it's somehow very complicated... brassicas, legumes, root crops... waah! The only thing we're certain about is that the onions and shallots are going to go either side of the already-planted row of garlic, in a big bed down towards the compost heap... but do we put the leeks in there too?... or shall they go somewhere else? Decisions, decisions.

The spring cabbage is coming along. I say cabbage like we've only got one! I got carried away, and I think we have about 40 cabbages growing! I hate throwing away seedling thinnings, and when too many cabbages germinated last autumn I ended up just transplanting them instead! Ah well, at least the slugs haven't nibbled them too badly. And I guess the netting is actually keeping the pigeons off. Hoorah!

And check out the rhubarb! It's started growing, and is kind of slowly erupting through the ground like something out of the Alien films. Looks really wierd! I was quite intrigued, hence the photos. I think Adam was little confused for a moment, when he turned around and saw me nose-to-earth trying to get up close with the camera.

We're going to get an old dustbin and force it to see if it can taste as nice as Dad says it can do. Otherwise when we eat it it makes our teeth feel funny, which is a bit offputting! If all else fails, I'll take a leaf out of Sian's book and make rhubarb rum (sounds odd, I know, but it's surprisingly tasty, oh yes!)

Also moved 4 little fennel plants (the herb, not the bulb variety) which had self-seeded and were being smothered by long grass. I've also moved a little herby bush (in the background) which is yet to be identified - think it might be oregano... smells lovely anyway! So we'll now have a small herb section. There's loads of mint growing too, just off the left hand side of the pic. I'm planning on making Mojitos this summer.

Summer seems a long way away, but I'm sure it'll fly by! So much to do before then. We've got to chit our early potatoes before planting them in a few weeks time. Need to plant out a row of onions and a row of shallots once the soil has dried out a little bit (or they'll rot) and still need to buy a whole load of seeds and work out what needs to be sown when.

And I want to build a cold frame.

Ever feel like you've bitten off more than you can chew? : )