I am not really wicked – a bit over fond of Ritter Biscuit & Nut chocolate but that’s about as far as it goes – but I have been busy given that this was a Sunday. 

I was up & awake at 4.30 to listen to the Dawn Chorus for International Dawn Chorus Day – blackbirds, robins, song thrush, chiffchaff, dunnock, carrion crows, jackdaws – nothing remarkable – but lovely nonetheless.

Then out into my own garden for some tidying and sorting. Trays of young plants are starting to be moved from the greenhouse to the open air nw the days are warmer, and to make room for more seedlings which are coming through from the propagator. I planted up some sweet peas – Cupani and Winston – along with some salad herbs – rocket, parcel (the one that looks like curly parsley, but tastes of celery), land cress, mizuna and coriander. These are all in a sheltered spot outside the kitchen door, where they will get looked after, and the herbs are handy for cooking. 

After which I mowed the lawn, and gave it a good rake to get the moss and thatch out: there was an alarming amount, which went onto the compost heap.

Then I had a quick job for a client, who wanted her grass mowing asap. It’s a smallish garden, so didn’t take too long at all. I will have to take the scarifier along next visit, as the lawn has got very mossy on the shaded north-facing side, and needs a bit of attention.

And then… up to the allotment for more grass cutting. Banks and edges got a thorough (rather overdue) strim, and then I went over as much as possible with the mower – this both picked up the strimmings, and gave a better finish. I always rather resent having to mow at the allotment, it doesn’t seem like it’s what the allotment is for, but it needs doing on our site, which has quite extensive grass banks between plots. As always, the job took longer than planned, and generated enormous quantities of clippings – onto the compost heap with them too.

Finally, two overdue jobs: finishing off the paths with chipped bark – which entailed barrowing it up from the bottom of the site: good exercise if nothing else; and getting some pot-grown soft fruit into the ground in the fruit cage. It might be a little late to be moving fruit bushes, but they desperately needed to be planted once the ground was cleared and the walkway sorted. Gooseberries, Redcurrants and Blackcurrants all added to the existing stock, and to the Raspberries and Blueberries – the cage is full to bursting now. Let’s hope the harvest is similarly copious. Soft fruit is the thing I best love growing at the allotment, a high-value crop of which one doesn’t easily tire in a glut. 

Strawberries are grown in a raised bed, and I still have some plants in pots at home which need moving to the allotment without delay. Like I say, no rest for the wicked…