More digging

Although freezing over night, it was another fabulous day from start to finish. Unfortunately, some desk work had to be done before getting outside. In fact it was mid-afternoon before it was possible to get back to the vegetable patch. Having noted field activity in recent days, it seemed appropriate to photograph progress today.

The plot is a 4m by 5m rectangle, just over the wall from ThisOldHouse. This shot is taken beside the chestnut tree, which grew from a conker planted by a neighbour over 20 years ago and is still quite a small specimen. To the left is a pile of roots extracted from the dig. There's another bigger pile out of shot at the other end of the plot. The stones and rubble in the foreground and against the wall of the outbuildings were also dug out of the patch.

There are still some substantial roots sticking out of the ground, predominantly bramble but also some from the nearby trees. They are intertwined and head in all directions, which makes it pretty hard going. Some bramble stalks can still be seen beside the stones. The green growth is from clumps of bulbs - Bluebells we think - that appear to have spread through this area. The bulbs are large and will either have to be moved or simply discarded - there are plenty more in other parts of the field. With luck, digging should be completed tomorrow and the plot prepared for planting potatoes and strawberries at the weekend, assuming the temperature is on the rise - the forecast high for tomorrow is 8C!

Interesting to note in that in the news, both yesterday and today, there has been a rash of fires all over the west of Scotland, some no doubt started maliciously but mainly from land managers losing control of burning heather. It shows how dry and brittle conditions have become over the past couple of months with little or no rain. The field here is in a similar state, so our plans for another bonfire remain on hold.