Early signs of Spring

Dirty!

     We're picking up some steam. Farmer Goth says that I guilted him into taking off the fabric stuff and digging over the back planter but, in my defence, that wasn't my goal. Let the record state that, while I wanted to take advantage of yesterday's glorious weather and do a bit of organising, I never asked him to join me. I'm glad he did, though, because things are starting to take shape.

A well manicured dirt box

He also very kindly moved the crates back to the North side of the garden in preparation for the thing that will keep us from truly getting started on things: the Great Digging of the Waste Pipe. The short version of this story is the genius who remodelled the kitchen and bathroom of this flat (we assume) thought that having the grey water pipe from the bathtub and kitchen sink drain into the rainwater soak was a sensible and legal way to do it. Neither of those things are true, so we've been battling Lake La Palmerosa every time we shower or do extensive washing up. And gods forbid it actually rain in any volume. At any rate, our landlord seems fine with continuing to fix all of the fuckups we keep finding here, so on Wednesday (I think), this week, some plumber types are coming out to dig a trench and re-pipe the thing to the actual city drain, thereby not only keeping us from lakeside living but also...you know...bringing things up to code.

After that, though, it's GAME ON.

Step one, commenced yesterday, was a one-two punch of "clean up the Chupacabra poop" and "keep the Chupacabrae from pooping". We learned, last year, that chicken wire is an effective deterrent, so Farmer Goth picked up a roll of some nice, soothing green stuff and has affixed it over the beautifully-turned back bed.

Take that, fools!

Chupacabrae, it seems, have very delicate tootsies and also prefer to dig a receptacle for their poop, so hopefully this will keep them at bay until things start to grow with enough enthusiasm that there's just no room for toilets.

The sleeper hit of last year was Salad Burnet. Y'all, that stuff is so tasty! Our plant managed to thrive and survive over the winter, and I'm looking forward to throwing it into salads with other early greens for a bit of fun. It, like so many of us in These Covid Times, needed a bit of a haircut, so now it's all shorn and looking lovely.

Shave and a haircut!

As part of the Back Bed Refurbishment Program, we also pulled out and repotted one of the rosemary bushes. It was so sad and lonely in the back corner, and was completely overshadowed by the enormous courgette plants, so we're hoping it will be happier in its own little pot.

Rosemary...that's for remembrance...

We've invested in a lawn rake, since it will be easier to get the bits and bobs off of the gravel without having a complete tectonic shift every time. Also on the way are a bird feeder, more pots, and that potting bench I'm so a-squee about. Once the plumbing situation is sorted out, (and the needed repairs to the greenhouse are completed) I expect to get a lot more done.

And that, friends, is all the news that's fit to print, so I'll just leave you with this clear indicator that the seasons are changing:

Let me tell you 'bout the Birds and the Bees (and Butterflies)