It's been a busy week and we've tried to pack a lot in as we leave in less than a week to cycle the Via de La Plata from Seville to Salamanca. Seventeen days away from the garden so there was plenty to do. All my seedlings will be looked after by friends who come to stay and look after the house and mind the dogs.
Catching up on the gardening magazines last night I was struck by the references to 'weekend vegetable growing', 'the one hour a-week allotment' and my favourite ' low maintenance gardening'. Yeh, like there is something called 'safe smoking'.
So I thought I'd look back over last week and tot up how much time the garden took up. As it was Easter we had two extra days. Heaven, but hell as it hailed, snowed and rained on Saturday and Sunday.
So here's the tally. The Friary garden. A quick trip there after Easter to inspect some cherries that aren't performing well. Patrick, one of the friars, offers us soda bread, tea and fruit cake. Energised by this and with tools in the car we are sucked into an hour tidying and pruning the Cloister garden.
The allotment. Dropped by on the way to the Friary and it's clear the grass needed mowing. I tried to skin it as we'll be away when its starts growing strongly. While I'm there I prepare 3o feet of potato trenches for a main crop, sow Red Baron oninon sets and harvest my first rhubarb of the year, Timperly Early. Two hours.
The home garden. More potatoes here, 40 feet in all to grow earlies and salad potatoes. Ten foot rows of mixed lettuce, cornsalad and wild rocket which I'm hoping will germinate and grow away whilst we're gone. Also ten foot rows of peas, Norli, Taiwan Sugar and the vigourous climber Ne Plus Ultra. And finally I transplanted the sweet pea plants I'd hardened off. They are now tied into netted wigwams and hopefully will make it through the cold spell. They are from saved seed so I'm looking forward to see what colours emerge. Three hours all in.
Six hours in the garden over a weekend. Is this average?
Anyway no time to stop now as I've got to box the bikes for the trip. Buen camino and I'll be back in three weeks or so.