Wednesday 27 May 2015

Comparing the past - May

Comparing the past - May

We started developing the little field in March 2013 and without photos to remind us of how it used to be it is very hard to remember. Comparing the previous months and years seems to be a good way of justifying all the hard work.

I've put about 30 hours into the garden over the last 3 days, building and erecting a Pergola, digging the beds around it, digging a sweetcorn bed, generally tidying up and a load of watering. So many new plants have gone in within the last several months that watering has become a huge job. There hasn't been much rain in the last month, half the amount compared to last May and watering a bed for 5 minutes only takes the water down a few inches so I need to spend twice as long to make sure the water gets to the roots.

The last couple of months have seen 4 wild flower beds go in, 40 or so small fruit bushes as well as existing beds populated with various veg and the general lack of rain is making it hard to ensure everything gets a good soak.  The weather forecast on the BBC website keeps threatening rain in the next couple of days but when we get there the forecast pushes the rain back another couple of days. They are now threatening rain for Friday (2 days time) and I bet that doesn't arrive either! Every day for the last week the weather has been different to the prediction. Overcast days turn out to have a lot of sun.

June 1st 2013
I don't have many photos from May 2013 despite trying to take a photo most mornings because the baby arrived so I've had to use one from the beginning of June.









May 27th 2014
This time last year I thought that we had done a lot...We had, but in comparison to this year the field looks empty and bland. 










May 27th 2015
Click to enlarge photos. The field is beginning to look busy and it is interesting to see the difference in plant growth. The fruit garden, bottom centre, shows the difference in the Raspberries and current bushes.








May 2014
A view looking toward the pond through the willow.











May 2015
The willow is hopefully going to be a screen so that the car area can't be seen from the pond when you're sitting at the pond.