What a treat, a whole day at the Plot with no deadlines or other places to be.

The goal for today was to empty the Compost bin that had been brewing since October 2019. I seive the material to catch the bits that need longer and the inevitable bits of plastic imported by the furry lodgers to make their nest all cosy. There was also a lot of plastic remains from tea bags. Going forward this won’t be an issue as I switched to tea leaves about 12 months ago. You can see the seive with bits of tea bag clinging to the mesh – and these were ‘compostable’ …

This is the only place where a lovely barrow load of compost will get the appreciation it’s due, ready?

The under-cooked bits and the plastic.

The whole operation including mulching the bed took about three hours and I’m feeling a little bit broken.

I spent the rest of the afternoon undertaking some light faffing around the plot; Vitax V4 pellets on the flower beds, potting on the succulents in the greenhouse and inspecting progress in the polytunnel.

The last two butternut squash ‘Sweetmax’ a british-bred variety did really well last year – if only I could find a way to store them long enough to use them all. Squeamish types should scroll away now.

A more positive note from the polytunnel is the spinach – two meals worth from these three rows

The rocket and lettuce sown about three weeks ago are making progress. The spring onions are the only things I got around to sowing in November and they are bunching nicely since their move to the tunnel.

When the sun went down, the temperature dropped away rapidly and that was time to scurry home.

Still to do before disappearing into house move operations is to cut back the autumn raspberries and top dress with ericaceous compost. A few hours at the weekend should do it.