Queen of the raised beds

Over Easter I became an expert of bed-making. I made four; still have another four to go and I am a tinselly bit tired and sore, but you know... It's that time of the year!

Anyway, if you do a big of gardening yourselves, you will know that it's awfully expensive to buy pre-shaped wood to make beds. I am sure it is worthwhile and they will last forever, but I could never bring myself to buy any and then found myself with some old overlap panels - like the ones they sell at Wickes for next to nothing - from the fence at home. They are simply perfect for the job! As they are slightly rotten, they pull apart fairly easily. The overlapping wood makes fine bed walls and the battens, chopped to a suitable size, also have a role in keeping the bed walls in place. They look very nice and tidy and I am sure they will make gardening easier too, as the plot is clearly sectioned, and there are proper footpaths to walk on.

It is confirmed that the less you clear up your plot over winter, the more native ladybirds will like it: when I finally made it to pull dead leaves and sticks from my strawberries, there were a half dozen!

I have some raspberry shoots and gooseberry cuttings at various stages of rooting. Also mint and some peas Balmoral (50% germination) and Meteor (15% germination) if anyone is interested.

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