Last weekend Pat and I were in the garden extending the growing area. She was removing lawn and I was using the removed turf, plus other organic materials to make new beds.
It was absolutely fantastic being out in the newly minted spring sunshine but we did find it quite hard work.
In fact very hard work….
But no, I didn’t bury her beneath this:
This was my work in progress – incorporating paper that would have needed shredding (already beneath the turfs), the box the paper was in, straw from a new delivery of fruit bushes, cuttings from the neighbour’s garden and ours from last autumn. No bodies, I promise…..
….. even though the end result is a bit like a shallow grave! After considering that last year’s bed needed something to help aerate the soil (and adding stones on top as an experiment) I think I will add some to this bed as well.
I sowed buckwheat on the smaller bed and field beans on the other. The downside of that has been that two local pheasants who have successfully evaded the guns for some years and are very plump and hungry came by to check out what was for dinner. We have had real problems keeping them off the food put out for the garden birds, but this weekend they decided to dine on the buckwheat. I covered the ground with spiky damson and holly cuttings, but they just tossed them aside. They were busy eating every time I looked out, in fact the only time they scarpered was when I went out with the camera to catch a picture for this post!
It does all look quite messy on this side of the garden at present and I need to tidy it up a bit. I plan to make an edge round the new beds and use them to plant what I am calling a “flower moat”. Moat – because when I put a fork in the ground to take up the lawn edge, it takes a very deep hunk out – I can’t cut neat slices off the top. Flower moat – trench filled with easy to grow bright and breezy flowers, mostly from saved seed. This should help make it look great quite quickly. Last year I was delighted with how quickly newly established perennial vegetables and flowers covered the first bed and made a lovely display.
gardens of delight 
Pheasants often sit in brambles in the woods so a few spikes won’t phase them 🙂 The only way to move them is to feed them elsewhere or remove all of the feed / seed since they are big birds that need a lot of feeding. They’ll stay as long as there is plenty of feed but once the feed runs out they’ll go quickly. Let them eat what’s there, then they’ll go, then re-seed.
I’m sure when the local shoot starts feeding them mid/late summer they’ll move on and will probably not last another winter. Enjoy them while they are there 🙂
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