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01/27/2007
Digging Daphne - sounds like scooby doo?
Nice sunny day, not too cold, managed to get a couple of hours in the garden. Dug out the two dead Daphnes; a fairly easy job as there wasn't much of a root system left. Main difficulty was not disturbing the cyclamen growing round them too much. Not sure what the replacments will be.
Also had a go in the fruit cage - pulled up plenty of weeds and hacked back the brambles coming from next door. Also pruned the redcurrant, whitecurrant, blackcurrant and jostaberry and cut back most of the raspberries (didn't quite finish before it was time to go in and cook tea). Not ideal timing for pruning this fruit, but glad it's done. Also added some compost to some of the veg beds.
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01/16/2007
First new flowers
First snowdrops and some fairly early winter aconites were in flower on Saturday. Not much gardening done, but I did do some pruning of the fig tree to get it a bit more under control; still more to do, though. Also pruned the ivy down the side of the house, with some help from Alex. From the garden, we are eating brussel sprouts, chard, parsnips and beetroot (the crop from the summer that I hadn't used up yet - still perfectly edible, even the large ones are not woody yet).
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01/04/2007
Horse Manure
Got a few (very heavy) bags of horse manure today; mixed in with what looks like it was wood shavings and straw. It's partially rotted down, but will mix it into the compost heap rather than applying it direct. Not sure of the name of the farm - it's on Pampisford road in Abington, opposite from the hildersham crossroads.
Also sowed the first seeds of the year - self-collected chive seeds, some palm seeds collected by someone on holiday in Nice (will try to identify species later) and a few heirloom type sweet peas (ie the old-fashioned small-flowered very fragrant ones).
Also pulled up the remaining beetroot; they're a bit woody in some cases, but still edible.
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01/02/2007
End of year update
Well, the blog (like the garden) has been neglected for a few months. Managed to get out in the garden on Sunday for a few hours - windy but a pleasant cold sunny day.
Pulled up the last of the carrots - these will be fed to the guinea pigs I reckon; had a few sprouts and parsnips, too, plus lots of parsley.
Pruned the crab apple trees; both had a lot of vigorous stuff growing up from the roots; I assume from below the graft. Also pruned the gooseberries and took a little off the two minarette apple trees - just took out a couple of crossing branches. Had a general tidy-up and weed of the veg patches - put the old asparagus fern on the compost heap, weeded around the onions & garlic planted in the autumn, cut down the chrysanths, put some compost over the top of the dahlia tubers, which I don't bother to dig-up in the winter any more. Thanks to Alex for helping! There is a great deal of tidying up to be done before spring, though. Yasmin's friend Kate has just taken on an allotment; she has three kids under 5; if she can manage it, so can I!
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