We finally had a warm, sunny, spring-like weekend, so we spent all of last Saturday and Sunday in the veg garden, attempting to impose some order on the chaos. It was hard work (werk schmerk). The first gardening weekend of the year is always murder on my back and legs. I had aches in places that aren’t used to aching. And I got a gnarly inch-long blister on my middle finger from repainting the veg beds. But apart from that, it was glorious! The first weekend working outside in a t-shirt, then enjoying the first al fresco gin and tonic while surveying the fruits of our labour is always a milestone in the gardening year.

Plum blossom and blue skies.

We’ve cleared the veg garden of last year’s dead plants, weeded everywhere, added a fresh layer of compost (to half the beds, anyway – we make loads of compost but it’s never enough to generously mulch all of the veg beds in one go), repainted the edging on the beds, and just generally smartened up the place so it’s ready for planting in a few weeks’ time. There are still some new beds and pathways to make down the end of the veg garden, by the rustic-greenhouse-in-progress, but they’ll have to wait for now.

Speaking of the rustic greenhouse saga, Rob finally (finally) started fitting the windows this week. We’re really happy with how it’s shaping up. At this rate, it might be ready to use by, I don’t know, 2030…

Here are some pictures of our springwerkschmerk activities. Click on a picture to view as a slideshow.

In other news, we found a huge patch of wild garlic on an abandoned lot up above our house. (We have a small patch of wild garlic in the corner of our garden, but it’s still getting established and doesn’t provide masses of leaves. We needed a second, more abundant source.) If you’re lucky enough to spot wild garlic growing near you, do try picking some. We use the leaves in salads, and stir them into soups, pasta, curries, etc. (as you would with fresh spinach). This year, we even had enough to make some wild garlic pesto.

If you do pick wild garlic, make sure you only pick the leaves – as in, don’t pull up the bulbs – and only take one leaf from each plant so it can continue to thrive for next year. Harvest responsibly and you’ll be able to go back year after year for fresh leaves.

That’s it for today. The bastard weather forecast is saying rain-showers-rain-showers for the next week so I’m getting outside to make the most of today’s sunshine. What are you up to this weekend?