Because there’s less work to be done in our individual gardens at Ryton Gardens at this time of year, we’re turning more of our attention to working together on the site as a whole. Last week we spent a whole morning removing molehills from the grassed areas. This gave me a grudging respect for the little blighters and the amount of work they must have to put into moving all of that soil. The soil they dig up does have an excellent structure for making potting composts though, so it’s not all bad!
We’ve also been doing work in the new Allotment Garden on team days, which has been really useful for learning about hard landscaping tasks, such as putting up fences and laying paths. We also glazed a greenhouse last week, which was good fun – a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle!
Helen, Matt and I have also been learning how to prune roses, as we’re going to be assessed on this, as well as tying in raspberry canes and digging over beds, for our diplomas this week. We’ve been honing our rose pruning skills for the past couple of days, so hopefully I’ll manage to avoid butchering any plants during the assessment!
It’s Potato Day at the end of January, the biggest event at Ryton Gardens each year, so I’ll be spending next week helping to set up for the weekend and learning as much as possible about potatoes, as we’ll be offering advice to visitors. I’m looking forward chatting with fellow potato-growing enthusiasts!
