War on weeds

Monday 16th March
Well what a day - sunny and warm - Spring has arrived. I have no other commitments today so I can spend all day down on the plot if I like! What luxury. I decided to finish my work on the area around the fruit bushes. While I was working, Peter (the gardening club man) came to chat. He helped me to identify some of the fruit bushes - said some of them were currants - but couldn't tell if they were red or blackcurrants. We identified the gooseberrries by their emerging leaves and their spiky stems. He thought the spiky iris-looking plants may be sedge grass, which he said I definitely don't want. He thought it may have been brought in with the flood waters in the past. When I'd finished weeding the area, I transplanted the three newest bushes next to the others. That way, if we decide to put up a fruit cage, they are all together. He said old net curtain will do to protect the bushes once the fruit starts to set, otherwise the birds will have the fruit before we get to it!
You can see the cold frame behind the fruit bushes, in the picture above, although it's not quite finished yet as Peter ran out of time last week. I managed to do lots of satisfying little jobs today. I dug out the other runner bean trench and laid newspaper in the bottom, and picked up all the rubbish lying around - from old C.D's to plastic bags, to beer bottles. Peter suggested now would be a good time to use the weed killer, as the weeds are growing now. I sprayed almost the whole plot, sometimes just the individual weeds, and sometimes a whole patch. I'd like to get the potato patch prepared soon, as the potatoes are almost ready to go in the ground. Hopefully the weedkiller will get to work quickly. While I was tidying up, I decided to collect some rubble to use in finishing my new path. I dug out out some soil, laid plastic at the botttom, and the rubble on top. It's not finished yet, but it's looking good. It makes good use of the rubble, and I'll also be able to use up some old bags of sand as well. I collected a big bag of rubbish for the tip, and felt very satisfied when I threw it in the skip. I picked up an old lawn rake at the tip today, so that should come in handy for raking up debris. There's still lots of sticks, straw etc. along by the hedge, left after the flood. A good day's work today, and the sun's still shining.