Um......why is it not bigger?

It's a question that all gardeners ask at some stage.  Not often at this stage of the year perhaps, but eventually. I was asking it because being somewhat spatially challenged,  I had just discovered that my master plan had fallen down on one major criterion.  Planning.   Bit of a flaw in a masterplan really.  It was a good plan, in my head, where the garden is considerably bigger.  It would have been a better plan, if heavily reworked, if I'd gone out and actually measured stuff (which as my ex always said was not something I was ever good at. Lucky for him I say!).  But it was raining, torrentially, constantly, miserably, raining.  I may have mentioned this before.  It's been a bit of a feature. 

Anyhoo, this was my yard this morning:

The right hand side as you look at it was where the chickens used to live,  the coop has been re-purposed elsewhere (more of that later), the left, last year, was where the tunnel was.  Now looking at it, even I can see that my plan to shift the tunnel through 90 degrees and add four raised beds in the space it used to occupy was doomed to failure, but in my head it worked, ok?

So on with the motley, I put the cover back on (entertaining when you're as short as me and surprise pockets of water are lurking therein) and shifted it round.  It became apparent at that point that 4 beds may have been a little optimistic.

But I have a rammed growhouse full of seedlings! and I haven't even put the swede in yet! 

I should probably point out that my garden is not supposed to look like a scrap merchants yard, It got savagely re-arranged by the chickens, yes, but actually the messiness is caused by a bit of a chinese tile puzzle sort of effect where you have to move one thing beforeyou can slide another thing in to take its place.  On the right is the wood pile, never elegant.  On the left is the tyre pile, left from growing potatoes.  I have a cunning plan for them.  And yet more chicken run bits. 

Last year, I had a bit of a problem with things blowing away, or over so this year my first move is going to be to guy rope the tunnel to the ground and nail it to the fence, at the back, and some tree stakes, at the front.  And if you never thought Girl Guides was useful, and I know I didn't, I have to thank them for still being able to make a useful sliding knot out of clothes line for my guy ropes, all these years later. 

As you can see, there's not much yard left now, but I reckon I can still get 2 beds in at the end.  For the third, may I introduce you to - tyre pile.  Would've had to store them somewhere anyway so why not use them as instant raised beds?

Et viola! tunnel moved, plan completely replanned, beans planted (tho I hadn't intended to do that I just got carried away!),  The plants in buckets are peas, to appease (sorry) the furry garden pests (see Garden Pests and how to feed them.....)

Next step: cleaning the ground inside the tunnel and making beds for the tomatoes and peppers.  I'l catch up when I'm done :)

Garden Pests, and how to feed them.........

I've just been out to check on the beans I planted out yesterday.  I hadn't started my day expecting to plant out beans but one thing led to another and before I knew it I was thinking, 'well...I could put those in there...and those over there....' as you do.  Astonishingly, they're still there, this is something of an acheivement. 

Runner Beans (stick beans?)

Usually I provide beans, lettuce, cabbage etc. every year in the garden to nourish and nurture the local slug and snail population.  Few people in my area seem to grow veggies in their back yard so I've always thought that word gets out that my house has laid on buffet for everyone.  As it started to rain, torrentially as soon as I finished firming them in I fully expected them to form the entree for this year's banquet.

Slug's eye view

Which begs the question of why I do it in the first place.  Well, that's because with the survivors (from the slugs) I can fend off and occupy my other slightly furrier, garden pests!

If you see any of these three predators, do not let them near any edible vegetables. Peas, pea foliage, raw beans, cabbage, salads and any kind of fruit are all attacked without mercy.  Do not be taken in by the long ears and fluffy cuteness as I suspect at least one of them is faking it.  I'm just not sure which one yet! 

Oooh! Can I steal your dandelions?

Now that's not something you hear everyday, but next door had such a fabulous crop and they didn't really want them and I like to homebrew and.........you can see where this is going can't you?  Yup, dandelion beer.  It could be dandelion wine but my middle name isn't Patience.  There's a reason for that. 

The only thing the garden has produced this year thus far is nettles (already brewing) and a couple of pathetic dandelions but I think things are improving.  I have a growhouse full of  all the plants I grew from the seeds in the previous post, almost all of them germinated enthusiastically except the aubergines, which are traditionally temperamental so I was well impressed, good effort Seed Parade (where I bought the seeds) http://www.seedparade.co.uk/.  The aubergines are still slouching around like a teenager on a monday morning, still, they never ripen anyway.  Everything is getting to the point where I really need it to stop raining for a few days so I can put the tunnel up. 

UK readers will know that we had a minor heat wave through March, during which I did a lot of garden tidying, followed by a solid month of torrential rain, during which I stayed indoors and sulked.  And planted more seeds, and ordered more seeds, and planted them, untill I ran out of room.  So now I really, really need the weather to stop mucking around and make like it understands that it is now spring/summer before the house and growhouse reach critical mass.

One of the things I've planted is burdock, which I'm rather hoping will go with the dandelion eventually.  Strangely after spending two days researching burdock and where I could get some seeds I realised I had some on the dining table, coated in graphite paint ready to electroform.  I gathered them last autumn from a nearby park.  Doh! So now we will find out if paint prevents germination.