2026 - What I did today.

Filled the compost bin with a good mix of shredded cardboard, wool, bio char , coffee grounds, straw and other dry materials, the kitchen composter and some of last years grass clippings which are rotting down nicely. Also sorted the compost bin where I store all the dry ingredients to be added as and when. Which includes shredding lots of cardboard, and binning last year coffee grounds. The cafe is open again now I can get fresh stuff. Filled the bird feeder, filled 2 trays with compost. So they can warm up. Ready for the last of the mixed tomato seedlings to be pricked out and a tray for sowing the tomatoes I’ll be growing in the tunnel.

Fed the wormeries and drained off the wormjuice. Wandered around a bit in the fog, took refuge in the GH. Nothing worth telling you about!

Dug over 3 gh borders. Chopped down and dug out the roots of a deceased box bush, decimated last year by box moth. I gave it a chance to resprout but nothin' doin'. Cuddled a field spaniel twice, it might have been x3 but I ignored her the 3rd time as I was on my hands knees under the gh staging. She's rather demanding. She sees me in the garden then runs up to a gap in the hedge ready for me to get there (rather more slowly) and give her fuss. She has me well trained, and I like to accommodate her, but unfortunately every time she sees me she thinks a cuddle is on the cards, which can be every 10 minutes. All a bit time consuming.

Job for today is to barrow and stack a log delivery.

Potted on the overwintered cuttings of pineapple sage, blackcurrant sage and lemon verbena.

Looking around the garden I can see last year's blackcurrant sage plants still growing away. Must've been a mild winter. Still, always good to keep a small pot of summer cuttings as insurance.

Sowed rudbeckia seeds in the heated propagator.

Cleared a patch near the Elephant Garlic cluster and planted last year's cloves that are sprouting in the patch.
Sowed some DFBs in modules
Cut down some brambles, dug up dock, pulled up montbretia, vinca and wild arum. Don't know what I'd do with my time if I had a weed-free garden.

Quick check of the polytunnel. Perused the latest chiltern seeds catalog. That’s the only garden related stuff.

Sowed flower seed, bought some little plants for pots and some compost at the grocery store.

Collected fallen bay cuttings from the rockery and did some weeding.
Sowed some peas and broad beans (PAPA crops!).
Wandered around - replanning the garden in my head, looking for areas where I can squeeze in some Pick and Cut again veggies.

Pricked out last few mixed tomato seedlings. Sown more seeds.