Spring appears to have sprung!

It's ages since I posted anything, because my attention has been pretty much all on my art assignment which was due mid-March, and on work, which has been a bit overwhelming during the last couple of months. However, having determinedly taken the week after Easter off, and with the next few weeks not looking quite so manic, I am able to think more about the garden - and it has even stopped raining for a while!!! There are buds and new leaves on everything, including the newly planted trees and the roses on the patio, which is very encouraging.

I shall be attempting to load some pictures today - we spent an energetic morning in the garden, finally getting the raised beds finished. Each one had its turf cut, then was filled with four bags of topsoil, four bags of John Innes No 2, and a large bag of manure. Additionally, the asparagus bed (close up picture) had a bagful of sharp sand incorporated at the bottom to help with drainage on our very heavy clay soil, and the other three beds had a quantity of very good garden compost forked in - this precious material was transported from the previous house in Tubtrugs in the boot of Matthew's car - he was very skeptical at the time, but was today waxing lyrical about what wonderful stuff it is, which amused me...

The rhubarb is a bit of a surprise - it had been cut down to ground level by the workmen who cleared the jungle late last summer, and I had not expected to see it again - but over the last couple of weeks, it has reappeared, phoenix-like - which is a bit of a pest as neither of us is that keen on rhubarb, but I haven't the heart to dig it up when it's been so persistent!

The other photo shows the new section of patio, and its accompanying gravel trench, which is Emlyn and Barry's attempt to deal with the flooding corner of the lawn. The whole thing is sat on a bed of gravel about 2 feet deep. It certainly seems to be working - in the recent heavy rain, the bottom corner of the lawn was a bit damp, but there was no standing water spilling across the path and lapping at the house as before. This is definitely progress.

I was late getting the first seeds in this year, but will report further in due course. I have found in previous years that late sown plants more than make up for their delayed start with the extra light and warmth later on, so I am not too worried. The utility room has been transformed into a greenhouse!