Comfrey, Fencing & Wedding Fever

Wedding Fever

Even I’ve noticed that there’s a wedding on tomorrow, the deluge of marketing and press releases hitting the email inbox with “to celebrate the royal marriage we’re giving 10% off” has hit lunacy levels. As for the telly and the news, you’d think there was nothing else happening.

Now don’t get me wrong, I actually like our monarchy. But what a lot of hype we’re getting. I’m fed up of it already and it’s not even happened yet. I’ll watch some of it on the telly though, the pomp and circumstance. I think our soldiers are not only the best in the world at war but we put on the best display at peace. Trooping the colour and changing the guard. All those red coats and bearskins in perfect harmony, gleaming helmets on the cavalry and the drummers and bands.

Anyway, thanks to the ‘Wills and Kate Show’ we get a day off, so even the republicans can shut up and be grateful! We often see the helicopters and jets from RAF Valley flying past. Perhaps we’ll see a helicopter fly over with a string of tin cans tied to the tail and “Just Married” in shaving foam on the side!

Being serious for a second, I wish them a long and happy marriage. It can’t be easy coping with the pressure of being who they are in the public eye, so I hope they find time for themselves amongst it all.

Fencing the Field

Back to the real world. I’ve had a word with the farmer who runs the sheep on the fields and he’s arranged to fence off the field where the veg plot is going and fix up the gate. It’s a job I could do myself but we’ve still got a lot to get done and everything takes time.

Besides, if I’m honest, he’ll do a better job of it than me. I often find with DIY jobs that they take a lot more time than expected and I make mistakes the first time. A learning curve as they say. The second time around, the same job takes half the time and comes out far better. He’s an expert and has the equipment to hand as well as the experience.

Comfrey

I’ll be going over to Beaumaris in Anglesey shortly to pick up some comfrey cuttings from Mr Wood who supplies comfrey.  My article on growing comfrey explains why Bocking 14 is the best one for gardeners to grow.

We’ve lots of room and poor soil, so will need mountains of compost to get the soil into good order.  Now comfrey is ideal as a fertiliser, especially for tomatoes and potatoes, but doesn’t leave a lot of humus behind when it’s rotted down. The main benefits of comfrey in compost are that it is so nutrient rich it acts as an activator, feeding the microbes that do the conversion work for us. It also adds a lot of nutrition to the compost.

It may take ten years, but I’m determined to have first class soil to grow my veggies in!