Scratch in the patch of dirt

Easter break

The mornings are for tea and bread. They start early for a week off work, a hangover from the changing of the clocks. Time has seen us fall back into Autumn. Leaves swirl on dog walks, collecting and scattering in an array of colours that I find so beautiful as my dog pulls me a long. Mist has returned to the valley or rather I have the time to watch the mist spill over the lip of the valley. We are moving slowly and inch through the days which unfold in a whimsical manner - nothingness is my want most of the time. The diary of things to do is hidden in the depths of my bag. For the most part it feels good and I am sure by the time the week is up it will feel like how life should be.

The week before Easter, on Monday evening we moved the second hive out of the garden to another yard. It was dark and childhood memories of driving up the track to the house, country stars and the smell of mowed grass lingered. I hadn’t thought of the car lights illuminating a track in a long time and that feeling of being small, eyes filled with sleepy travel after visiting grandparents. I think the smell of cigarette smoke from earlier in the day poked something in my mind. The hive was moved as it was being robbed by other bees. Bees are hungry at the moment as food is scarce. It has been another odd summer and it always fills me with a bit of anxiety with regards to if this is the new normal and then I think how much of it is our creating. Moving the hive meant the space in the garden where it lived, along with it’s sister hive that was moved for the same reasons earlier, was empty of bee hives. Suddenly I was presented with a chance to garden in a built up but neglected part of the garden which has very much been left to riot of it’s own accord. I have two weeks before hives move back in to do a tidy up. It was unplanned but I found myself with a garden project for over the Easter break.

I had made a promise to not do much in the garden over the summer. I wanted to align myself with enjoying it. Minor weeding and dead heading were encouraged but that was it. Autumn would see me start to tidy up and make changes before we all rest for winter. The area where I was to tidy, was the first bed that I ‘designed’ when we first moved in. We added a fence of trellis to protect bees and I planted one wisteria, and two jasmine in not a large space. That sentence itself shows the innocence in my understanding of garden design. It didn’t take long for a large robust tangle of foliage to grow. It is a gorgeous tangle of a riot but a riot that never the less needed to be tackled and over two days and a number of hours, I chopped it back and discovered a spot of garden to play with it. We also ended up with the best smelling mulch as the jasmine was shredded.

Next step was to to tidy up and weed around the space. Hidden tiles placed in the grass to make the bee keeping easier were uncovered. Plants I hadn’t been able to trim back due to bee traffic were snipped. In all once it was tidy I felt pretty good. Plants have been ordered to fill newly discovered gaps before hives return (will share what I planted next week). The most important thing is that I felt so good for my work. My body ached, I have blisters on my fingers and I had reconnected to the garden. Autumn for me had begun. As I watch the mist descend into the valley my mind is dancing with ideas as I think of how to evolve the garden in preparation for another season because that is what gardeners do - dream and plan. If you are a gardener you know that feeling well.

with much love

Mel