Raspberries

A good opportunity presented itself for an extended period at the plot today....the time available coincided with settled weather, and the ground had dried enough to be worked....so off I went. Two and a half hours later I could see where I'd been.

Firstly I cut down the raspberry canes (waving at us in the background on the first picture), weeded round them and spread manure. I also weeded towards the fence and cleared the area where I grow the comfrey for the compost heap . So the second photo shows the state this corner now.
You can see some leafy canes in the foreground part of the photo. These are canes that were escaping towards the fence. I have re-sited them to continue the row. I was going to buy more canes but this "frugal" way of increasing the crop will produce more fruit as early as next year....I hope....without any expense!

The beetroot bed (foreground first photo) seemed to have grown as much as it was going to so I pulled all of them up and weeded that out. I also harvested a load of leeks (right bed disappearing out of shot in first picture) to bring home. I think I am going to have to move the leeks that are left to a holding bed further up the plot as I want the first 10 feet for the spuds under the new Gertrud Frank Companion planting system that I am intending to implement this year. I hope to start at the shed end of the plot and convert that half of it to the new system this year. My husband has started looking at the Mantis Tiller ready for rotovating the parts that have been paths for the last two years.....they are somewhat compacted. The beds don't need rotovating as they are now so perfectly cultivated having not been walked on for two years. (I am beginning to wonder if I am daft considering conversion to the new system as the beds are so soft now. Perhaps I should try companion planting in the existing beds. If I keep them as they are I want to add restraining edges...which means I need pallets to pull apart...etc...etc. Decisions! Perhaps I'll sleep on it....!)

I hope that tomorrow I can go back and do some more....plenty needs doing.