Despite filling ten (I think — could be twelve) dumpy bags with fallen leaves, there were still quite a few that had collected on the paths and around the plants in the veggie plot so today I decided to clean them up a bit, partly because they’ll provide a home for pests, but also they stop water drying off the surface of the ground and it’s been very wet here over the last week. I could do with some of it drying out a bit.
I ended up with about four wheelbarrows worth of leaves, one of which went straight into the compost spread on the green stuff that’s been added over Christmas. The rest I’ve piled up to one side and I’ll mix it in with new material over the next few weeks.
After clearing the paths it was quite obvious that the woodchip in some areas had got a bit thin — mud was squelching up around my boots as I walked around. Possibly not a big surprise as I did skimp a little in places last year when I initially ran out of woodchip. Making a poor job of dodging the increasingly heavy raindrops I spread the last of my remaining bagged-up woodchip in the worst areas.
I managed to get that all done before ending up soaked to the skin, but it was a close call 🙂 I did intend to take some photos just to record the areas where I still need to spread compost before planting out next year and to record the damage done by deer, but at that point there was no chance. If the weather is dry tomorrow, I’ll do it then.