Tsetan and Ritzen collected the willow for the spine on Monday morning and set about planting it for the rest of the week.

Wednesday was a residents gardening afternoon and there was a whirlwind few hours when the children and house mothers set about digging the soil in the Spine and planting it with (French) marigold seed around the grasses.

Watering seems to be under control but it is time consuming and requires some thought to get it all done especially as we begin to plant up more and more bays in the nursery and it gets warmer and warmer. I have been planting more seeds with a view to increasing flower and seed stock and have been experimenting with a mix of planting in containers in the office and in the outdoor soil bays. I am also experimenting with creating some permeable shade (and dog proofing) in the outdoor bays using the dead  poplar and willow stems and buckthorn. It’s much warmer now and the second polythene roof of the polytunnel has been taken down.