tealin | And More Gardening (Reply)

Every year my church does a fundraiser garden plant sale; this was the first year I had enough garden (and a sunny enough garden) to feel confident about buying more than a couple of things. They were delivered today – four bean seedlings and two tomatoes – plus quite a selection of seeds, including a lot of Asian greens. So I spent the vast majority of the day mucking about with soil and pots and various other happy tasks, like building trellises out of bamboo and vinca. A very significant task was trimming back the willow tree, which was spilling over the hedge and into the sunny patio; I then sat and snipped the twigs into roughly similar lengths and made little bundles which will dry out in the sun so I can burn them later this summer, and add the ash to my compost heap. This was a very long and very dull task which I did with no radio or anything, just me and the snippers and all the chattering birds. I hope that, whatever it is that's been processing in the back of my head, it got its time, and I can sit down to work tomorrow.

I don't know what sort of willow it is – it's silvery and slightly weepy; probably Salix alba but mine isn't nearly as nicely structured as in the photos – but some of the branches have developed sharp little spurs like plum trees, and I got two pretty sharp bites as I was tying my bundles. I soaked the fingers in hot salt water and they don't appear to be inflamed, but are still pretty tender. We shall see what the damage is tomorrow. If a full day in the fresh air with nothing to distract me from my thoughts isn't enough to put me on a good stead for work, I don't know what is ...