Spring

Sunday 9th March 2014   [3.30pm-5.45pm]

A beautiful spring day and on the approach to the allotments I saw smoke. I immediately felt excited. Burning. March is one of the months set aside for bonfires. The other is November. I brought some bags of wood sawn from my poor Rhus, which had blown down in a strong gale. I was away attending my sister’s wedding at the time and was mortified on my return to see a gaping space that it had once occupied. I haven’t finished sawing it all up yet but it will make a huge bonfire before March is out.

Areas that I’d cleared of grass and most weeds were still reasonably clear after the winter sleep. So wasn’t too horrified when I reached my plot. Herbs still alive; sage, thyme, sorrel and rosemary. Strawberries showing signs of burgeoning life. Garlic are sending up new shoots.

Saw quite a few pairs of Red Admiral butterflies fluttering around one another. Just love the way they glide about in the warm air. To work then. Began digging up grass from the garlic bed a row at a time. Managed to clear about half of it of dandelion roots as well. There is another stubborn plant that has lovely dainty blue flowers and buttercup-like leaves, but its roots become a thick mat that is very hard to dig. Will have to root it up whenever I come across it in future, lovely though it is. Must find out its name.

The breeze is so warm, even though the sun is beginning to set behind the railway embankment to the west. Its high sloping sides are covered in Hawthorn trees. Almost time to go. I can feel a twinge to the left of my lower back. I’ve felt that before. Must stretch it out.

Dug up some garlic to take home. They are small but very pungent. The smell of burning wood lingers in the air and in my nostrils. I’m back where I belong, in and amongst nature and the soil.