in the soil A pile of last year’s grass pulled out from around the edges of the blackberries in the course of tying them in, dry and dead already and dried further in their pile by the constant wind more than by the intermittent sun has been sat for the last two weeks covering half of the first bed on the plot, the half that is not shaded by the hazelnut tree, and when I pull it all away the soil beneath is rich and damp and friable and unlike the other half (the half that is shaded by the hazelnut tree) does not need digging over. I drill holes in the damp dark earth with the blade of my garden knife (a
Shaggy hams - lovely.