After months of planning, it's finally time to create the kitchen garden.

The location for the new garden is an over-grown but sun-lit gravel courtyard behind the old barn. I tested the location this past year with a temporary veg patch, to make sure plants received enough light and were sufficiently sheltered. All went well. The only real problem, predictably enough, came from the rabbits.

The plan now is to use a digger to scrape off the remaining gravel and level the soil. Then 10 beds will be set into the ground, and the area around them turfed. The beds will be edged with something cheap for this next year, because I want to make sure that the design works well. Once I'm comfortable that it's working, I'll install a permanent edging, probably using reclaimed railway sleepers.

Jack Drewe, a friendly local landscaper and garden maintenance firm, is doing all the groundwork. Stay tuned for more updates. Jack and the digger, and groundhog, below... 

Mr. Brown's perfectly prudent saver
For years I thought I was saving money, and being a good prudent gardener, by saving my seeds. 

Mice thieves?
This past season, though, I was puzzled by why so few of my pumpkins and broad beans germinated. It could of course be mice. But in my RHS horticultural course, I learned that seeds store a finite supply of carbohydrates to fuel growth after germination. They also need to be stored in a cool, dark environment. Anything else, and the seed begins to deteriorate.

Anyone for a 6 year old broad bean?
I had stored my seeds in a sealed container in the shed. Most of the packs were at least 3 and in some cases 6 years old. I suddenly realised that the seed age, rather than starving mice, was the more likely cause of the poor germination.

Grand clear out 
I summoned my courage and chucked most of the old seed packs, then placed the survivors in a sealed container in the fridge. I am now enjoying browsing catalogues and ordering interesting varieties, and hopefully next spring I can swap some of my new seeds for some from my neighbours, and enjoy a healthier crop of vegetables. 

Aegopodium podagraria
Ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria) is a pernicious weed, which spreads quickly via a network of rhizomes underground. 

An unwelcome discovery
Shortly after we moved into Neats Home Garden, my mother-in-law informed me that we 'had ground elder.' I soon realised that all the beds were infested with it, and that it was entangled in the main roots of many plants, making it incredibly difficult to split and lift them without spreading it even further. 

Napalm...?
I realised that I had to tackle the ground elder before I could start replanting. Initially Mr. P persuaded me to use Roundup, which we did twice. However I was very reluctant to use it. I noticed that in other areas, where Mr. P used it to reduce the nettles, the ground looked like it had been napalmed. Moreover, to get rid of the nettles permanently, I still had to dig down and remove the roots after it had died back.

... or labour?
So I abandoned chemicals in preference for old-fashioned labour. Hand-weeding, several times a season, has reduced the infestation to a lurking presence. Introducing other ground-cover plants, like Lamium maculatum 'White Nancy,' Origanum marjorana, and hardy geraniums, has also helped, since they fight the ground elder by spreading themselves. We have also applied a thick mulch of bark chippings twice a year to weaken the weed's root structure, and I do think this has helped, even if opinion is divided on its aesthetic appeal.

We will never 'get rid' of the ground elder- the only way to do that would be to dig out the soil and plants, and start afresh with sterile compost. But we are now able to keep it at bay with some regular weeding without resorting to napalm.