I’m glad to report this time I had no allergic reaction to the willow.  I wonder if the allergic reaction last time was actually caused by the willow at all.  You have to soak willow for at least five days before trying to weave with it.  I toyed with the idea of securing bundles in the canal, but was a little wary of losing them so I stuffed bundles into the water butts instead. 

The project I set myself was to make a serviceable cloche over which I could drape horticultural fleece for growing lettuces as early as possible next year.  We’re still a long way off getting a greenhouse, so lots of improvising is going to be called for.  My efforts were pretty wonky and still big on the rustic charm!  But at least now I’ve got round the allergy thing I can practice and only get better at it.

At the moment my raddichio and pak-choi are growing in this bed.  The pak-choi is great in clear broth type soups with chinese spices and noodles.  The raddichio should be ready soon and just right for my home grown birthday salad in December. 

I also planted out all my Autumn garlic this weekend, which was fortuitous as there seemed to be quite a few vampires around!