Apart from a bit of rock breaking, I've been concentrating on the Northern area again.
I've started to transplant a few deep rooting plants into the centre of the lower bed - so far skirret and scorzonera. I have plenty of plants of these in more established areas that I have dug and divided. I've put them just inside the lower currant circle. They may stay there, or will be easy enough to dig up if I choose.
The area that I sowed last year with Rye and vetch doesn't look very impressive. I think if they were going to grow away they'd be pretty obvious now.
The grass is starting to grow, but I'm pretty sure it's all the original turf and not the new seed. I dug out my wheel hoe (really was covered with vegetation since I've never used it in anger), and freed off the wheel and lubricated it. I was going to try and scuff up the turf with the wheel hoe, scythe off the vegetation as short as I could and sow into the stubble. The wheel hoe seemed to want to tear the turf out though, so that's what I ended up doing.
I went round parallel to the lower currant loop and took off the turf for about 4 or 5 feet. It was pretty hard work sawing through the turf, so I'm, hoping it will be worthwhile! The bits I threw around the currant cuttings, and the Skirret and Scorzonera I had previously planted just inside the circle, to act as a bit of mulch.
Having scalped the area , I then scuffed it up, sowed in a mix of seeds: some of the green manure mix including clove, mustard, tiller radish, phacelia and ryegrass that I have used on the solar beds, also some large flowered dandelion seeds saved from last year, some sweet cicely (Myhrris odorata), buckwheat, and alfalfa. Some of the seed was pretty old but I thought I might as well use it. I then raked over the area and trod it down. It's been raining a bit since then, so the seeds are nicely watered in. I should have had some chiccory to sow in, but didn't find it when I was sorting out the seeds to use. I could sow some in pots and transplant as growing plants perhaps if the seed turn up.
The weather has turned a bit warmer now, so I was comfortable working in a t shirt until the sun went away and the midges started biting. They're early this year, so it could be a bumper year for them.
One of the two surviving beans in the not-very-lazy-bed has disappeared, but another has sprouted up, so I still have two. I used a couple of cut down pop bottles (previously used as tree vole guards) to push over them to try and protect the sprouts. I've now planted 6 of each of the remaining seeds in deep pots up by the house. Once these bean plants sprout and are a reasonable size, I will transplant them to the growing bed. I may do the same thing with the peas. There seems to be a very good reason not to sow these tasty seeds directly at the moment, so I need to come up with a strategy for the future....