Gardening

A gloriously sunny day, but with a cold wind today. I was answering emails when I had a call from my neighbour: "Can you bring me some scissors? I'm up the garden tying up the peas."
My garden, of course. I have a wonderful arrangement with my neighbours. As I have so much land, I hit upon the idea of offering my neighbours a gardening co-operative.We are all having a wonderful time, sharing digging, each growing different things, planting neat rows, and the watering of course. I'm so glad they're sharing the watering. Lugging all that water up those steep slopes is hard work.
We have begun another plot further down, to grow thirstier vegetables like marrow, courgette, squash and pumpkin.
We tied up the peas, and I helped thin the swede. We gave everything a good soaking, and my neighbour went home. I dug a new patch and planted a clump of globe artichoke plants. Two years to wait, but in my opinion well worth it. I'll plant more in different parts of the garden later, to give them a good chance.
Tomorrow another neighbour is coming round to help me clear brambles under and through the fruit trees. Exhausting work, but so much fruit to look forward to.
Then of course, there are the vitally important planning meetings, some involving tea and cakes, other evening ones involving wine. We probably have more meetings than are strictly necessary.
Next year, when I've cleared the walled garden, we'll build a chicken house. I'm trying to interest the neighbours in bees too, so far without success.
We have to transplant all the soft fruit bushes further up to make room for the chickens and bantams.
We've taken out an asbestos and timber summer house that was rotten, and will build a rose arch and a brick barbeque for those future summer evenings of home grown food.

So much more fun than gardening alone.