Thursday week ago, we dedicated ourselves to the large marjoram covered garden spaces beneath the olive trees in the Food Garden of the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens (RTBG)– and once again we did our best to rid the ground of the creeping invasive Medicago weed, of a variety that is virtually impossible to eradicate.  Therefore I think of this as a rather depressing weed, with no medical or edible benefits that I know of to make me think more kindly of this plant. 

Yesterday, our optional tasks were varied: weeding various beds, hoeing around plants, turning over soil, fertilising garden beds, and spreading compost.

When I arrived I was pleasantly surprised to see compost covering the bare earth where we had plucked Medicago, then further on two garden beds now proudly supported pumpkin plants including two giant pumpkin specimens.

Produce was picked and was loaded up ready to take to charity; rhubarb and lettuces this week.

On our fifth day without rain (once upon a time this would have been an unremarkable fact but after a year of greatly increased rainfall it has been delightful to have sunny fine days) and with rain forecast for later in the day and over coming days, lawnmowers were buzzing around us and across the RTBG.  The sweet smell of fresh mown grass is always profoundly appealing.

This was a productive day; a simple day of easy comradery and visible achievement.