Bye-Bye Trees.

I've been struggling with those leylandii trees so Peter asked Paul to help out with his digger. I had chopped most of the roots with an axe but I didn't know if they had a main tap root going straight down (which they didn't). I had been sweating buckets for days working on those trees but before I could walk back from the house with the camera Paul had already pulled out the first tree. The second one came out nearly as easily and Paul placed them by the hedge for us to deal with later. He then used the bucket to break up the ground for me which was a real help. Paul came in for a cuppa and although he wouldn't accept any payment for his help we were able to give him some of Peter's home made sausages and some eggs as a thank you. Contrary to the forecast we had dry weather all day but it was windy and thundery late in the afternoon. One of the thunderclouds briefly dropped some heavy rain which forced me back indoors. I worked outside until dark and have been able to remove nearly all the weeds from the new veg patch which is much easier while the soil is dry. I have sown lots of rather old veg seeds (french beans, runner beans, broccoli, courgettes, squash, mixed lettuce, tomatoes and white radish), in trays hoping that some at least will germinate to be planted out in the new veg patch. Along with the tomato plants I have growing in the conservatory, that should do for this year though I am tempted to buy some mange tout just because they are so nice. And now for some more pictures from the Eden Project.
One of the messages being put across is the importance of insect pollinators in the production of food crops.

As well as many displays of food and medicinal crops there are some ornamental gardens some divided into intimate seating areas. The message carved into the wooden fence where we sat for a while was all about the benefit of gardens for relaxation and calming the spirit.

There were ornamental plantings of vegetables which were in pristine condition without the use of chemicals (everything is organic there). I doubt my vegetable garden will be looking like this at any point, I will be happy if something grows and survives the slugs.

At every turn there was something interesting to see. These pleached trees are London Plane trees which were able to survive the sooty Victorian era because they regularly shed their bark.

More pictures tomorrow.

PS If anyone is wondering why I wasn't celebrating the royal wedding yesterday it's not because I have anything against marriage, just I have no interest in royalty. Also I feel the whole event has been hyped by the government in order to take our minds of the current recession. For the past week the TV has been full of the wedding yet I heard nothing apart from the briefest of mentions on the radio of the tragedy of so many people killed in the tornadoes and storms in the States. Strange values.