Of poo and worms

This week has been rather scatalogical. I was at my friends' house for the weekend and we got on to the topic of increasing yields in your garden. Then last night I went to a lecture on early medieval gardening in urban Rome. As a result, shit has been high on the agenda. Turns out you can't grow diddly without it.

As last year was my first ever foray into roof gardening I hadn't really thought about the quality of my soil. I threw seeds at it and enjoyed whatever grew. This year it occurred to me that the already dodgy soil had probably been weakened by last season's growing efforts. I also had very little joy with root veggies, and as Dave (my mate's hubby) pointed out, peas are pretty much weeds and will grow anywhere.

Pffft, so much for my green fingers.

He was also concerned about the lack of living creatures in my beds and so lovely Gill dug out some worms for me to bring back home. Most people leave friends' places with leftover party food or surplus alcohol. I had a Chinese takeaway box of worms in compost. Being of a squeamish disposition, I asked J to deposit them on upstairs for me and bury the little blighters before they became breakfast noodles for pigeons.

So this weekend we found ourselves digging the soil, watching out for my precious worms and flinging chicken shit at one another. Actually, to be fair that was a mistake and he happened to be in the way on my delicate sprinkling. As we started to dig the pellets into the rather damp earth, there was an unmistakable smell of, well, growing in the air.

After some Googling I dug some trenches for my spuds, whilst J got garlicking. I remembered to plant my jerusalem artichokes: who can resist farty soup? I also managed to do my bit for the bees who live on the other building and sprinkled some wildflower seeds on the other disused beds. This will also add colour, scent and interest to the other parts of the roof garden.

I also planted veg seeds. The weather is a little chilly as yet so I moved our greenhouse into a public part of the building, just behind the lift. It's a south facing glass fronted bit which is perfect for germinating. So I've popped the tomatoes (gold and red), dwarf beans, spinach and salad leaves there for the time being.

Amusingly we bumped into the noisy neighbour. He was dyeing his hair. What the actual f***? HE WAS DYEING HIS HAIR in the lobby area of our floor. He was maintaining his youth apparently. Was he hiding from the lady that was sharing a fragrant smoke with him earlier? I've no idea but PEOPLE!

Anyway after running off snorking we cleared up and admired the flowers.

Every time I look at what I've managed to grow with very little effort and skill, I am amazed. Even my rather rubbishy fruit bushes seem to be getting excited about the view, sun and warmth. From smelly, brown, wormy soil, our food appears. Which is why Spring has to be my favourite time of year; promises of colour and beautiful scents...and an epic salad.