Ah. Easter, the most magical time of this egg-infested part of the year, when DIY stores flag up the latest ‘exclusive’ sale, all the other shops start to think of Christmas advertising budgets and young men and women, full of the joys of Spring, stuff themselves with chocolate.
But nay. And nay again. I am being cynical. What’s wrong with a good healthy dose of chocolate? It’s good for you and it gets those endorphins running round your system like a fondant-creme-filled, Smartie-fuelled Katarina Johnson-Thompson.
Seriously, chocolate is actually a good source of energy – it says so here – Chocolate is a Good Source of Energy. What did I tell you?
And it’s not just chocolate. There’s the the traditional Easter Meal of a roasted leg of lamb, with all the trimmings, which everyone enjoys. Well with a few exceptions…
“I’m not coming out until you put away that rosemary!”
Mind you you have to earn it in my book (actually, not just in my book, in lots of other people’s books as well) and the best way to do that …come on you knew this was coming… is to get out in the garden and do some work. WORK! There. I’ve said it. (PAUSE) And relax. But only for a second. If you have a garden or an allotment to tend, you need to develop a proper work ethic. In fact, you could say The Only Way Is Ethics. No? Say it out loud. Oh for Pete’s sake… Ethics? Essex? OK. OK. I know I shoe-horned that in but you could at least smile! Where was I? Oh yes. Time to get out in the great outdoors for real.
Because, let’s face it. There’s lots to do. All the stuff you’ve been putting off until you can be bothered.. I mean until the ‘weather improves’. Yeah right!
Planting… quick before it’s too late. Digging… it’s already slightly late, buying a house with a garden… definitely too late. Whatever you need to do, do it now. Gird your loins, and any other part of you you think might need some girding, and put your back into it. And if you have a gardener or a willing partner, put someone else’s back into it too.
It’s not too late to start planting seed potatoes, salad leaves, beetroot, carrots. You can probably harvest asparagus if you have some – or like me pop to the local shop and pretend you grew it when serving it at dinner parties.
You can prune your shrubs that have been damaged by wind or frost and you can cut your lawn. If we have good weather this Bank Holiday, it’s the perfect time to give that new Mountfield SP-180 a good shove around the sward. Or even the old one if you’ve not invested recently. Why not clean your decking and your barby gear while you are at it in preparation for the ‘Burning-Perfectly-Good-Sausages and-Annoying-your-Neighbours-By-Laughing-Loudly-Well-Into-The-Evening’ season?
And when you have done all that. When you have mowed, dug, planted, pruned, snipped, clipped, pressure-washed and scrubbed. Then and only then will you have earned that golden-foil wrapped trophy that looks huge but turns out to be quite tiny when unwrapped. Yes. Your very own Easter Egg!
And seriously, now really is the time to start enjoying your garden so do so. And have a great Bank Holiday weekend!
Drew Hardy
