Lush Growth

At last I am making more progress on the land with mother nature doing most of the work. My runner beans are up and starting to climb, for once I appear to have parsnip seedlings, slugs are on the move but I am hoping that some plants will survive the onslaught. Lettuces and herbs have continued to crop throughout the winter and garlic is slowly making progress. Peas are shooting up but no sign of the asparagus crowns that I planted over winter.

The red currents are looking promising although they were transplanted this winter, the copious rain seems to have revitalised them. It seems to have suited the other currents and immature gooseberries are in abundance. The weather at the moment is hugely variable, hot and sunny one day, dull and cold the next but the use of my hosepipe extension is helping seeds germinate and transplants establish.

This year I am trying straw mulches around suitable plants to try to conserve water and improve the soil. Yesterday was very hot and whilst planting young basil plants between my tomatoes in an old builders sack, in our south facing courtyard,  it was amazing how much difference there was between the surface of the straw and the cool moist soil beneath.

The lemon tree continues to thrive, the largest lemon has been hanging on the tree for nearly a year now and will soon be ripe enough to pick, meanwhile the tree continues to flower profusely and is covered in more lemons in varying stages of development.

The comfrey is just coming into flower, much to the delight of the bumblebees. We seem to have a huge variety of bumblebees here, small ones, some with orange bottoms, some mostly yellow. The native honeybees are completely black.

The biomass and basket willow slips we planted this winter are sprouting well but they are going to need some competing vegetation cutting back regularly until they establish fully. They are in a very wet area of land with a cardboard mulch around it but competition for the light is intense.

Chard is one of my favourite vegetables and the few plants I grew in the tyre tower over winter have given me so many delicious meals and they are just beautiful. I love this time of year.

Mixed Blessings

Sunday I woke up to a light covering of snow all around. Today it is very sunny but with gale force north easterly winds, it would be so lovely if it wasn't so cold.

My daughter Catherine has come to stay with me for the summer to give me a hand and to assume responsibility for the livestock. If she enjoys it, her stay may become permanent. She has bought an incubator with her and 12 hatching eggs, Marans and Barnvelders. Both of these breeds are utility birds and should produce meat and eggs for us. We also bought a second puppy, Toby, to keep Sam happy which Catherine will take under her wing and train. So far he has been very well behaved although Sam is exhausted with ensuring he doesn't take anything belonging to Sam. Sam being a terrier is fully in charge, and is clearly senior dog. The cats to our surprise, seem to be fine with the new addition as well.

Warmer Weather At Last

Finally the weather has improved, mixed days of clouds and sunshine and a gusty wind today. The plants are trying to make up for lost time and the new peach tree is in full blossom.

Due to the very wet and cold winter I haven't been able to do very much to the vegetable beds and so they are very overgrown with weeds. I need to clear a lot of ground before I can get my seeds planted. My second batch of tomatoes also failed and so I will probably buy some plants in from the local market this year. The plastic on my small greenhouse rotted and many of the seedlings inside died from damping off. A poly tunnel is high on my list of wants but it will have to wait until I can save for the materials.
The squashes are also damping off. I also need a cold frame, they go from toasty in the propagator to cold in the house or colder outside with bouts of intense heat in the sun. I seem to end up with one of everything which is not very helpful with plants that need to cross pollinate.

The puppy has been a dream so far. Apart from a slight touch of kleptomania meaning he can't fit in his basket for shoes, string, scraps of bone, twigs and single socks he is wonderful. Great with the animals and good company. His best friend is my 7 month old kitten, Monty. They play tag in the grass for hours.

Monty has now been neutered and seemed to get over it very quickly. He is now mousing freely, his preferred method of dispatch is decapitation but he leaves the rest of the offerings around the house and garden.