Early Spring Bits and Bobs.

[peter]

Yesterday used Merry Tiller and prepared squash patch, moved membrane from last years patch one and weighted it down.
Dug the path next to where it had been, picked daffodils, realised hadn't fed ground before covering.
Went home.

Today.
Redid the squash patch cover, moved it 2' north, made a better fit and dosed soil before recovering with: slug pellets, pelleted chicken manure and National Growmore.
Now have a 4' gap to the south, which with walkway and current brassica plot allows the second sheet of membrane to be fitted when the brassica cage moves south.

Cleared squash patch two and put all weights, pallets poles etc, on new patch one with folded membrane under a pile of pallets. Now have two patches of weed free but moist soil drying ready to dig.

Put in a short row of fifteen Foresmost first earlies, weeded a 6' strip where last years maincrop were and where the brassica cage will go this year, limed it.

Day off allotmenting tomorrow for rugby.

[Ricard with an H]

I don't know how I managed to cut a few boughs (Sticky-out bit of a tree) today, we had hail, rain, sunshine and showers though because the wind is so strong its been quite a violent day. I managed to use the strong wind direction to drop the boughs where I wanted them to go, even a small ash bough of ten inch diameter at the point of cut can weigh half a ton or more.

My head is still sore from the last hail-battering when I got caught without a hat on.

Sometimes it was so warm I had to peel cloths off, next I'm running for cover.

I did get some work done though.

Should I sow these free seeds of patty pads squash I got from the magazine ?

[peter]

Not until May Ricard.

[oldherbaceous]

A little sad this morning, according to my K.G calander, British Summer Time ends on the 30th of March, have i really missed it!

[Ricard with an H]

A typo ? Maybe a sense of humour.

I have to say that yesterday and today are classic spring of showers and sunshine though the hail, thunder and lightning did catch me by surprise.

Very cold for a westerly wind direction.

I sowed 100 Red Barron onion sets, half under a cloche and half open to the elements. This will be a learning point for me, depending on the result I may increase my cloche numbers.

What I found this year is that as soon as I sprouted some seeds indoors I moved them outside to the cold-frame and they seem happy. So-far.

Parsley still hasn't shown.

[Shallot Man]

Just sown my poppy seed in remembrance of WW1 . Anyone following me.

[Geoff]

Very cold for a westerly wind direction.

So are the lumps of ice it's bringing with it!

[Monika]

We have had some dramatic hail showers, too, today, some ofd them in brilliant sunshine. I dashed out to lokok for a "hailbow" but by then, it was already over.

The bramblings are still feeding lustily off the sunflower hearts but it was great to hear and see a chiffchaff yesterday, an early arrival, the same date as in 2002.

[Westi]

Hail, Hail & Hail so quite a bit of time dashing into the shed but in between was bright sunshine so compensated!

My lottie neighbour built me a new compost bin which was a great surprise, took home a whole large bag of produce as had to bite the bullet as loads more of the brassicas bolting, so freezer full of cabbage & work mates getting loads too. My little purple sprouting plants of no name, picked up from the lottie shop for 50p, were full of the biggest, deepest purple florets & my wee start of a salad bed was happy & warm under it's fleece, rhubarb has gone mental & more asparagus popping up but still not big enough to harvest!

One contented Westi

[peter]

Cut half the hedge and fixed two slipped panes of glass on the greenhouse. Tidied part of the workshop shed including shelling the last of my Borlotti beans.

Large part of the morning spent getting our Renault re shod.

[Geoff]

Anybody tried the freebie Pepper Topepo Rosso? I've sown them twice and got nothing yet, all the other varieties are up including some quite old seed.

[Ricard with an H]

Hi Geoff.

Those mint roots and marjoram you sent me were kept in the cold frame over winter and are doing very well whilst the posh Apple mint from (Nameless) has failed.

I'm bust doing all-sorts but cutting winter is paramount before we get leaf on the trees so here are a few photos. This is ash and all bough-prunings. You can see my wood-store is half full already, I just need to axe-down the remaining ash and it'll fill that store. Together with the store at the side of the house which holds 2 cube of already dry wood the outside store now has between 3 and 4 cube of drying ash. I still have sycamore to harvest but I'm knackered.

[Monika]

We spent a good day on the allotment yesterday, strimming down the green manure (grazing rye) and then digging it in - the soil was full of worms so they should have a lot to feed on now! That particular large bed will hold all the winter brassicas this season.

Unfortunately, it rained (lightly) all day today but tomorrow we are last going to tackle the buddleia bushes because we'll need the cuttings as pea sticks soon.

[Ricard with an H]

Here are those mint roots Geoff (Last photo), along with sweet-peas I sowed in October and other seedlings that seem happy in my cold-frame. I'm just hoping they don't get leggy. Also, garlic planted in October along with surviving winter salad and a chinese leaf I can't remember the name of. I'm just amazed they survived the storms.

Cabbages planted east-west do better than those planted north-south.

[Geoff]

Glad they are doing well. Did another set of herbs in pots for my son and his partner who are setting up a house together for the first time near Eastbourne after two years of two flats in Manchester and London. He has no interest in growing things, think I over faced him in his youth, but he loves cooking so herbs are our Trojan horse to get him interested. Can I also spot your Tarragon in the frame? Ours has grown like mad in the tunnel with the mild Winter.