Spring Bits and Bobs.

[Geoff]

That cat defines relaxed.
How do slugs "know" where to hide? They browse their midnight feast on one tray of seedlings then go and hide in the bottom of another module tray. All those hiding places are definitely the downside of using modules.

[oldherbaceous]

What lovely memories, Clive….thank you for sharing them.

Just put at 80 foot row of Rooster seed potatoes in….wind still has a bite to it!

[Cider Boys]

Yes, that was a very interesting post of happy memories Clive.
Spent time to-day covering pea sowings with wire mesh and put up bean sticks. What a ropey lot of old canes they were, I had intended to buy a new bundle from my local merchants until I saw the prices of them. Gone are the days when hazel rods could be found and cut from overgrown hedgerows (with permission off course) all flail cut to smithereens nowadays.

Barney

[Cider Boys]

Sharp frost here this morning, has caught my potato leaves. I was warned some days ago about a likely frost but forgot and did not earth up. Still, it is a lovely morning.

Barney

[oldherbaceous]

Very sharp frost here too, luckily no potatoes showing yet over the allotments….and the early ones I started in tubs, I put back in the greenhouse.
Hope the frost hasn’t burnt them too much, Barney!
I still cut a few Hazel poles, but mainly just to make a few Sweet-pea, wigwams….

[retropants]

I am still waiting for little seedlings to get big enough to pot on! I've done the peppers and aubergines, but everything else it too small. Lettuce are sulking at about 10mm tall. However, the flowers are doing much better, and I can start pricking them out this weekend. I bought myself a new toy this weekend. A rotary sieve. It's worked a treat on my old eggshell-heavy compost and the worm compost. They have both come through light and crumbly. I'm delighted. Needless to say, we don't put eggshells in the compost any more, they just sit there, the same as the day they went in. At the allotment compost heaps, they used to disappear a bit more readily.

[oldherbaceous]

I’ve heard good reports of those rotary sieves, Retropant, so good to hear you got on well with yours!
I always put eggshells in the compost heap over the allotment, and as you say, they seem to break down there…..

[Clive.]

There's a 20 ton trailer load of carrots sat at the bottom of my garden.....but I still had leeks with my tea.

Frosty fern patterns on my car roof again this morning and an amazing low mist looking out across the Fens.

Lovely sunny today...warm in that sunshine...but blooming cold in the shade...

C.

[Cider Boys]

Planted out a row of leeks I had sown earlier in the glasshouse, they were a little small but hopefully will grow on. Sowed some leek seeds outside and belatedly earthed up my potatoes that were caught by the frost this morning. The frost will have knocked them back but it serves to remind me to listen to the weather forecasts.

Barney

[Geoff]

Only had a ground frost here, 2° in the air. Realised my potatoes were well through under their sheet of almost clear polythene but they weren't brown where it was touching. Pulled it off, added the hoops and put it back as a tent for tonight but just noticed forecast has improved from 0 to 1° for tonight.
Rotary sieves are brilliant, I make all my own potting composts with one. A reminder: seed - 3 parts soil, 3 parts leafmould, 1 part sharp sand and a pinch of phosphate; potting - 5 parts soil, 2 parts leafmould, ½/1 part sharp sand (soil varies a bit) and JI base fertiliser, sometimes lime for brassicas and potash for tomatoes.

[Westi]

Not a bad day on the plot but as usual didn't do as intended. The farmer behind prepped all his fields, (I hope this is a sign the railway offices will be moving out soon) & he also trimmed the hedge row again even though only done a couple of weeks ago, but this is way tighter so back of plot full of prickly stems etc again so had to get them out of the mix with the dog around. Took the opportunity to just clear across the whole of the back of the plots & trim the rest of the branches he couldn't reach from his side. Mind I couldn't reach them all but at least looks tidier. Just got to hoe the weeds out of the compost cage I opened a while ago & instant 3yr old compost available!

Since next visit is weeding & prepping beds for general sows they will get some of this compost dug in which will give them a starter boost.

[Clive.]

I saw the first Swallow on Easter Saturday...but only one and hadn't seen it since.
Today, at lunchtime, 3 were chattering excitedly around the sky over the work gardens.

C.

[Cider Boys]

I've seen a few martins ( probably sand martins that nest in nearby reservoir earth dam) but alas no swallows, however I shall be on the lookout.

Too cold for me to-day to be gardening, so I spent most of day in the workshop finishing a job that I thought would have taken me no longer than an hour; six hours later I completed it. I have grown both older and slower. Some apple trees have lovely blossom now, it is delightful to see it.

Barney