Spring Bits and Bobs.

[Clive.]

Another 11m in the gauge from todays storm.....went right overhead with very synchronised lightning/thunder...

5/16" diameter hailstones that lay 1" deep.... Shredding apple tree leaves... etc, etc. Broad bean leaves looking rather marked, down and bruised.. and the plants i spent the morning putting out carefully with water undr each one...got a bead blasting and look a bit sorry..

Anyway all is not bad.....it's fish and chips for tea.

C.

[oldherbaceous]

The weather certainly can be very testing at times…..but I do like a happy ending!

[Westi]

Off to the plot tomorrow as the morning is going to be OK weather wise. I bought some new seeds in the end as just a waste of time sowing all the time, everyone I've chatted to about this thinks the seeds were not properly stored by the supplier, but who knows? The replacement was a nice surprise as I just looked for mixed box sets rather than flipping online looking for single packets & ended up with seeds from Lithuania. I expected the bog standard seeds but have ended up with all sorts of varieties & sizes; some I've not heard of so fingers crossed they are viable.

I will be tossing the toms if still no shows tomorrow as wasted enough time on them & will be throwing the compost out as well just in case it is a dodgy bag & I bought a new bag. Really need to be putting up my runner canes but will leave them until next week & catch up now by getting some re-sows & plants in. Weather seems to be playing to give some rain most days so time saved watering will give me more time. Just to catch up will be worth it!

[retropants]

Westi, my mum has had similar problems with tomatoes! She has a few that have popped up this week, but it's getting pretty late now. I'm late with corn and french beans. All the beans I've sown have either not shown, or look terrible after emerging. I'm currently soaking the seeds of both and will direct sow them later today when I get home from work. Fingers crossed! I think it's supposed to be milder next week.

[oldherbaceous]

I sow a late lot of Tomatoes, at the beginning of August…..restrict them to 2 or 3 trusses and they do really well, when the early plants are going over!
I think it could have been to do with the high day temperatures, a couple of weeks ago!

[Geoff]

First strawberries and ice cream tonight, don't think it was really the weather for it.

[Clive.]

Little job for this afternoon...posts, wires, canes have been set up at the 'Radeo' pea row.
They were sown on 18/4 and whilst some are 3" high, some are only just popping through the ground. It was dry as dust when sown, I nearly ran a can of water down the flat drill before sowing but thought against it at the time as it could send the ground cold and it was bound to rain any day...3 weeks later 'til it rained/hailed...

They are going much better than the Early Onward. Radeo are in a location that has been pea free for a number of years....

Sweet corn is sat out of the cold frame today..

C.

[Westi]

Looks like I will be able to get down on Monday as weather times slightly changed from what was originally posted. Well handy, dog & I down & I will ask my neighbour to deliver some more eggs & while he is distracted I'll see if he would mind fixing the shelf in the shed. It's not broken but it's the left over of the kitchen refurb tops & is just a bit too heavy for the board I put up. Mind it has lasted quite well, been in service for several years & just needing a wider board going across 3 of the shed supports rather than just two, the other side has a longer board, but I had none of these left & he's the man that will have the right thing in his shed! It will probs only take him a few minutes....well maybe more as no doubt he will tell me off for how I put the screws in or something!

[Clive.]

Next for attention this afternoon was to weed and cultivate behind the Loch Ness blackberry and then sort a 'lost' 2ft strip to the East of the pea row. It was the former rescue line of strawberries from which I recently set up a new area. I top weeded it then trench dug it turning in deeply anything left on the top...pulling out some big dandelion roots for the green bin.. Got stopped by the light rain arriving, but another job I should have done Christmas time is nearly sorted.

Down the other end of the garden I measured the vacant area that may become home to some pumpkins to trail about and at 12' x 8' is the size of a dust sheet.
A colleague had been extolling the virtues of such fine weave cotton, ultimately degradable, ground covers in lieu of other materials...to be covered with compost in a cardboard sort of deployment....now, I dig and have indeed just purchased 2 more classic spades so this is a bit of a new departure to say the least.!! I am slightly reticent about this given that some sheets say 'waterproof' but this is a cotton only sheet with no additional backing unless some have a 'potion' applied as per my rain resistant trousers.??

I see the new sown chard is popping up whilst last years row supplied a component of lunch today.
Beetroot, likewise, is showing, at last.

C.

[Westi]

Missed all the predicted drizzle today, but I think the idea of any dampness put others off as I was the only one down on my row. Not complaining mind as got a fair bit done. I planted some Red Baron sets out that I found just starting to get roots & when tested were still hard & viable so that was rewarding & filled a patch. Finally got some toms in the tunnel as got some baby plant freebies as a neighbour sowed too many, he didn't know the variety but they are black toms. Only tiny but will be protected in the tunnel & no sign of slimy things in their to date, although they are lurking outside.

Finished my day weeding one of the asparagus beds so just the other bed to weed & that side will be finished. The other side only needs the strawberries weeded & some thinning out of the sows. Then its time to tackle plot 2, which was pretty much prepped until the rats found the squash seeds & the lettuce were no shows; however there is one wee lettuce just popping up so might encourage the others. Didn't get the runner canes up but that will be Wednesday's job, well hopefully; Mr gets his cataracts done tomorrow so if not issues he will be out of the house doing his thing!

[retropants]

Well, I am now minus 1 bicycle, 1 strimmer (brand new) and £85 (for new locks) as a thieving scumbag got into my garden and removed said items from the shed. Spent Saturday installing new locks everywhere in the garden. I filed a police report, they actually sent a forensic team over last night (scumbag had left a hammer behind on the lawn), but I missed them as I was at the cinema with my brother (showing classic films - Jurassic Park yesterday eve). I am flabbergasted, a forensic team for my little bike!!