Kitchen Garden Forum

Dear Plumudding, most of them go down the other end of the village to the maker of pickles, chutneys and jams, which just happens to be my Mums.
I do save some to hand out to some of my favourite ladies, just incase i run out of flowers.

Alan, the pickling plant my shallots go to is a little more up market than the one in your photograph.

Really frosty this morning - we had our coldest night of 2010 - all the snowdrops are lying flat as though someone has trodden on them.

It was a lovely day here on Wednesday, sun shining in a near cloudless sky and only a gentle breeze. Pottering around in the garden, I was very happy to find a few Ladybirds had emerged from the foliage of perennial plants. I hope they got well hidden again though as we had a heavy frost that night again.
Cheers.

Thought you'd like this picture of my cat, Blossom, living up to her name. She found this sunny spot in the porch this morning.

..and here's M'lady Committee Kittee on the path outside the potting shed at work...

The cats could be sisters.

Just been strolling around the dreamy lanes of Milton Bryant, and by heck that's getting chilly out there. Think we could be in for a stiff old frost tonight.

It's a cats life.

Bitter wind blowing over the site this morning,so much so that I had to wear a hat!!Ground good and I had an hour's dig,forecast tonight dry,clear,and minus 4C.Good digging weather.

What gorgeous cats , We are a dog family now, but I do miss the cats of my childhood.

We have spent the recent spring like days filling my new raised bed by emptying my parent's compost heap - wheelbarrow now missing 2 nuts and temporarily retired.

I have managed to sow broad beans, beetroot, sweet peas, a few lettuce, some sugar snaps (all in the greenhouse) and squash, cucumbers and peppers in the conservatory. It feels wonderful to finally be out there starting to put some of the planning into place! Managed to harvest some of the over wintered spring onions for a chinese during the week.

Feeling good - if a little tired .

Parent's crocus's and snowdrops are putting on a great show and yesterday morning my cockerill greeted the sun as it finally broke through at about 11am with an equivalent number of crows!

Love the cats, Plumpudding and Clive, as OH says, they could be related. They are certainly enjoying the sunshine. We once found our old cat Sammy (long deceased by now) stretched out like Clive's cat in the light of the full moon on the landing! I think she must have been going a little senile by then because it certainly wouldn't have kept her warm.

As for the weather: minus 5 last night and probably colder tonight after a beautifully sunny and clear day. I am just hoping the potatoes, onion and leek seedlings and shallots in pots will survive unscathed in the greenhouse, all wrapped up in fleece and bubble plastic. Hopefully all the other stuff in the greenhouse will have soaked enough warmth today to keep the temperature above freezing.

The weather station has I see just made it up to 27.5F from 26.2 when I first glanced at it this morning....

Clive.

Unlike the monkey, I'm OK, but talk about cold!

Spent yesterday morning sowing peppers and tomatoes. Checked this morning and there was ice on the inside of one heated propagator lid - never seen that before.

Down to 21F/-6C in the polytunnel.

Propagators swiftly moved to warmer workshop, so hoping for the best.

My weather station minimum last night was 17.9F -10C.
JB.

Considering then that we seem to be on the warmer side of the UK today....it's been plenty cold.....and grey skies too....

I went to check the Mole traps just before midday and the ground was still frozen hard...out in the open...right in the middle of the main lawn.

Clive.

Unbroken sunshine here all day but jolly cold in the shade and where the northerly breeze blows. The ice on our village nature reserve pond, where the frogs where just starting to return to spawn, has not thawed out for nearly a week now.

My sister in Hamburg in Germany (which usually enjoys quite mild, maritime climate) had minus 14 C the night before last, followed by a day of heavy snow. Not funny, this time of the year.

Unbroken sunshine here too and very pleasant with it. First day outside without anorak and woolly hat. Planted all the First Early Potatoes and got them nicely tucked up in their cloche. The ground was in lovely condition having been sheeted over (clear polythene) since January 18th - until I checked the diary I had forgotten there had been enough of a break then to get it ready. Spring must be coming, a noisy flock of geese went over travelling North just as I was finishing off, I think they veered off towards Morecambe Bay. Walking round this weekend I remembered I had lost a bird box in the Winter so today I made four new ones, hope it isn't too late may catch the second brood.