Kitchen Garden Forum

We've had snow and hail already, it's bitterly cold and breezy out there.

It certainly was cold! The sun came out for only a very short while, otherwise the wind blew pretty hard.

I did manage to get out for a bit and plant up last years strawberry runners 'Marshmello'
They are in troughs at the moment, as I am without a veg patch. DH has just offered to look at the hardstanding this week. We might be able to lift a bit of it without having to hire a pneumatic drill.

Putting the weed membrane out was "interesting", good job I'm not a stick insect

Were you laying out membrane in the gale today Peter? That would have been a real struggle.

In answer to my ponderings the other day....the John Deere was working at the far end of the back field yesterday and completed the western end just now. Cultivation was solely by the drill unit straight through the capping of the soil...it had been deep ploughed and worked down last Autumn...will have to wait 'til it comes through to see the crop but I assume wheat. Two patches have had to be worked around as still too wet to traverse...at the edge of one section yesterday forward momentum stopped, replaced by downward. ..drill quickly lifted clear and it crawled out ok...

A quick check in the back garden this morning and I see a couple more broad beans appearing plus a few onward peas and a couple of boltardy.

C.

My 10 o'clock Monday morning flight comparison - definitely thinned out considerably this week.

Stephen wrote:Were you laying out membrane in the gale today Peter? That would have been a real struggle.

It was windy, but I'd folded it up and had numerous weights, including myself.
Always roll a scaffold or angle iron pole in the end and tuck it in the \| at the edge of the plot and add some weights. So on the picture the wind was coming from the rightmost post of the cage to the right rear towards the membrane, so did the right end, pulled it all out and added biggest weigh to the left end.
Then worked my way along the far edge with withnthe wind adding weights, then add the pallets, straightening the membrane as I went. Then the near end, finally the near side - long bit, again with weights only.
Finally weight by weight added the carpet strips, which seal it to the ground.
That was length one.
Length two was sightly easier as the far side had weighted carpet overlapping the bare soil, allowing a fold up, tuck under, fold back process after a few pallets chucked on the middle.

How very organised, well done.
If it was me (apart from not having spare scaffolding poles to hand), I can see, having put two bricks on one end, crawling over the fabric to hold it down as I add bricks along the length! It would be amusing (for onlookers!)

Geoff, my husband out of curiosity has also been checking the flight tracker and we physically have noticed a HUGE difference in aircraft noise overhead during the past week. It,s an ill wind. Thousands of people are laid off work as a result but the peace and quiet is blissful. Where do you draw the line between economic benefit and quality of life. With Gatwick airport now closed the people around there will notice a difference too.

On a different nite ai feel desperately for all the nurseries and garden centres featured on atavistic this morning having to throw thousands of pounds of young plants onto the compost heap right at the beginning of their season. Surely a way could be found somehow to get some of them out into the public domain to recoup some of their losses ?

Totally agree Primrose! Folk are volunteering to save the veg crops in the fields, but there has to be a way to save the pretty as well for wellbeing for those that are struggling & would put a 'pretty' flower in their garden to cheer! Why are the garden shops totally closed - just close the rip off tea room & put the tape on the floor so folk can go in & buy pretty to keep the growers growing!

Only the odd cargo plane at Stansted.

My local garden centre is delivering. They said, and I quote, if we sell it, we'll deliver it!
I've ordered some compost and seeds.

I couldn,t resist a wry smile this morning when my email delivered the first a Blightwatch Hutton alert of the season.
I haven,t even started sowing my tomatoes yet !

One way and another I think it,s going to be that kind of year !!

Really? A blight alert when it is dry & cold? That isn't what I would expect