Spring Bits and Bobs.

[Clive.]

Arrived at work in sunshine and blue sky but with darkening sky to the West, half an hour later absolute pressure washer rain...
A day of potting and sorting followed...squally showers on and off all day and mighty windy.

Saw a red kite hanging into the wind just above the lime tree avenue, they are about a once a month only sighting out this way still but a regular daily sighting not far away out to the West.

I believe I saw a swallow yesterday..but not seen again today, maybe keeping its head down and asking for a refund on its flight..and I'm questioning myself now and thinking it may have been a martin ?.

C.

[Westi]

Gusty & a bit of heavy rain on & off but gave me a chance to catch up on other jobs, so packed up all the seedlings from the propagator to take down tomorrow & it's been disinfected & popped under the back bed until next year. I'll sow the squash & pumpkins & beans on the staging in the tunnel as have room now as the leek seedlings are big enough to go in, which will release lot of space in there as they are in large pots. Will just continue with the re-sows in the meantime as not sowing anything new just yet. I've got to tidy the staging again as just been putting things on the staging again as get a sudden wake up when I check the time & realise I will miss the bus if I don't dash. Note to self put batteries in the outdoor clock!

[Cider Boys]

I had a quiet day to day and just sowed some annual flower seeds in the greenhouse. I had a good day on Sunday the weather was fine and I was able to plant some more rows of potatoes after rotavating the ground but felt very tired today. Good to read that Clive had seen a Red Kite, I still get excited when I spot them, and that OH had been chain harrowing in the fields. I wish that I had a chain harrow here , I did have one but lent it to a couple who kept horses and never fetched it back, they no longer keep horses but it's a bit late after many years to mention it to them now. On Sunday evening I motored (if a 2003 Ford Ka can ever qualify as motoring) out across the Moors to nose at a new cyder orchard that a young couple were running. I was welcomed by a cider shed full of happy red faced locals all enjoying their tipple; I having driven resisted imbibing but promised to return. They had acres of straight rows of small trees all planted close to each other with mostly modern cider varieties that I had never heard of but also some old bittersweet favourites like the Dabinett. It was good to see youngsters keeping up the local traditions, albeit with modern orchard techniques.

Vey gusty today and winds forecast for tomorrow, at least it should keep the frosts off

Barney

[oldherbaceous]

We have quite a lot of Red Kites here now…..and there is a bloke that has had an infestation of mice at the sheds at his house, so he has been trapping them, chucking them on his allotment and after a few days the Kites were coming everyday to pick them up!

That is good news about the new Cider Orchard, Barney…..our lives are in the hands of youngsters now, so stories like that, are really heart warming!

[Westi]

I finished all the re-sows & even weeded the back strawberries & Autumn raspberries. No wonder some first sows were no shows, their beds were really compacted, even though dug over & racked at the time. I suspect the rain/sun weather dynamics over the last few weeks has capped it as the sun is really quite warm. It wasn't too onerous to dig again as quite shallow & was still moist about 6"-8"underneath but all were given little trenches with bought compost filling to help them get down just in case.

Although I could do some more pot sowings, I think I will move onto something different & weed the front raspberries as weeds in them are superficial & easy to pull & then I will weed, tidy & edge the outside flower beds as they look pretty messy & I can see signs of new growth of the perennial's in them. Then thinking I will start the bean structures while the soil is moist at depth, as looking sunny for a bit & then as it dries they will have a bit extra security.

[Clive.]

Rather a chill feel to it out tonight....we have 5 hours listed overnight down at 4C.
Mighty windy again today, but a little less than yesterday, and several retreats for cover to avoid the April showers...including a little hail..

C.

[retropants]

very chillly this morning! I got caught in a thunder/lightning/hail storm yesterday whilst out walking!

[oldherbaceous]

I don’t think we caught any frost but, it certainly wasn’t far off!

[Primrose]

Spotted an almost jet black fox cub this afternoon driving through a wood in returning from a hospital appt. Are they rare? . Never heard of one before. Pretty little creature but took us a few seconds to realise what it was as it looked like a black whippet.

[Geoff]

Definitely wasn't far off last night - minus 1.1 but up to plus 0.6 now. I think everything was covered apart from a few lettuce where the cloche blew away last week. Wife won't be happy about her beautiful rockery rhododendron though.

[Westi]

Surprised to find the temp in the tunnel was just 4.1C this morning. It didn't feel anywhere near that cold going down to the plot even though a warm fleece was needed. When I left it was near 30C in there. Just reading that low temp made me feel colder so stayed in there for a bit & fortunately soil temp was way higher so planted out the last few things in their & did a few re-sows. The re-sow need was mutt related from before I got the barriers up, as evidenced by the buried dog snacks found!

Did start the weeding though & nearly finished. Found out why I found so little bind weed on the second plot really quickly, it migrated under the fence to plot 1! But although took a bit longer hence why not finished, I was quite happy. I find chasing bindweed really therapeutic, especially as the pile of roots grows!

[Cider Boys]

Another dry yet windy day that allowed me to finally finish planting my potatoes. Nights feel cold which may explain why germination seems slow in the greenhouse. Blossom on my traditional Bramley and Cherry tree cheers me up.

Best Wishes

Barney

[Westi]

I don't think I will be enjoying any red fleshed plums this year. Doing my inspection rounds today I noted all the teeny fruit were withered & black along the stem. Not the cold as it always blooms really early, even in January & baby fruit survives frost. I'm wondering if just one storm too many & wind burn or just way too much rain so diverted the energy the fruit would need to save itself?

[Westi]

Can anyone recommend a decent hose? Expandable isn't much good as the water pressure changes dependent on how many hoses on the taps & if through is also being used for filling cans. Having a non expandable will be fine as it has a designated spot but the last few I bought were rubbish & barely lasted 2 seasons before splitting. I've just had a look online & there is a posh looking metal one from Gardenia but I need to review the length before committing, not the cheapest, but I've spent more than it's cost on duff ones. I also worry about it being shiny in case we have uninvited visitors but think the CCTV has deterred them so could risk it. But I would prefer your opinion on options as we all know the comments section only relate to the initial bought time & you don't get any retrospective feedback.

[Geoff]

I've got two Karcher hoses that I quite like though the one that is in the polytunnel is starting to harden a bit (bought 2016) but the one outside (bought 2021) that doesn't get high temperatures is fine, no splitting on either.