Friday 08 April 2016
Just Right
Friday was another day of sunny spells but once again it often threatened heavy showers which didn't materialise. It did keep us from doing any gardening. I really do need to get the grass cut again if only it would dry out.
It's a few years ago that I did a hatchet job on one of our camellias. Unfortunately it had grown too well and was crowding out other plants. With that in mind back in the summer of 2011 I decided a bit of pruning was required. When I'd finished our camellia looked like this.
After pruning in August 2011
Now five years on it's back at its very best.
April 2016
The trouble is that it can't be allowed to get much larger or it will once again be taking up too much space. I'm hoping that some careful pruning rather than a major hacking session will keep it in bounds.
Saturday& Sunday 09/10 April 2016
Brilliant Weekend
For us this was a brilliant weekend. For the last six weeks we've had the worry of cancer hanging in the air. In Saturday's post I got the results that the biopsies I'd had taken showed no evidence of cancer. What a relief!! The last six weeks has been a very, very long six weeks.
The weather was decent over the weekend too with plenty of sunny spells and only a drop of rain late on Saturday evening. On the plot that gave us chance to get our early potatoes, Casablanca planted. I would have like to have dug over a bed earmarked for our early brassicas bought from Marshalls but the soil was too wet and claggy so I decided it was better left to dry out a little. Looking at the weather forecast for next week that might be a little bit optimistic.
We spent some time continuing our spring tidy up, a bit of weeding, strimming and edge trimmer. By the time we left on Sunday afternoon parts of the plot looked fairly tidy especially with our fruit bushes starting to leaf up.
Now we need that weather forecast to be wrong.
Monday & Tuesday 11/12 April 2016
Not Drying Out Much!
It's lived up to the forecast over the last couple of days. Monday wasn't too bad with some decent sunny spells and feeling very pleasant in the sun and out of the breeze. We didn't have much in the way of rain either. Tuesday on the other hand was a different matter. The morning dawned a little bit dull and drizzly but any hopes that that would clear away were dashed around mid morning when the rain set in.
The rain didn't stop until late afternoon by which time the daily amount had risen to 8.2mm (0.32").
When we left the plot on Sunday teatime we were hoping for some dry weather so the bed earmarked for our early cabbages (Duncan), cauliflower (Mayflower) and calabrese (Marathon) could be prepared ready to get them planted. It was a bit too wet on Sunday and I'm not anticipating that Tuesday's rain will have helped matters much.
When these plug plants arrived from Marshalls seeds they weren't the best of plug plants. They were potted on and left to grow on in the greenhouse.
Plug plants 18 March 2016 after potting up
Now I'm pleased to say they've improved a lot and are ready to move to the coldframe to acclimatise to outdoor conditions before finally being transplanted out on the plot.
Plug plants 13 April 2016 ready to move to coldframe
All that needs to be done now is get a patch of ground done on the plot ready for them to move home sometime next week.
Wednesday 13 April 2016
Time For Plan B
Wednesday turned out to be our warmest day of the year so far reaching 16.7°C or 62.1°F.
Some of the grass paths on the plot were in desperate need of strimming so as it was dry on Wednesday afternoon it seemed like a good opportunity to get the job done.
I wasn't really planning on getting any other jobs done but in the back of my mind was the need to prepare the bed for our early brassicas. Tuesday's rain had put an end to any hopes of digging over the ground. I loaded my trusty three pronged hoe into the car as I had a plan B in mind if I had some time to spare after strimming the grass.
After strimming the grass and a welcome cup of afternoon coffee I decided to try Plan B. I was hoping that the top of the soil would hoe and create a suitable depth to allow us to plant our brassicas. After all they are supposed to appreciate firm ground. My plan seemed to work okay. I didn't want to disturb the wetter and claggier soil beneath as this wouldn't break down into any sort of tilth. Who knows by the middle of summer the plants might be glad of all that moisture retained lower down in the soil.
After hoeing through the bed once I added lime then fish, blood and bone. Then all this was given another good hoeing to incorporate it into the soil. Some slug pellets were sprinkled over the soil before the whole bed was covered with weed control fabric and weighed down with three barrow loads of partially rotted wood chips.
We'll now have to see what our brassicas make of the compromise once they are planted out.