Tuesday & Wednesday 15/16 March 2016
The Equilux
I must admit I didn’t know there was such a thing but by all accounts today is the equilux. It means the hours of darkness and daylight are equal on that day.
The last couple of days haven’t been too bad. Nice in the sunshine, if it’s out, and sheltered from the breeze but rather cool otherwise. With high pressure dominating the weather continues to be rain free.
This is my chart of March temperatures over the last few years. Whilst this year is a bit on the cool side it’s nothing like that ridiculously cold March of 2013 when we had snow and bitterly cold days.
23 March 2013
Thursday & Friday 17/18 March 2016
Brilliant Then Naff
Thursday was a lovely March day with lots of sunshine, a gentle breeze, and feeling pleasantly mild as the temperature reached 12.9°C (55.2°F). Friday on the other hand was dull and cold with the temperature only managing 7.4°C (45.3°F).
Temperature and Sunshine Records for 17 March to 19 March 2016
As Thursday was such a nice day we set about rearranging our cold frames in the courtyard garden. It didn’t prove to be as tricky as I thought it might be and the frames weren’t too heavy for the two of us to manoeuvre into their new positions.
It’s certainly given us a little bit more space between the cold frames which we intend to use for pots of herbs. As it was such a lovely afternoon I couldn’t resist any longer and sowed some radishes, spring onions and salad leaves in our newly positioned raised beds.
Friday wasn’t the sort of day to encourage us out into the garden. However, as our early brassica collection of plants arrived, in the lunchtime post, from Marshalls Seeds I thought I’d better get them out of their packaging straight away.
We’ve ordered this collection for a couple of years now and I’ve never really been impressed by the quality of the plants when they arrive. But I’ve found with a bit of tlc the plants pick up to produce excellent plants for transplanting into the allotment in a few weeks time. They will almost certainly produce our first real crop of the new season.
We’ve ordered this collection for a couple of years now and I’ve never really been impressed by the quality of the plants when they arrive. But I’ve found with a bit of tlc the plants pick up to produce excellent plants for transplanting into the allotment in a few weeks time. They will almost certainly produce our first real crop of the new season.
Cabbage - Duncan
We’ve ordered this collection for a couple of years now and I’ve never really been impressed by the quality of the plants when they arrive. But I’ve found with a bit of tlc the plants pick up to produce excellent plants for transplanting into the allotment in a few weeks time. They will almost certainly produce our first real crop of the new season.
Last Year’s Cauliflower Plants Mayflower on Arrival and after Some tlc.
So this year’s plants are now transplanted into modules and will be left in the greenhouse for a week or so before being moved to the cold frame to be hardened off ready for planting in the plot towards the end of April.
Saturday & Sunday 19/20 March 2016
Up and Running
The weather continues to be a bit hit and miss as far as sunshine goes. Saturday remained dull and cloudy all day whereas on Sunday we had a decent amount of sunshine.
I harvested a few salad leaves (mizuna) for our Sunday lunchtime sandwich. These were sown at the beginning of October last year and have made it through winter to produce a few early leaves for picking now.
I’m not sure of the other leaves mixed in with the mizuna.
As I was picking the leaves I noticed that the first few seeds sown last week were just popping through. Guess what- it’s mizuna. These are our first seeds to germinate this spring.
At least we seem to be making a start to the new season.