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Weekend 2 March
Much of this week was actually in February -
On the plot
Just a brief visit to the plot this week -
We also gathered up some rubbish -
The daffodils are in bud so I should shortly have some for a vase.
The bushes are beginning to sprout, the blueberries being well on the way as are the black currants. The plums, cherry and plum are a little behind them but showing signs of new growth.
All the strawberry plants and garlic have been moved out into the cold frame
In the garden
The miniature daffodils are looking lovely although the wind is trying to put paid to that.
Everything is having a real battering which will mean plants are in danger of drying out if they survive the force of the wind.
The bird table blew over and even when it is righted the food that we put out for the birds blows off.
The wind died down long enough for me to prune a couple of buddleia, a couple of climbing roses and the black sambucus (elder).
Apparently supermarkets are considering the demise of the plastic carrier bag. Can't happen too soon for me as our trees and bushes have been decorated with the things this week -
In the greenhouse
Planted broad bean seeds in pots. The varieties are– Imperial Green Longpod, Jade and some red flowered seeds that we saved from last year.
All the strawberry plants and garlic have been moved out into the cold frame.
Out and About
What a week! Not only were we all (well maybe not all of us), shaken awake by the largest earthquake to hit the UK for over 20 years, but we were subjected to the pounding of gales. The sort of weather when you wish you had lead lined boots. (Not much of a mention on national weather forecasts though!) The saying goes March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb! Well it has certainly roared in like a lion so let’s hope the lamb is on its way!
The blossom that had the sense to wait whilst the hard frost had been and gone is now adding colour (well OK white) to the hedgerows.
The bad news is that the oil seed rape is starting to flower -
Weekend 9 March
On the plot,
Again a weekend spent clearing beds and also creating new ones. It was really windy and so I spent most of the time trying to keep my hair out of my mouth!
Weeded around the winter onions.
We also dug some carrots – we have quite a few carrots left as we have parsnips and stored potatoes and onions so we are planning on making batches of soup to store in the freezer for later in the year. If anyone has a favourite recipe for a delicious soup then let me know.
The fruit trees and bushes are all showing buds ready to burst.
The daffodils hopefully will produce some cut flowers for next week.
In the garden,
The miniature daffodils continue to put on a good show. The tubs of mixed bulbs (miniature daffodils, miniature tulips and hyacinths) continue to do the same. I didn’t manage to get them out by the front door which was fortunate as they would have been battered by the winds. As it is they are in a sheltered position down by the side of the house where I think they will stay. The bulbs have been planted for several years in these tubs but seem happy to continue putting on a show.
The crab apple, pear and medlar trees are also showing signs that they will shortly burst into leaf and the camellia has started to flower. One of the crab apples is Malus Profusion and has a sort of reddish glow to it – the leaves are a reddish brown.
In the greenhouse:
During the week we took delivery of four new apple trees (well trees maybe is a bit of an exaggeration). We intend to grow these as step-
Sowed a tray each of – Marshalls Mixed Salad Leaves and Mr Fothergill’s Red and Green Salad Bowl.
Sowed cabbage – Puma and broccoli – Arcadia. This year we want to stagger the sowing of brassica seeds so hopefully we won’t have too many ready at once but chances are the plants will all decide to catch up on one another!
Sowed peas – Early Onward in pots.
Placed shallots in trays to keep until we are ready to plant them on.
Out and About
I don’t know about anyone else but I am really fed up of being buffeted by strong winds although we have also had some sunny spells too.
I visited Southdale Junior School in Ossett this week so want to thank Sian and Ben for showing me around their garden and greenhouse -
Gales are threatened on Monday so I just hope they won’t cause too much damage.
The rhubarb is beginning to grow in the fields round about. We are in the middle of the rhubarb triangle so it is a common sight. Indoor rhubarb is forced in special forcing sheds where people actually work in candlelight so that the rhubarb leaves don’t turn green. They also reckon that they can hear the rhubarb actually growing. If you want to read more then try the links below.
Weekend 16 March
On the plot
Picked some daffodils for a vase this weekend.
Also dug up some leeks as I intend to use up some of the remaining potatoes and leeks by making some Vichysoisse (leek and potato) soup.
In the garden
The camellias are now starting to flower and the berries of the aucuba are looking shiny and bright.
Many of the perennials are now showing signs of life and starting to push up new growth between the dead stems.
Wildlife is also livening up – the frogs are back in the pond and the fish are starting to search for food and behaving like miniature porpoises.
The birds are also very active – World War III has broken out among the blackbird population. If fact care needs to be taken when venturing out into the garden as there have been occasions when male blackbirds intent on chasing off rivals have nearly crashed into me. Bird song of all types is filling the garden if you can call the call of the wood pigeon a song but obviously Mrs. Wood pigeon approves. Last year a robin nested in the straw protecting a banana plant and again one has been checking this out – fortunately the young leave the nest before the straw needs removing.
In the greenhouse
This week we received our jostaberry from Marshalls. The jostaberry is a cross between a blackcurrant and a gooseberry. According to the catalogue the fruit is very like a large blackcurrant. Unlike a gooseberry it doesn’t have thorns and has a sweet flavour. I will keep you posted – that is if we have any berries next year or even this year!
The scented geranium that have been overwintering in the greenhouse are shooting.
The cabbage seeds have germinated.
Sowed seeds for tomatoes – Sebastopol, (mid season cherry variety) Sasha Altai, (supposedly one of the sweetest Siberian varieties of tomato which crops very early) Moneymaker, (came free with Kitchen garden Magazine) Yellow Perfection, (as the name suggests this has yellow fruit)
Sowed seeds for sweet pepper – California Wonder (also came free with Kitchen Garden magazine) and aubergine – Black Enorma (supposedly gives an ‘abundance of huge fruits). All of these seeds are to produce plants for the greenhouse.
As we don’t heat our greenhouse the seeds have been taken into a spare room to germinate when they will be transferred to a propagator in the greenhouse.
Out and About:
The blossom is really getting going now including the blackthorn is flowering in the hedgerows. Also lots of almond and winter cherry in the garden. (I say ‘armond ‘but a friend of mine insists that it is al-
The tree leaf buds are also starting to burst giving the trees that look of promise as they seem to be surrounded by a haze of gentle colour.
The crocuses (croci?) are providing a colourful display on the verges and on the motorway embankment I have even spotted some daffodils.
Saw a pheasant browsing in the grounds at work.
Weekend 23 March
Well it may be the Easter holiday this weekend and it may also now be officially spring time but the weather has been very cold. What with that and being laid low with a bad case of the snivels we haven’t spent much time on the plot again. We did get some tidying up done though – sort of preparation work for things to come and obviously a bit of harvesting for the pot.
In the garden
The frogs seem to have had second thoughts and have disappeared.
The crab apple trees are continuing the leafing process – let’s hope when the trees are fully in leaf that the, almost constant, strong winds that we have been suffering finally desist.
In the greenhouse
The broad beans that were planted in pots are now coming up well. Interestingly the seeds that we gathered from last year’s plants are a bit ahead of the newly bought seed.
Out and About
I always think of this time of year as the yellow time. The daffodils and forsythia are in full flower. It’s as though nature knows that we need our spirits lifting after winter and knows just the colour to use to make us think forward to the sunny days ahead!! We really do have to have a good imagination at the moment though don’t we as the temperatures are worse than they were over winter. Even had a slight covering of snow but it didn’t hang around for long. I blame global warming of course! Have you noticed how now that term is being used less and the new buzz word is climate change?
Weekend 30 March
On the plot
Dug up some parsnips and carrots for the pot. The yellow carrots are a lot less damaged than the orange ones. Not sure whether this is due to the variety or the quality of the bed in which they are planted.
Cleared some brassica plant which were well past their sell by date Managed to retrieved some small red cabbages that were still good enough to eat.
Planted Onions -
Started strimming the grass on plots for first time this season.
Managed to rotavate a bed or two but really it is still too wet to do this.
Carried out some general weeding.
Many of the fruit trees and bushes are really showing signs that they are ready to burst into growth.
Picked enough daffodils for a couple of vases but the rest have been left to brighten up the plot. Lots of plots have clumps of daffodils which really brighten the place up!
We really do seem to be behind where we were last season but then again we had a lovely early spring – then no summer. Does this mean that we will actually have a summer this year?
The pussy willow tree in the entrance is flowering – a sure sign of spring!! We hope !!
In the greenhouse
Sowed the asparagus berries that I collected from the plants last year. The seeds that were planted the year before are sprouting. We don’t like asparagus so we grow it for the ferny leaves which look good with flowers.
Pricked out Red and Green salad Bowl seedlings into multi-
Moved all earlier sowings of broad beans from greenhouse to cold frame
Sowed following seeds in greenhouse:
Peas – early Onward in pots.
Lettuces – Little Gem and webs wonderful
Baby salad leaves mixed -
Celery Loretta
Brussels Sprouts – Wellington & United
Second crop of broad beans Jade, Imperial Green Longpod and red flowered variety.
The goji berry and pomegranate plants that Joe gave us last year are growing well as are some unidentified cuttings/pip seedling!
Indoors in the propagator
Tomatoes Moneymaker and Yellow Perfection have all germinated
Pepper California Wonder – all 4 seeds germinated
Aubergine Black Enigma – all 4 seeds germinated
Only about 50%Seeds of Tomatoes Sebastopol & Sasha Altai have germinated
In the garden
The perennials are continuing to sprout.
The birds are continuing to forage and check out nesting sites.
In spite of the weather there is frog spawn in the pond.
The red camellia is flowering well but for some reason the pink one seems to be quite late this year.
Last year I bought some native primrose plants and also some native bluebells. The primroses are just beginning to flower. I don’t know what it is about wild primroses but I love them. Maybe it’s a throwback to my childhood when they were growing wild in the hedgerows as were. Whatever it is they do something for me that, however lovely they are, the cultivated varieties don’t do. I am looking forward to my little clump expanding. I think the bluebells are pushing through too.
The snakeshead fritillaries that I also planted last year are in bud. I planted both the snakeskin colour and the white – they developed lots of seeds which I scattered so hopefully I should have some young sprouting.
The magnolia tree is just beginning to burst its buds.
Out and about
A few glimpses of what a difference a bit of sunshine could make. The trees start to sprout as soon as the sun shines for more than a fleeting moment. The trouble is that just as you feel that maybe it will be OK to go out in the garden or on the plot it starts to rain – again.
The flowering currants are adding to the colour in gardens now. They probably were last week too but I came over all poetic and obsessed with yellow!
We had a little trip to the garden centre – well after all it was the Easter holiday and it is as traditional as having Easter eggs really. Is it only me that was amazed that they are selling bedding plants – is anyone really buying them so soon. Is it a ploy by the garden centres to sell early plants which will probably die so that have to buy more, or am I just being pessimistic?
