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Sunday 01 April 2012
Sunny but cooler
The sun shone all day but with a cool breeze we didn’t reach the warm temperatures recorded last week. It’s amazing how quickly things progress in a week at this time of year. A week ago our Conference pear tree showed few signs of growth but it’s now in full flower.
I’ll have to make a start on sowing now we’re back from our holidays. April is a really busy month for getting lots of vegetables and flower seeds sown. After a really mild March I’m half expecting April to be a bit of a let down weather wise. A bit like last year we got some good weather early on in the year but then summer never really materialised.
Heavy rain is forecast for Tuesday with the possibility of snow. I don’t really want the snow but the rain will be most welcome for the garden and the plot.
Monday 02 April 2012
Figgy Business
Monday was a let down weather wise, dull and cool all day. The forecast for the rest of the week looks even worse and I think I’ll delay sowing any seeds for a few days.
In all the excitement about growing grapes, peaches, apricots and nectarines our poor old fig tree has almost been forgotten. Last September it looked like this.
Sue’s blog post “Dead or Alive” covered our concerns about our fig tree last summer. It did indeed spend the winter in the greenhouse to help protect it from the worst of the winter weather. There were a few nights where the greenhouse temperature fell to around -5°C and although it was covered with a few layers of fleece it must have been frosted.
The good news is that it has survived winter and is looking much more like a proper fig tree now with plenty of new leaves being produced.
So it’s wait and see just how many of our “exotic” fruits produce the goods. Apricots, nectarines, kiwi, peaches, grapes and figs from the garden - that really would be amazing.
Tuesday 03 April 2012
Unexpected Guest
Tuesday was mostly dull with just a little late afternoon sunshine. It was a cool day and late into the evening the wind became very gusty and it started to rain.
By Wednesday morning we had a covering of the white stuff and the temperature was only just above freezing.
The blossom on our magnolia tree is weighed down with wet snow. This is not going to do the fruit blossom much good either.
Last week when we went on holiday our tomato and pepper seeds had been sown and left under the grow light to germinate. The self watering feature using capillary matting works very well and easily lasts a week if the reservoir is topped up. Some aubergines had already germinated and were left to grow on a little.
Imagine my surprise on our return from Scotland. First impressions were good, all our tomato seeds had germinated and some of our peppers.
Then I noticed our aubergine seedlings. Exactly where had the leaves disappeared to! Closer inspection looked like slug damage and there were some tell tale slimy trails on the top of the compost.
But where had this slug come from and where was it lurking now? If it was still in hiding were any of our seedlings safe. I took each small tray out in turn carefully inspecting underneath the base and around the edges. No trace of any small slug or snail. I thought it might be possible that it could find a place to hide in the drainage holes in the trays hiding from view by day and munching through our precious seedlings at night. My last thought was to inspect around the edges of the capillary matting and that’s where I found it.
I was a bit taken aback about its size. I was looking for a tiny slug or snail but this was pretty big and it hadn’t grown this size on half a dozen aubergine seedling leaves. I can only think that it must have been in the compost when the seeds were sown. I’m now hoping that our seedlings can be left to grow on without fear of being munched.
Is nowhere safe from slugs and snails?
Wednesday 04 April 2012
A Half Expected Dilemma
Wednesday was much more like Winter than Spring. Some much needed wet weather arrived as snow rather than rain and together with strong winds made for a very unpleasant day. To add insult to injury the temperature only managed 6°C at its best.
Sowing seeds early under our grow light always had the possibility of young seedlings needing to be transplanted and moved into our cold greenhouse when weather conditions weren’t really suitable. Well it’s happened.
These antirrhinum “Snap Happy” and our celery “Victoria F1” and celeriac “Giant Prague” are certainly ready to be transplanted to give them a bit more growing space but the greenhouse temperatures have been down to freezing the last couple of nights. Perhaps a little over crowding is better than being frosted. Our young tomato plants will need to be moved into the greenhouse soon so I’m hoping for an improvement in over night temperatures.
The good news is that this April won’t be as dry as last year as we’ve already had 6 times more rainfall this year. Last April produced only 2.4mm of rainfall and so far we’ve had 14.6mm this year. Every cloud does have some sort of silver lining!
The good news is that this April won’t be as dry as last year as we’ve already had 6 times more rainfall this year. Last April produced only 2.4mm of rainfall and so far we’ve had 14.6mm this year. Every cloud does have some sort of silver lining!
Thursday 05 April 2012
Topsy - Turvy
The sun shone all day on Thursday although it wasn’t particularly mild or perhaps the mild March has just spoilt us. So we went from this on Wednesday
To this on Thursday
I did manage a quick trip down to the plot. We have one clump of Timperley Early rhubarb which has plenty of stalks ready for pulling and I couldn't resist the temptation. Just one central stem of Early Purple Sprouting broccoli was ready but a couple of spring cabbages Spring Hero had formed hearts so together these would provide fresh vegetables for dinner.
Friday 06 April 2012
Unwanted “Flowers of Spring”
Friday was back to mostly cloudy and cool with spits and spots of rain throughout the day.
Not all flowers of spring are welcome. Down on the plot our spring cabbage “Flowers of Spring” have done just that, flowered. Not all the plants but probably around 75% have either flowered or are obviously going to flower rather than form any hearts.
This plant is almost ready to come into flower whilst others are beginning to show the first signs of a flower bud rather than a heart.
It’s not a problem I’m used to. I’ve had cabbages run to seed before but usually after they’ve at least made an attempt to form a heart. I’m wondering if it was the warm dry weather at the end of March which has resulted in most of these cabbages bolting. Looks like I’ll be busy cutting them up and adding them to the compost heap. Disappointing but it means the ground can be cleared and dug and another crop planted. I’ve often used “Excel” as my spring cabbage in the past so maybe I should return to that variety or as I still have some seeds of “Flowers of Spring” I could try growing both and see which produces the better cabbages.