April 2025 Video Diary

23 April 2025

Planting what we hope will give us a crop of early brassicas

I’m having trouble germinating seedlings this year. My first sowing of brassicas failed completely and I had to buy in these plants. To add to our germination problems, we are in a spell of dry weather and having to spend extra time planting crops to ensure they have sufficient water.

21 April 2025

A promise of fruit to come – apples, pears, jostaberries, quinces, and more

The fruit blossom at the allotment is at its best. The apple trees are full of flowers, giving us hope that apples will follow, although we know from past years there’s no guarantee. Our quince Meeches Prolific is also in blossom. The pair, plum and greengage blossom, is now past its best, but at least we had some blossom this year, unlike last year.

15 April 2025

Ruby explores Belton House in Lincolnshire – A National Trust Property

We had a day out at the National Trust’s Belton Estate in Lincolnshire. Ruby is allowed in the gardens on a short lead and we found plenty of walks in the more expansive estate. Below is a brief description of how the National Trust describes Belton Estate. Generations of the Brownlow family made their mark on Belton, commissioning the finest designers and craftsmen of their age to shape Belton Estate. The house and gardens showcase cutting edge design and innovation, from 17th century sash windows to a cast iron-framed conservatory in the Italian Garden, made possible thanks to the Industrial Revolution.

14 April 2025

Top pest controller at the allotment. Not for the squeamish

We were doing a little bit of weeding today accompanied by this very tame robin. It found several green caterpillars along with a few small worms which it ate. I’m pleased with it eating the caterpillars but not so sure about it eating worms.

13 April 2025

A leisurely afternoon at the plot planting some experimental main crop potatoes

This year we’ve two varieties of maincrop potatoes that we have never grown before. They’re called Kingsman and Skywalker. We had a leisurely afternoon at the allotment planting out these two varieties. We used our usual method of planting them with a trowel rather than digging a trench. Some manure was dug into ground and a sprinkling of fertiliser added. The ground is now very dry and a good day’s rain is required but unfortunately isn’t in the forecast.

07 April 2025

Wow – didn’t expect to see any of these ducks at Nostell Priory

We were surprised to see this pair of Mandarin ducks at Nostell Priory. They are supposed to be rather shy ducks but these two didn’t seem to know that. Unusually for ducks they nest in hollows in trees. I wonder if we’ll get to see some baby mandarins. At the other end of the lake the resident swans are sitting on their nest in the usual place. It seems as though those pesky youngsters from last year have finally departed.

06 April 2025

Why we must have a chemical free garden

Obviously, with Ruby on the prowl, we need to ensure that there are no nasty garden chemicals for her to sniff out.

05 April 2025

At last, our first early potatoes are in plus onion sets

We made the most of a lovely afternoon to plant our first early potatoes. We had time to plant our onions as well. Our potatoes were Ulster Prince a first early variety, and one of our favourites. We also planted a couple of new to us varieties, Elland, an early maincrop and Francis a first early. It’s good to try something different and you never know when you might find a new favourite potato.