March 2026 Video Diary
04 March 2026
Chitting his year’s potatoes – all this year’s varieties
It’s that time of the year again when our seed potatoes move from the garage into the greenhouse to chit. Hopefully the weather will not be too cold now that we are into March but they are protected with some fleece just in case.
06 March 2026
Spring colours at Temple Newsam – Crocuses, daffodils and a Ha-Ha!
On a pleasantly dry day in early March, we headed out for a walk with Ruby at Temple Newsam after what felt like weeks of February rain.
After spotting a splash of colour, we decided to leave our usual route and were rewarded with a beautiful display of crocuses spread across the grass near the old stable block and courtyard tea room.
Further along the walk, we also came across a lovely bank of daffodils in flower. Along the way, we also pass what remains of the park’s ha-ha — a sunken wall or ditch once used in landscape gardens to keep livestock out of the formal grounds without interrupting the view.
Of course, Ruby is far less interested in the flowers and far more fascinated by the many interesting smells along the way… some of which are clearly worth stopping for!
Join us for a gentle early-spring walk and a glimpse of the first colour returning to the gardens.
Thanks for watching.
14 March 2026
Ruby gets her missing tag
Today’s walk took us to Nostell Priory with one important mission — to finally collect Ruby’s National Trust Pooch Passport tag.
Back in October, we joined the National Trust’s dog passport challenge. The aim was to visit twelve different National Trust properties before the end of February and collect a stamp at each one. Once completed, Ruby would earn a special tag for her collar. Our twelfth stop was at Dunham Massey, but unfortunately, they had run out of tags on the day.
After a couple of weeks without hearing anything, we checked at Nostell Priory during one of our regular walks… and they kindly put a tag aside for Ruby. However, when we returned with her fully stamped passport, the tag had mysteriously disappeared after the drawer had been tidied! After a quick phone call to the office, the missing tag was located and Ruby finally received her well-earned prize.
With the mission complete, we set off for a peaceful walk around the grounds. The weather was overcast, but the estate was quiet, giving us plenty of space to explore. Along the lake, we spotted the swans nesting in a new location this year, and of course Ruby was much more interested in the smells, the walk, and chasing her ball than the new tag on her collar.
Will the National Trust run the Pooch Passport challenge again this year? If they do, Ruby will definitely be ready for it.
Thanks for watching and joining us on another walk with Ruby.
15 March 2026
The new allotment season begins
The new allotment year is finally underway. Although we’ve visited the allotment during the winter to move manure and harvest the occasional leek, this weekend really felt like the start of the gardening season.
We began preparing the first four beds that will be planted this year. These beds will eventually be home to potatoes, onions and brassicas, although we still have one bed left to decide what to grow in.
The first job was to strim the grass around the plot. After being left since late autumn it had grown quite long, so a quick tidy up of the paths and bed edges made a big difference.
Back in October the beds were covered with weed control fabric and weighed down with a layer of manure to protect the soil over winter. Now it was time to remove the fabric and see whether the winter rain and frost had helped break down the soil.
The manure was spread over the beds and gently hoed in to improve the soil ready for planting. We also managed to harvest a few leeks and pick some daffodils before heading home. The leeks will be frozen to use later in the summer. There are also some encouraging early signs of spring around the plot.
The rhubarb is growing strongly and our jostaberry bushes are just starting to show the first hints of green. After a quiet winter, it’s exciting to see the allotment coming back to life again.
17 March 2026
Daffodils replace crocuses at Temple Newsam on Ruby’s walk.
Nostell Priory was closed due to gale force winds, so we had a walk at Temple Newsam instead. All the crocuses of the previous week had gone over to be replaced by a host of daffodils.
20 March 2026
More bed preparation but should I be sowing seeds instead?
We made the most of a lovely March afternoon at the allotment to get some more beds prepared for the start of the growing season. After being left over winter for the rain and frost to break down the soil, a crust has formed on the top of the soil. I don’t want to dig the beds as I would like to retain as much moisture as possible in the ground, just in case we get another dry summer.
22 March 2026
The National Rhubarb collection at Clumber Park, the best early varieties
We took Ruby for a walk around Clumber Park and thought it would be a good idea to have a look around the walled kitchen garden. The garden hosts the National rhubarb collection of around 130 varieties, so we decided to see what the early varieties were doing in comparison with our allotment.
24 March 2026
Spring colour in our garden
A quick look at the spring colour in our garden. The bulbs in the tubs didn’t get eaten by squirrels this year.
28 March 2026
Luckily I didn’tcut it back – plum tree survives the chainsaw over winter
Last summer, when our plum trees were laden with fruit, we had a day of gale force winds, which was too much for the trees to handle, and some branches were broken. The ones that were completely broken were sorted out last summer and I made a video of the trees being cut back.
However, I later spotted a branch that had collapsed rather than breaking off and I planned to cut it off sometime through winter. I never got to do it, though, and it’s just as well as the branch has survived winter and is now in full bloom. Perhaps we might even get some fruit off it.