The weather is gradually improving with some spells of sunshine lifting the mood. The rain hasn’t totally left the stage and continues to have a co-starring role.
The first potatoes are through so fingers crossed that we don’t have a late frost.
We’ve managed more tidying and tilling at the allotment but nothing was actually photo-worthy but we have posted a video tour of our plot here.
On Sunday we spent a full day at the allotment. We fed and mulched the strawberry beds in the morning.
In the afternoon we planted the chitted parsnip seedlings. We have chitted various seeds on damp sheets of kitchen roll. The containers were placed in plastic bags and germinated in the house. Most chitted seeds were planted and grown on in the greenhouse. Once the parsnip seeds had grown roots they were planted in drills of compost at the plot. This method was very successful last year and produced our best ever crop.
Martyn also posted a video of the state of play in our greenhouse here.
We paid our weekly visit to Temple Newsam where the azaleas are now providing lots of colour. Rhododendron flowers are gradually building on the colour scheme.
For a few weeks now we’ve intended to spend a day at Thorpe Perrow Arboretum but the weather prevented us from making the trip. The arboretum is in Bedale on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales and is just over an hour’s drive from home. When we arrived the sun was shining and it was warm enough for us to contemplate leaving fleeces in the car but a few gusts of wind changed our minds. Our walk around confirmed that we were wise not to have visited earlier as some areas were still muddy. I came away with an abundance of photos some of which I have used below.
If you would like a better look around Martyn has posted a video here.
Of course, there were the obligatory drifts of bluebells. A mass planting of camassias was mistaken for bluebells until we were closer.
As well as the more formally planted borders there were areas populated by wild flowers.
There were several resident swans and one individual preferred to curl up on the pathway. It was unperturbed by dogs passing close by. We kept Ruby well away for her own safety. Once we had passed, it roused itself and decided to follow us.
It was all very new for Ruby and all the sniffing, exploring and dashing around tired her out so 0n the way home she curled up in the car and snoozed.
A couple of last week’s meals used our home-grown vegetables.
The first was a chicken rice and vegetable dish into which some of our frozen peas and French beans went.
Onion and frozen parsnip were used to make a vegetable abd lentil casserole.
That’s all for this week so as always keep safe and well.
Temple Newsam and the arboretum look beautiful – a lovely time of year to see all that fresh clean growth.
Thanks for reminding me about chitting parsnip seeds.
Good luck with the parsnips, Belinda
Nice to see the weather on the turn, there’s some warmth in the sunshine. Have a great week
Last week was very summery here, Steve
I thought about planting potatoes this weekend. Good thing I didn’t as it is supposed to snow tonight. Yours have a great start. I may have to try and start seeds that way. Those orange flowers are beautiful. We are barely starting to green up here, so I appreciate your pictures.
Snow wow. You do have some weather to contend with Bonnie We grind to a halt after a dusting