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Wednesday 22 February 2012
Cloudy and Mild
The forecast promised rain but as so often seems to happen it never arrived here. Not that it didn’t try with spots of rain in the air for most of the day. It was enough to wet the ground at times but in all it amounted to just 0.2mm.
Hot on the heels of our snowdrops coming into flower are these miniature daffodils Tete a Tete. My picture doesn’t really give a sense of size as this variety only grows about 6” tall.
Thursday 23 February 2012
Warm for a Day
Thursday became the warmest day of the year with the temperature reaching 16.6°C (61.2°F). That’s pretty unusual for February but not a record breaker. Some locations in Yorkshire managed even higher with temperatures reaching 18°C.
The mild weather over the last few days has certainly helped with the germination of our leaf salad sown in the greenhouse. Sown on the 18th of the month the first few seeds have already germinated and pushed their first leaves through the vermiculite.
Of course there’s still plenty of time for some cold nights yet so survival of these tender young shoots is by no means guaranteed. No risk - No gain
Friday 24 February 2012
Fantazia Arrives
After a dull morning and a few early showers Friday brightened up nicely in the afternoon. It was very pleasant in the greenhouse doing some tidying up before the growing season starts in earnest.
Our Nectarine Fantazia arrived from Thompson & Morgan.This was a freebie from them as they had previously supplied a peach tree rather than a nectarine that we had ordered. Unfortunately the tree didn’t arrive in the best of condition mainly down to the time it took to deliver. Dispatched on the 16th February it didn’t arrive until the 24th and after 8 days in transit the roots were very dry.
I’ve potted the tree into a tub of compost and given it a good soaking. If I keep the compost really wet. I’m hoping that the tree is not beyond saving. Only time will tell.
Saturday 25 February 2012
Doesn’t Live up to Expectation
Saturday got off to a pleasant enough start with some early morning sunshine. The forecast was for a good weekend, weather wise, so my plan was to winter wash our fruit trees down on the plot. I really should have done this already but as long as the trees haven’t start to bud I can still give them a spray.
By lunch time the sun became much more hazy and the wind got up to almost gale force making the task of spraying trees impossible. So the spraying was put off for a less windy day and any bugs live to fight another day.
Sunday 26 February 2012
An Itsy Bitsy Spider
Sunday was a poor repeat of Saturday with a bright sunny start to the day soon disappearing to leave a dull late morning and afternoon. At least the wind had fallen light.
Mal’s blogposting about sowing broad beans reminded me it was time to get my first sowing underway. I think it’s fascinating how we all have our own tried and tested methods of doing things. Mal soaks his seeds for 24 hours, whereas for my early sowing I like to sow my seeds in cells or pots, both of us aiming to get our seeds off to the best possible start.
I’d sorted out my first tray of 15 cells ready to fill with compost when I spotted a large garden spider sitting in the bottom of one of the cells. I gave the tray a little shake expecting the spider to take fright and head for safety. This spider wasn’t that easily scared and stayed where she was.
I decided to leave her to her home comforts and use another tray. I carefully put the tray back under the staging where it had been all winter and hopefully she will take the hint and find a new home.
After that it was plain sailing, one broad bean seed to each cell before each tray was labelled. I’ve covered each tray with an old plastic cover as protection against any field mice taking a fancy to my seeds. Once they start to germinate the covers will be removed.
Monday 27 February 2012
Celery - Just!
Monday was mild and dull with some rain in the afternoon. It looks like February is going to turn out to be a dry month. I’ll have to check the condition of the soil on the plot and see if it’s dried out enough to start digging it over. It’s odd that over the last 12 months we’ve been really short of rain but that the soil on the plot is too wet to dig.
The crops we’re giving extra attention to this year are celery and celeriac. If we manage to get anything to eat off these crops it will be an improvement on our past efforts.
Our early experimental sowing has started to germinate under our indoor grow light. Now it’s all tricky decision making. How long can they remain under the light? Will they become leggy? Is it too cold for them in the greenhouse? And so on.
Tuesday 28 February 2012
Mild but Nothing Special
Tuesday continued mild but very dull without a hint of sunshine all day.
We made another one of those dangerous visits to the garden centre today to find some large pots for our newly arrived nectarine, to pot up our kiwi and for our yet to be delivered apricot. Of course we couldn’t resist the temptation of having a nose at the seeds. We’d watch Sarah Raven’s TV series trying to encourage everyone to sow wild flowers to attract beneficial insect. Some of the areas looked really pretty on TV and of course we couldn’t resist.
We’d both been thinking the same thoughts that there must be somewhere on the plot that we could incorporate a wild flower mix to encourage all those pollinating insects we need to do their stuff on the plot. After a bit of deliberating we settled on a Mediterranean Mixture and Honey Bee Flowered Mixture.
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Mild Spell Continues for Our Extra Day
Wednesday continued mild and dull.
A quick look at my weather station temperature figures shows that February has finished a little below average, the last 2 weeks of mild weather not quite offsetting the 2 very cold weeks at the start of the month. One thing for certain is that for us February has turned out to be a dry month with just 13.2mm of rainfall.
Last summer was very dry and the plot required lots of watering to keep crops growing. In the end some crops like our sweetcorn just didn’t produce due to combination of lack of water and cool summer temperatures. I’m hoping for a little more rainfall through summer this year. I might be regretting that statement by August!