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Wednesday 21 March 2012
A Surprise Find
Just some very nice late afternoon sunshine after a mostly cloudy day. There was no breeze so it felt very mild in the sunshine.
Last year on the plot we decided it was time to renovate our old strawberry beds. As the strawberries had been planted in March 2008 the plants had become overgrown with weeds. Drastic action was required and we decided to clear the strawberries and start a new strawberry bed.
This was the state of the beds last autumn with the strawberries cleared. The ground was like concrete and trying to remove weeds was impossible. The beds eventually got very roughly turned over and the left for the winter frosts and rain to do their work.
The dry start to the year has left the soil in excellent condition for digging or rather cultivating. It’s not too wet and dry enough to break up into good friable soil. So I made the most of the good weather clearing out as many weeds before running the cultivator through the beds. Whilst breaking up one clod of soil infested with couch grass I was surprise to find this newt curled up inside.
It was moved to another part of the plot well away from any harmful cultivator tines.
Once cultivated the 3 beds looked in good condition and ready for planting with some early potatoes in a couple of weeks time.
Thursday 22 March 2012
Promise of Grapes
Thursday continued the spell of fine weather with another sunny and mild day. It looks like this weather will continue over the weekend and in to next week.
In the greenhouse our grape vine is just starting into bud. As the tiny buds start to open it’s hard to image the rather uncontrollable vine it will become by the middle of summer as it threatens to take over the greenhouse.
Saturday 31 March 2012
Glorious Scotland
We returned home on Saturday after a fabulous week on holiday in Scotland at Fort Augustus on the shore of Loch Ness. We departed wondering just how cold and wet Scotland, especially the Highlands, might be at the end of March. We got record breaking temperatures for March and lots of sunshine. The farthest north we got was Inverness at the northern tip of Loch Ness on a gloriously sunny afternoon with the temperature reaching 21°C.
We were very lucky to get such a fantastic week in Northern Scotland in March. The locals were talking of snow being forecast for Monday next week. I think we may have been spoilt by the sunny mild weather!