Tuesday 13 March 2018

March Madness



It is the beginning of March and the February snow has now gone although there is talk of another bout soon.


The garden is just starting to recover  from the dormant winter period and the first signs of spring are here. The birds thought February was spring and with the warm spell at the beginning of the month they were out in force, then the snow came and they had to divert their efforts into finding food. Now March 13th they are back in Spring mode.

Daffs and Crocus

Cowslips


I always start Tomatoes and Peppers in February but I left them a bit later this year and the tomatoes have now sprouted along with Lettuce, Cabbage and Cauliflowers. The tomatoes are still in the conservatory, in here it is not getting below 9c at night. This will hold them back a bit until we move into April.

Tomatoes and Aubergine

The Lettuce, Cauliflower and Cabbage have been moved to the greenhouse which is not heated but because it is a lean-to, it very rarely gets below 1c at night.

Cauliflower and Cabbage 
I have sown some flowers, Marigolds, Lupins and Nasturtiums which have germinated indoors and I have moved them to the Greenhouse to slow the growth down. If you keep them indoors they get very leggy with the lack of sunlight, but moving them outside slows the growth down and they are not searching for daylight.

Marigolds at the front , Lettuce behind

Nasturtiums 
Outside the Strawberry bed was dug up and the strawberry plants sorted and thinned. They were then planted back using the strongest young plants, hopefully the crop will be a bit more consistent this year.

Last Years Lupins ready to go out

All the other beds have been cleared and fertilised ready for the new season. The fruit trees were pruned in December. I have three small blueberry bushes in the greenhouse which I repotted before Christmas, they are now starting to bud and they will be moved outside within the next month.

All the beds cleared

Blueberry