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

The New Year has Arrived

It is late February and just as you think about the new growing season this happens. Snow and freezing weather forecast.

Indoors I have lettuce, Cauliflowers , Savoy cabbage, Marigolds and Natsturtians in cells. The Marigolds, Cauliflower and Cabbages have sprouted.

There are Leeks sown in the greenhouse which are not showing yet. The Blueberries are starting to bud.

Today the plan was to sow Tomatoes and Peppers indoors. Well despite the weather I think I shall go ahead. However I am a bit worried about the Romesco Cauliflowers because I have sown all the seeds and I cannot afford to lose more than a couple and they are all a bit leggy.

October is here

October has arrived and I appear to have missed September, so to recap quickly. September is the month when a lot has finished or just coming to the end. 

The Pumpkins ripened and have now been give;to the grandchildren. Our butternut squash have been picked and have ripened. We had 8 this year and there are only 4 left so next year they get an extra bed.

The courgettes were hanging on but by late September they were not really growin so I harvested what I could and dug up the rest. This year I picked 104 apples from our young trees, these are in the green house on racks ready to fill the fruit bowl while the ones with bruises are used for Rambo our pony.

I still have leeks, carrots and Swiss chard growing as well as the brassicas, cauliflower,cabbage, Curly Kale and sprouts. The sprouts are non existent and will go to the chickens. They are still under nets but I think I am safe to put the nets away now the butterflies have gone.

The strawberry bed needs sorting out and once the leaves have died back I will be able to see how crowded it is and thin the plants out. 

Next year I am cutting back on the varieties I grow. Peas, field beans and broadbeans will be given the heave ho because of the space they take for the crop they produce. Next year more butternut squash and another squash variety because they keep well and they all get used. Beetroot, lettuce, chard, carrots and leeks are still in the plans as well as pumpkins for the kids. Courgettes are planned but the Crystal lemon cucumbers have gone. They were productive but only Sue ate them.

I will grow two new varieties of sweet peppers but the Chillis will be missed off because we have bags of them frozen from this year. Two types of tomato are planned, tigerella as the main crop and some tumblers for three baskets. This year we just had too many, froze them, gave them away etc.

Producing lots more

We have been away and we have come back to Tomatoes,ripe and ready to pick. The yellow courgettes have slowed a bit but last week we had a couple of yellow marrows and this week we have some more normal sized ones to cut.

There are still Beetroot ready and the first carrots were pulled up today. The potato tubs were emptied last week, there was not many but enough for a couple of meals per tub. Swiss Chard is still producing and the Leeks are looking good for this time of year.

The Pumpkins are about 10" across but still green and growing, I have three so the grandchildren can have one each. The butternut squash is doing better than last year , I have quite a few and some are nearly at full size as seen in Lidl. I am growing Crystal Lemon Cucumbers again this year but outside and they are producing lots of round yellow fruits.

The apples on the trees are starting to swell and it looks like a good crop again this year.

Mild weather still here for a few days

I went outside this evening to look for the Super Moon but the clouds obscured it tonight. The temperature was 13.5c outside but rain and cold weather is forecast for later in the week.
The lawns are again covered with leaves which is a job for this week, plus the chickens need cleaning.
The weather has really fooled a lot of the plants, the nasturtiums are still growing, the strawberries had a few flowers last week which have now turned to fruit, and this is despite cutting them all back in September.