Quack! Quack! Quack!

   The weather continues to be miserable. Rain, rain, rain. The ground is waterlogged and impossible to work. The grass is in need of cutting and the weeds are catching up on me! I think it is even too wet for ducks! I fear I have lost one of my trees that I planted last year. The quince has shown no sign of life and I would have thought by now it would be in bud at least. All the other apple trees I planted are in blossom or close to it. There is a concern that with the wet and cloudy weather that the trees will not get pollinated as the bees are very reluctant to fly in this weather.

Apple Blossom

Tumble and Moneymaker tomatoes

   In the poly tunnel plants are growing on. I have transplanted celeriac, lettuce, chicory and butternut squash. Radishes continue to be pulled and salad bowl lettuce picked. I now have a couple of De Merville lettuce that can be harvested when needed. Tomato plants are thriving and in fact some probably could do with planting out but of course the ground is far too wet. I have a number of Celtic cabbage growing in the poly tunnel. They are massive and are very slow to heart up. They are a winter variety planted late but I am sure they will eventually make it! Kohl Rabi in the tunnel is ready to harvest and I am pestering my daughter to use them before they get too big.

   Outside rhubarb is ready to pull and I am thinking about cooking the first rhubarb crumble of the year. The Early Onward peas are now getting very close to when they need sticks to support them and that means uncovering them. Will the chickens leave them alone I wonder? Potatoes are sprouting all over the place! Bumble bees are flying amongst the broad beans, dodging in and out of each small flower. They are almost as big as the broad bean flower. The herbs are excellent with curled parsley, thyme (lemon and common), golden oregano, bolls mint, blue sage and lemon balm all having a vibrant colour and looking a picture. I have a desperate need to plant out a collection of borrage plants in a reclaimed border but the wet weather is holding that back. I may just have to get on with it rain or no rain!

Golden Oregano - from a cutting taken in 2011

Too much like England!

  Well, once more time slips away. I had not realised that it is two weeks since I last posted. The weather over the last two weeks has been a typically English spring. Cool with rain showers but in La Creuse throw in a 5 to 25km wind! There has been the odd showing of the sun but nothing like what I was hoping for. Still, the weeds and the grass like it.
  In the outside garden much has gone on. Potatoes are showing but the chickens have taken a fancy to the beds they are in and are causing havoc in places. A row of Evesham Special brussel sprouts under the cover of fleece has been planted out with a couple of left over Golden Primo. I must get into the habit of throwing these left over plants away instead of trying to find a space for them. My peas are still covered up and the chickens have shown also shown interest but fortunately have not been able to get past the covers. These birds are persistent! I have risked sowing a row of Borlotti beans and Haricot Vert. It is a gamble but hey the dice may land in my favour though I think that this spring will have nature getting the better of me. The asparagus has not been as good as I was hoping but at least some of it has survived and fingers crossed will improve over the years. I planted some herbaceous perennials into a border in the house garden that had been taken from a remade herbaceous border in the large garden which had survived being divided and left in pile over the winter and were starting to grow! These hardy plants are big enough clumps to defeat the scratching chickens!
  In the poly tunnel it is all go. It is nice to be working in the warm poly tunnel out of the wind and rain showers. Melons are up and today (Sunday 22nd April) I noticed that celery had germinated. Some cabbage (Golden Primo, All the Year Round cauliflower) planted out. Lost a couple of sweet corn plants to frost along with a couple of tomato plants. Strange how one plant can be frosted yet the one next to it is completely untouched. I wonder if it is the condensation dripping from the roof in the early morning? Melons have germinated and butternut squash is growing away. I noticed that shallot seeds has finally germinated and the onions grown from seed are looking good. The third lot of 18 Day radish are up and the second sowing is ready to pull. Hopefully I am getting into this succession lark! I have salad bowl lettuce that can be picked and a couple of De Merville lettuce all but ready to pick with Batavia Reine Glace following up. Herb cuttings (Golden Oregeno, Blue Sage) have been transplanted to larger pots. The Oregano particularly have excellent root systems already. I lost all but one of my Rosemary bushes to the winter weather and I have bought a new bush from which I have taken some cuttings. The apple trees continue to blossom and the later varieties now have buds on them.
 We have five lambs now and all are doing well. Socks, the lamb who was rejected by his birth mother, is doing fine and has been accepted by the other ewes and lambs. He is still being bottle fed. A Great Tit has been spotted gathering chicken feathers for its nest. Spring moves along at a gathering pace.
   I now need a couple of dryish days to allow me to cut the grass. I was on top of it but it is starting to get on the long side and needs doing. I hope by the next post to have done that.
Well, that sums up some of the work I have been doing over the last couple of weeks. I am sure there is more I missed but I hope it gives you a flavour of how busy it.

Pause for breath......no way!

    Well, another week has slipped by! It has been another pleasant week in La Creuse, mostly sunshine with the odd cloudy morning and a little (I mean LITTLE) overnight rain.
    Its all grow grow grow. The potatoes, which were planted just over two weeks ago, are already showing and I am having to patrol the beds morning and evening covering up those leaves that show themselves. In the outside garden a row of parsnips has been sown, some brussels sprouts and golden primo transplanted just to try to get ahead of the game later in the year. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. I am resisting sowing too much in the outside garden as there can be late frosts. Peas! Have I broken the curse of the peas? Maybe. I now have a row of germinated Early Onward peas all covered up to keep the chickens off and protect from any possible frost. I will nurture them! The newly planted apple trees have come out in blossom so I am well pleased about that. The biggest completed job this week has been to have dug and manured a reasonable sized bed. Yes, bit late to manure maybe, but I am planning to plant sweet corn and things like squashes so I do not think it will matter that much. Our large lavender bed was very badly affected by the cold winter weather and I believe we will have lost a lot of the plants. Some are showing signs of recovery but they will not be the glorious display that they were last year and I may even give up on them. Lawn mowing is becoming a regular chore and will continue to be so unless there is a prolonged dry spell.
    In the poly tunnel watering has started. I have transplanted Little Gem and chicory, replanted cucumbers which failed to germinated as it was too cold, transplanted sweet peppers and sowed some celery! I have harvested x2 cauliflowers which were grown over the winter and of course radishes. Well pleased with both of those. The F1 Celtic cabbage is taking over. There are only four of them but the leaves are enormous and the plants are just about showing signs of turning in. Kohl Rabi is slowly but surely getting there and Sweetheart melon seeds have germinated but only two out of six so I have resown four more and already one has shown. I need four to six for my melon bed. Celeriac has germinated. Tomatoes are thriving. The lettuce is doing well but I could do with it now! I should be picking red salad bowl lettuce leaves this week. About time too what with the price of lettuce in the shops here at about £1:25p a head.
    I guess that sums it up for last week. I am sure next week will be just as busy. I am thinking about sowing an early row of haricot vert but I am wary of the possibility of a frost. Hey ho, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I must check last years garden log and see when I planted the first haricots to see if I am being a little too adventurous and I need to check on my succession sowing! Boysoboysoboys!