2013 Season underway!

   I have closed the book on the 2012 season and have started a new one for 2013. We continue to have meals of  everything on the plate "produced and raised at Watermeadows".  Latest has been a turkey casserole. For the 2013 season I trying out seeds from the Real Seed Company. They sell rare and unusual varieties but the main thing is they are not F1's. This means I can save seed from them for the next year and also bred my own if I want to. It will be interesting to see how the seed fair. I noticed that a good number of the seeds originated in France!
   In the outside garden the garlic are now showing and the De Milan rouge turnips have germinated. Peas and broad beans are doing well. Chou Milan looks just fantastic and the late transplanted Brussels sprouts are also putting on growth.  I fear my packet of Limousin turnip seed has past its best as the row of Limousin turnips sown at the same time as the Milan rouge ones is showing no signs of germinating. I am pulling lovely carrots that number three grandson Toby is starting to enjoy. The game with the nettles around the reed bed continues and slowly but surely it is looking better. Lots of nettle roots to dig up and fortunately they are not too hard to get up as nettles tend to have roots that do not go too far down. Trouble is there is lot of them.  I am going to have to prune my black currant bushes and as a matter of urgency there is one that is crying out to be pruned! Having returned to this posting the one black currant has now been pruned. A new battle has been engaged with the fight for who gets the strawberries under way! Two rows have been protected with netting, so chickens go hang!                       

Two strawberry beds protected by netting

This autumn/winter I am trying out a green
manure called Luzerne (or Lucerne). I have wondered about green manures over the years and have never had the opportunity or space to try it out and it so happens that I have managed to work a couple of beds so that I could try out planting a green manure. It is already germinating and I have read that chickens like it! Darn! They would, wouldn't they! 
  The grass has now grown to a point where it once more needs to be mown, however, it is too wet! Fingers crossed for a few days of warm dry weather! The grues (cranes) have been gathering overhead and that is a sure sign winter is not far away.
  In the poly tunnel I have harvested another 2.5kgs of ripe tomatoes and there are a few more that have a chance to ripen before it is too cold. All in all I have been pleased with my poly tunnel tomato crop. There are also two cauliflowers which look like they will turn into something decent.  I have managed to clean the outside of the p/t and some of the inside. What a difference! It is amazing how much dirt (soil mainly) accumulates on the roof and sides. Rain is dirty! 
 Outside work has slowed up due to the weather but the forecast is for cloud/sunshine so I am hopeful to get moving again. In the poly tunnel I am making internal draft/frost doors and not being the most handy of handy man it is so far not looking too bad!