Time for something different.

Sprouting shallot

Propagating sweet potato

  I spoke to soon! No sooner had I written that the onions and shallots were not showing any signs of sprouting up they pop!
  My early crop of Little Gem lettuce that I am growing in the poly tunnel  under a cloche is having varied success. One or two have not taken and one or two have been munched! I have replace them.
  Just to amuse myself I am trying to grow sweet potato this year. The photo is on one tuber cut in half and suspended by cocktail sticks in a jam jar of water. I have placed the jars above my wood stove where it is warm so fingers crossed! It should be possible to grow them although they may only produce small tubers. Time will tell.
  This spring I have decided to create a new rhubarb bed. I will move a root from the old bed in the hope that it will transplant. I have some rhubarb seed to sow. It will be amusing to see if they grow. I have also decided to move the asparagus from the poly tunnel to the outside bed. This will fill in some gaps in the outside bed and give me back space in the poly tunnel. While moving them I found that one had started to sprout!
    On the animal front my brother in laws' Indian runner ducks have produced an egg. First one. It is also that time of year to 

Indian Runner duck egg

 start off the meat chickens. Five white meat chickens bought along with two cuckoo moran birds, hopefully both hens to add to the egg laying flock. 
  More seed sowing done. Beetroot, lettuce and a several varieties of cabbage. 
  I demolished the bonfire pile only to find a mouse in the middle of it. It must have thought is nice and warm when the fire was going!
  As I come to the end of this blog the weather has changed from sunny to drizzle. I need more dry days!

Early spuds in!

Bonnette Noirmoutier, Belle de Fontenay

   19th March and the first early potatoes are in the ground with a one third row of second earlies. Varieties: Earlies - Bonnette Noirmoutier, Second earlies - Belle de Fontenay. I have grown both of these before the Bonnette variety two years ago. The bed looked quite nice until the chickens decided that my earthed up rows were too good to not scratch flat! Chickens!
Following on from the previous I have now planted Corolle potatoes,  had a bonfire and started to mow the grass for the second time.
   In the poly tunnel I have had a couple of volunteer tomato plants which I have now put into pots. First sowing of 18 Jour radish is starting to fatten up. I have transplanted Little Gem lettuce into a poly tunnel bed and covered them with a cloche. They are small but hopefully they will pick up. Tomato seeds are starting to germinate particularly Ethel Watkins Best.
   There is still turnip-swede, cabbage and early purple sprouting in the garden. No sign of the onions or shallots sending up leaves but they are putting down roots!
    There is much to do!

Spoke too soon

  Would you believe it! The border fork that I bought for my grandson turned up. When we unwrapped it the fork was a spade! Good grief! The firm I bought it from were very good and have promised to send me a fork but it will be up to two weeks before it arrives.
   On the weather front I guess I spoke too soon. The rain has returned and the ground once more became too wet to work. Despite that I have managed to weed one bed in readiness for planting Bonnette Nouirmoutier early potatoes. These potatoes are sown in February where they originate from and are one of the earliest varieties to be harvested. I grew them a couple of years ago and their foliage is quite attractive and the potatoes are really nice.
  Once more I look back over the last week and see far too many empty days in my garden log. The major items done were to clean out the duck and chicken coops! Picked some purple sprouting which is doing rather well and cursed the chickens who have taken a fancy to scratching up my onions and shallots which I notice are putting roots down.
  As always there are lots of jobs waiting to be done and the more March marches on the longer the list gets! The grass is looking like it could do with another cut. It will need to be a drier before I can attempt that. The narcissus are a picture.

  Nothing much going on on the animal front. Chickens are being chickens although I am hopeful that egg production may be picking up (famous last words). 
   It is interesting to see how the grass has grown and how much the sheep have kept it down. In the photo the dark green is grass that has not been munched by the sheep.
   As I conclude this blog there has been a frost this morning, -2C, (Tuesday 8th March 2016) but now the sun is shinning and I must get on!