Saturday 30 April 2016

Always a chance...

   Frost! There have been several mornings of quite severe frost this last week. As it happened I shuffled around the potato patches and covered up those that were beginning to show. Unfortunately some of them still got caught. Such is the risk one takes planting them early. In my area frosts are possible until mid May. I have taken a chance and planted out some iceberg type lettuce in an outside the poly tunnel bed and covered them up with plastic bottles with the bottoms cut off. This should be enough to protect them. I have thinned out the two parsnip rows and transplanted some winter savoy type cabbage which I have covered with cloches.
Parsnips and prepared cabbage patch
    The first two spurs of asparagus has been cut with plenty more to come. They were eaten with a dippy egg and brown toast soldiers!
First asparagus of 2016
   In the poly tunnel I have top dressed half of the long bed with well rotted chicken manure and planted out four "volunteer" tomato plants. I am taking a chance with these as frost could still get them even in the poly tunnel. They are volunteer tomatoes because I do not have the faintest idea what variety they are. I have also planted out summer cabbage in the poly tunnel in the hope of a quick crop (Baccalan de Renne and Predouce Louvier both successful in the poly tunnel last year).  I had to resow the coriander as I believe the seed was not any good, however, it may also be that the soil was not warm enough.  I have transplanted beetroot, grown in modules to the poly tunnel long bed. More tomatoes transplanted to pots, this time Galina and Milfleur.  I have sown Wautoma and La Diva cucumbers which now makes three varieties of cucumber sown!
  Of course the grass was mowed again and more forking and weeding done in preparation for the sowing of peas and haricot vert.
   On the animal front the duck continues to lay, the chickens are laying well and the sheep, well, are being sheep. No more lambs yet! Oh yes as I sit here typing up this blog it is raining again.
  

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