Its going wild and .....

   The weather has been ideal for the garden. Warm and wet. Everything is growing including the weeds. This will be the last blog for at least four weeks. I am taking a trip with my best mate to New Zealand to see the British Lions rugby union tests. Bit of a trip of a life time. So what have I been up to? Planting out more lettuce, tying up tomatoes which are doing really well, weeding (always!), transplanting vegetable spaghetti and finally pruning the vine! You will note that grass cutting is not in the list. I should have. I know I should have but I did not get to it. It is going to be a jungle when I get back! Just for fun I counted up the number of different plants I have in the vegetable garden including multiple varieties of tomato and potatoes and the total came out at fifty six. My small sowing of broad beans has produced a worthwhile crop and I have had several helpings of nice young beans and parsley sauce.
   On the animal front we finally got to finish the shearing of the sheep for this year.  Two ewe lambs have also been born and the flock has made a few attempts at trying to get into areas they are not supposed to. The female duck continues to lay and all three really enjoy the pond when the water is changed. On the chicken front we lost a Limousin chicken to fly strike, not a nice way to go. She died as I was trying to clean her up. Guess it was just too much for her. Our broody hen, Mrs Chick, failed to hatch any of her eggs. Not really surprised, however, another hen, Mrs Sussex, is now sat on a batch of eggs. When she gets to her hatching time we are going to introduce some day old chicks.
  Well that is it for now. Back in four weeks!

Steady as she goes!

  New arrival! First lamb to be born this year. Ewe and lamb doing just fine. We are now in the middle of shearing our Ouessant sheep. This ewe gave birth the day after she was sheared!
   In the garden the never ending round of tying up tomatoes, weeding, grass cutting, edge cutting, transplanting and cursing chickens continues. Added to this mix were sheep! The little blighters broke down a gate and got into the garden The worse damage they did was to eat three out of five of my celeriac plants and they ate all the tops off the carrots not to mention leaving foot prints over the beds! Could have been worse. The best thing they did was eat the weeds around the apple trees. First picking of broad beans has been done. Very nice they were too with a bit of parsley sauce. I have been fighting the Ambassador peas. They are not germinating well, least that is what I think. Could be mice I suppose but I am having to resow into gaps. The mangetout which is next door to the peas is doing just fine! I have now transplanted 5 dessert melon plants into an outside the poly tunnel bed. It will be interesting to see how they do. I also transplanted Provence thyme plants and should have a nice bed of thyme in time (pun?). Where allowed to by chickens and sheep vegetables are more or less growing well. It looks like being another disappointing season for the Gigante runner beans. Potatoes are thriving! Sprouts are thriving . Never grown sprout plants like them. Still a long way to go though. Parsnips and summer cabbage looks good as do the next lot of lettuce and the beetroot. Outdoor tomatoes are looking better than the ones in the poly tunnel! Now that is a turn up for the book!
  On the chicken front we now have two broody hens both sitting on eggs. Mrs Chick if she is going to hatch any it should have happened by the next blog. Mrs Sussex has only just started so she has a few weeks to go.

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!

   Oh boy! So much to do, so little time to do it in. I am off to see the Lions play in New Zealand in nineteen days time and I need to leave the vegetable garden in a reasonable state otherwise it will be just one mass of weeds! So, I have to get on top of the weeding and stay on top until I depart!

Beetroot

Tomato set in the poly tunnel

   Vegetable spaghetti. Tried to grown it in the UK a number of years ago without success. As I was given the seed by my youngest grand daughter I thought it was beholding on me to try again! Seed sown, germinated and three leaves all within a week. Scary. "5 Dessert " melons sown to pots and they are up also. Wautoma cucumber transplanted to an outside the poly tunnel bed. These are an American style cucumber which does well outside. "8 ball" courgette transplanted and are well now well established. They are a round variety. The remaining Nigel's Outdoor green chili and Basque chili plants have been transplanted outside the poly tunnel. I bought some polish seeds, yes polish, and discovered that they were a type of chive. I have also sown more lettuce, butternut squash Sank Martyn pumpkin and Justnyka pumpkin directly outside. Transplanted Blacktail Mountain water melon to my prepared melon bed. More carrots, more spring onions and haricot buerre sown! Its go, go, go. Grass cut, tomatoes tied up. In the poly tunnel Marketmore cucumbers have been transplanted to a bed. Of course grass has been cut and weed weed weed!

    On the animal front we have finally got around to starting to shear the sheep. Always fun and games. Mrs Chick continues to sit on her eggs and fingers crossed we may get some chicks.