Darn the grass!

Toasted buttered English muffin, asparagus and poached egg

Well all I can say is "Damn the grass!" It is that time of year where the grass grows almost as quickly as you can cut it. Now both of my mowers are out of action and I need to cut the grass!

  The weather has been really good. A couple of days of hot beautiful 

Early purple sprouting and savoy type cabbage

sunshine with others a little overcast but warm and very pleasant. Lots of blossom on the apple trees.

Lots of jobs done, lots of jobs still to do! As the picture shows the first asparagus has

Parsnips Jersey Royal

been cut and eaten! Lots more coming on but a cooling of the weather slowed it up. Even thought it is spring thoughts already turn to autumn and winter vegetables. Early purple sprouting and Piacenza savoy type cabbage have been planted out and the two small rows of parsnips look well established. The potatoes are now coming through and among the evening tasks is earthing up to protect from any frost. Frost is possible till the middle of May in this part of France. I have also transplanted beetroot to an outside bed and I need to transplant the spouts as soon as possible.  Once more I am trying to grow my own leeks from seed and I have sowed a couple of small rows in an outside bed rather than in the poly tunnel. We shall see! Inside the poly tunnel we are pulling radish and lettuce. I have been transplanting tomatoes and I have getting on for eighty or ninety done. Still more to do!  More weeding and forking done, more grass cutting until my mowers broke! Yes, mowers. Both my normal petrol mower and my bush whacker are in need of some loving care. 

Our two lambs (so far)

   On the animal front another lamb has been born, another ewe. The female runner duck still has a dickey leg and our Buffy hen got abused by the Ixworth coq and is now being kept away from him while she recovers. Hopefully she will be fine. Egg production is an average of four a day. Not excellent but is meeting our requirements. Four new point of lay hens have been ordered. My daughter Sophie has taken it upon herself to try and hatch out some Ixworth eggs and has a dozen in an incubator. I guess we will now find out whether or not Mr Ixworth is firing blank shots or not!