Technology is great when it works!

    My apologies for the delayed blog. I went to the UK for week to see my youngest daughter, her hubby and my two grand daughters and came back to discover that my Internet connection had failed. Well it ought to have been a quick fix but unfortunately the engineer appointment was made and he tried to contact me on my mobile! I have no mobile signal so a rearranged appointment had to be made and that was another week gone by. Oh well all is good now.

    I have been working hard in the vegetable garden. Of course that includes mowing the 

grass. Mostly weeding but a good deal of transplanting as well.

Marketmore cucumbers and Noiree Crimea tomatoes.

Early purple sprouting plants

   So the last blog was the 5th May. For the time of year the weather has been cool and damp. Grand growing weather but not what we expect. Usually the average temperature is in the 20C region. Not this year. Good for the garden, cool but warm with a little but frequent rain.  What tomatoes I had and that was not many have been transplanted within the poly tunnel and also a few outside. There are a few more to follow but no where as many as I usually have. Started to pull lettuce from the poly tunnel, Batavia Blonde, plants bought from the local market. Marketmore cucumbers transplanted and I have some Wautoma to go outside when they are a little bigger. One issue I have with this type of weather is everything grows! Plants, weeds and grass! So lots of weeding done and as I write this there is still more to do! Never ends to be honest. Generic cauliflowers (no name on the label!) bought from the local market and transplanted to my brassica bed. This bed has had manure on it over the winter and as I prepare it for plants I add lime and 10:10:10 fertilizer. That should make them grow! 

Rhubarb

   The asparagus has finally started to produce. Seems late to me. Melons and squash plants (Crown Prince, Long Island Cheese, Kuri, American Tonda). transplanted to what has become their usual beds. I have sown some melon seed in the poly tunnel this year just to see how it does. Broad beans are all but ready to pick. Crop looks a little disappointing as I think it was a little cool for the plants to be pollinated.
   On the animal front all the chickens continue to thrive and the sheep are needing to be sheared! Looks like the next week is going to be hot with temperatures in the upper 20C.

Middle Great Lakes lettuce Right Mange toute

Pointy cabbage!

Early purple sprouting transplanted

x4 Great Lakes lettuce in the poly tunnel

1st Early potatoes Anoe about to flower

  

Charentais cantaloupe melon

Busy busy busy!

Desiree main crop potatoes

Various squash varieties in my poly tunnelf

   A gift of a rhubarb root that was destined to be thrown away has sprouted leaves. It is amazing how resilient plants can be. So what have I been up to? Well, of course, the usual grass mowing and weeding neither of which I am able to get on top of at this time of year! It is a merry go round of mowing and weeding! More lettuce pulled from the poly tunnel, very nice too! First sowing of haricot vert made and I discovered much to my pleasure a french    equivalent to White Lisbon spring onions. A row has been sowed. My planned cabbage patch has been primed with agricultural lime and variety Cabus (bit like Greyhound cabbage, pointy!) bought at the local marked planted out. As the year progresses then late summer and winter varieties will be also planted in this bed. Looking forward to cabbage. It is so expensive here. More Touchon carrot sown. Blooming chickens have been having a fine time scratching up my rows of carefully sown beetroot and carrot! Weeded and started to prepare another bed for more carrots and beetroot. This bed had some of last years salsify growing in it so I have transplanted those and I will see what happens. I discovered that I had not sown any basil yet this year and found that I did not have any seed! Bought a french variety, Marseillais, which I had not realised until I looked it up that it is a miniature basil ideal for growing in pots and very fragrant apparently.
   On the animal front the sheep are now needing to be sheared. On the chicken front Mrs Buffy sits tight on her eight eggs, her Ixworth chick is growing as are the two still over at my daughters under a brooding lamp.
  So on we go!