Sunshine and rain, sunshine and ....

   What can I say? The weather has been perfect really. Increasing temperatures, April showers and some heavy rain to refill the water butts. All in all grand growing weather which means....yes you guessed it! Mowing grass. Well after the disaster of my bush whacker dieing on me much to my surprise I managed to get my old petrol mower going. Just in time too! The grass was getting a little long and you could almost see it growing!! Well it is now cut but of course it took two sessionis to completet the whole lot and of course by the time it was all done where I had started from was starting to look like it could do with another cut! 
   So lots to write about. All potatoes are growing well and I am keeping my eye on the over night temperatures. Mid May is last frost date so it is possible that frost could strike. The garlic is looking real good so fingers crossed for a good crop. Onions and shallots doing well but my first sowing of broad beans which were looking so good for so long are now a sorry state. Badly affected by rust the crop I am likely to get will be light. The second sowing does look good and I am hopeful for a decent crop. Lettuce is now being cut from the poly tunnel. The first summer cabbage have been transplanted to an outside bed and are being kept snug under bottom cut off plastic water bottles. The purple sprouting has now been removed and the bed they were in prepared for sowing haricot beans of one sort and another and probably more mange tout. The first sowing of peas and mange tout are now showing. Small round carrots sowed in and out of the poly tunnel and more mossed curled parsley as the first lot failed to germinate. After a conversation with my daughter I have sowed Kohl Rabi in the poly tunnel. The chickens managed to destroy a row of french spring onions so they have been resown.
   The chickens continue to lay well and Mrs. BuffyCross is still sat tight on her eggs. As we head for May spring is well sprung with the haw thorn now is flower and the meadow grass at knee height.
   My daughter and her friend harvested a "super" of honey from the bee hive which produced sixteen 370g jars of honey and that was without really trying to extract the honey. It is a dark colour proably caused by the wonderful crop of blackberries we had back in the autumn of 2019.

16 Jars of home produced honey

Scrapping of the caps