Weather turns

    Seems all I do at the moment is talk about the weather. Sorry here we go again. The weather has turned sunny and warm. Delightful. About time. The garden is loving it. The soil is damp and warm and the sun is shinning. Ideal for growth, however, the downside is the grass and the ever present weeds. So, more grass cutting running around on my ride on and unfortunately having to use the push petrol mower to get to those bits I cannot reach with the ride on. Hey ho! Courgettes (round and straight) have been transplanted to an outside the poly tunnel bed, more 18Jour radish sown, Sanquine beetroot sown in modules, very small chilli plants transplanted to pots and spaghetti squash (just for a laugh) sown in modules. I have continued to take the side shoots off the Burpee tomato plant which is growing well in the poly tunnel and plant them in modules with the hope of getting more plants. The brassicas are doing well and the pointy cabbage is starting to firm up. The potatoes look good. Black fly continue to infest the broad beans but I am hopeful for a reasonable crop. A good number of my early sown beetroot has gone to seed as have the transplanted parsnip seedlings. Fortunately where I sowed parsnip seed a reasonable number have germinated much to my delight. 

   Chickens are being chickens and an average of 5.43 eggs being laid daily. A slight drop but still more eggs than we can eat!

Ripening strawberries

Egyptian walking onions

Weather dominates

    By this time of year I expect the temperatures to be in the 20c range, however, that has not been the case this May. The temperature has been in the teens and it has been damp, windy and on occassion very wet! This has meant slow germination of many seeds and in fact quite a few not germinating at all. Even so some plants have thrived in the cooler wetter condtions and I have broad beans, summer cabbage, beetroot, sweet corn, potatoes, onions, shallots all thriving. Those requiring warmer condtions, tomatoes, sweet peppers, courgettes, squash, cucumbers and chili have been slow to grow and will require a little longer to get to the point where they can be planted out. Weather forecast for this week (23-29th May) looks promising with the temperature being the mid twenties centigrade by the end of the week.

   In my frustration of not being able to get stuff planted out I have planted out some tomato plants that I sowed early in the year and for reasons known only to the tomato seed actually germinated and thrived in the cooler condtions. Also a few sweet pepper plants given to me that really were asking to go out. Hopefully they will produce whereas I think the ones I have sown I will be fortunate to  get anything. One can tell the season is moving on as I have sown winter cabbage in modules (variety Milan - a savoy type) and the swede has germinated in the poly tunnel. More weeding, more grass cutting it seems to never end at this time of year. I have decided to join two of my smaller beds together by digging up the path between them. I have pulled rhubarb (making a delicious rhubarb crumble) and dug up beetroot which I have cooked and pickled in malt vinegar. My new no dig strawberry bed is doing well with the plants having lots of flowers and there are some strawberries ready to ripen. Who is going to get to them first? Me, chickens or slugs! 

   The chickens are being chickens and there have not been anymore losses to the fox thank goodness. Average daily lay this week is 5.86 eggs a slight increase on last week but for us good enough!

Golden Bantam sweet corn

Starting to joing two beds

Busy week...

   The weather has been reasonable this week. Some wind, showers and dry periods. I have been able to get out into the garden and I have worked in the poly tunnel and outside. Re-sowing has been pretty much the order of the day. In the poly tunnel Early Purple sprouting, Kohl Rabi, Rooderf and Evesham special Brussels sprouts and Greyhound cabbage sowed. In modules I have sowed Champion Red Top Swede and Di Jesi cauliflower. Also I sowed Loofah seeds in large pots (first time for these!) and transplanted some Auroa bush, Jens Orange/Noir Crimee tomatoes, mixed basil and 5 Dessert melon to pots. Out side I weeded the Touchon carrots which at last are germinating so I sowed a succession row. One never knows one year this may work! Auroa bush tomatoes were transplanted from pots to the small Hugelkultur bed more to see how they do than anything else. The area for the sweet corn seedlings has been forked, weeded and raked and seedlings transplanted while dodging rain showers! Oh did I not mention mowing the grass?

  On the chicken front I am sorry to have to report that the broody hen and her ten eggs were taken by probably a fox during the week. What surprised me was that the critter took the eggs and not a sign of a shell or their contents. Other than that life for the chickens continues as usual with an average of 5.71 eggs laid per day this week. More than we can cope with!

Great Lakes lettuce in the poly tunnel

Seedling and transplanted plants in the poly tunnel fleece clouche

Chili

Broad beans

It grows while I watch it

       The grass grows while one watches it! It is that time of year when air warms up, the soil warms up and a little bit (or even a lot!) of rain and off the grass goes!! Man! So, yes, mowed grass this last week and of course a fair amount of weeding! They grow well too in these conditions. I have been cutting asparagus. Not massive amounts but enough for a couple of breakfasts with a fresh boiled egg!

   I took the opportunity to buy a few more Marie de Bois strawberry plants and added those to the strawberry bed. It is almost full! I probably need another twelve plants which I ought to get later in the year from runners coming off established plants. Sweet peppers transplanted to pots, aubergines transplanted to an outside bed and various tomato seedlings transplanted to pots. The first early and second early potatoes are well under way and I noticed that the main crop, Desiree, are starting to show. No broad beans yet but there are signs with small pods showing. The peas and mangtout are going well. Various seeds germinating in the poly tunnel! Its all go!

   On the chicken front I am please to announce that one of the hens has gone broody this last week and is now sitting on ten eggs. Fingers crossed! Coops cleaned out and the average number of eggs this week is 6.29 a little up on last week.

Early potato bed

Garlic and onion beds

The dip

   The previous owners of my property kept weather records which I also carried on doing for a good number of years. They recognised that in our little micro climate we get a dip in the temperature at the start of May. This week end has seen that dip again although this year no frost. The approach of these couple of days I have to ensure any sprouting potatoes covered up and it can be a challange to find enough dirt! Lol.

    So what has been happening this week? The early purple sprouting has been removed and the ground they occupied weeded and forked ready for sowing probably haricot vert. One of the onion/shallot beds, a big one, was weeded. Greyhound cabbage sown in the poly tunnel have been transplanted to the brassica bed to join the french variety Poet ones. Both are a "pointy" summer cabbage. Mangtout is up and the peas are starting to climb! The initial sowing of early purple spouting, Great Lakes lettuce, Di Jesi cauliflower and Evesham special Brussels sprouts failed and I have resown outside the poly tunnel. Fingers crossed! Champ Jens Orange and Champ Noire Crimee tomato seed sown in the poly tunnel also failed. I have resown using a propagator module and am hoping that it is not the seed that are past their best! The most successful tomato this year has been the Auroa bush tomato. Looks like I will see lots of bush tomatoes in the garden this season. Blackwater Mountain water melon have been a propagator success and I have many now in pots in the poly tunnel. Being in the poly tunnel will slow them up. The sweet corn sown last week in modules in the poly tunnel are already up.

   Due to the fact that chicken love to scrabble in piles of dirt I have shut my main flock in. They still have a large area to explore etc. This is because I know they will demolish my efforts at covering up the potatoes. It will only be for a few days until we get past the last threat of frost and I am happy to let them out. Egg production slightly down, average of 5.86 eggs a day this week.

Potatoes starting to show