Gardening at Champeau de Bas

  It has been a busy week. Lots of forking and weeding of the vegetable beds, tidying up the front garden of the house and lots and lots of seed sowing and transplanting. Over 130 tomato plants transplanted with still more to do. They are Golden Sunrise, Moneymaker, Roma and Couer de Beef. The slow coaches are a bush variety call Vilma. Finally planted out the peas in loo rolls and also sowed a some Early Onward pea seed. Fingers crossed, chickens and mice willing I might get some peas this year! The rhubarb has thrust it way through and is noticeably growing every day. I dumped a load of manure on it last autumn and am hopeful for an improved crop this year. Leaf buds on the black currants and gooseberry's are breaking. Apple and cherry buds are swollen but no signs of bud burst yet. It cannot be long for the cherries.

Transplanted tomato plants

  First lawn mowing of the year done. This task has been made a lot easier by having had the lawn mower serviced and the blade sharpened. I created a new compost heap after reading an article on the internet (where else?) of layered leaves and grass cuttings. It would seem the leaves help to compost the grass. We will see!


  The weather has been very good this week. Warm and sunny only to be broken on Saturday by clouds and then rain overnight.


Poly Tunnel update
Broad beans have germinated and are growing daily.
Transplanted Parsly Mossed Curled - I happened to have some plants in a pot that I had sowed at the back end of the autumn and had survived the freeze.
Sowed leeks, corriander and spring onions.
All other plants continue to grow, grow, grow! The celeriac and purple sprouting have now been removed. It was unfortunate that most of the celeriac was frost damaged. I will be growing these outdoors this year.


  On the sheep front our two lambs turned out to be twins after all. Mrs Sheep gave birth to a male lamb and rejected it. My daughter has been bottle feeding it and busy working out how to hand rear it, however, the lamb is thriving on her care and attention.