The pace quickens!

   In my last blog I mentioned my onion and shallot sets. They have now rooted and a few of the shallots are showing green leaves. The onion sets are now well rooted and beyond the

First shallot leaves

ability of the chickens to scratch them out.       With the drier weather I was able to get on with some weeding and have weeded this years parsnip and carrot plot. Parsnips have been sown more with a  wing and a prayer and fingers crossed than anything! 

     Round 2 of mowing the grass completed and round 3 has started. Yes, everything is growing and it will not be long and it will be growing madly!

     I mentioned the availability of bean poles in my last blog. I finally went and got some, least enough for the Gigante Greek runner beans when they are ready to plant.

    In the poly tunnel I have thinned out the red salad bowl and salad endive transplanting some of the thinned plants. I have chopped another third of the coriander which is growing very well. My plan is to have one third being picked, one third growing and one third cut. Mice and men come to mind. First batch of twenty two Ethel Watkins Best tomato plants have been transplanted to pots. Other varieties sown in half seed trays have germinated and are well established but not yet big enough to transplant. More sowing done. This time Precoce de Louvier and Baccalan de Renne cabbage. Both did well last year. More radish also sown to try to keep a succession going (what was that about mice and men again?). The lettuce that was sown into pots has also germinated so hopefully (yes, mice and men again) they will follow on from my bought plants which are now well settled and growing.

   So despite the return of wet and cool conditions I am feeling like I am more or less on schedule. Tomato plants are behind my usual time frame but in previous years I did sow them very early. 

   Outside of the gardening front our first lamb of 2015 was born on the 25th March and our first batch of six "meat" chickens have been obtained and are settling in.

So much change in a week

    A week ago I was saying how wet it was and how saturated the ground was. Since then week there has been sunshine and warmth. The ground has become workable and yes, it has started again, I have mowed the grass. 
   I have managed to complete the preparation of the onion bed and planted the Sturon onion sets. The chickens took a look at the disturbed ground and promptly scrapped up half a row. To discourage them I have put netting over the onions which seems to be working for now!
   Probably the last one of this winter. I lit a bonfire and now have a nice pile of ashes for my bean trench. 

   I have been busy sowing seed into trays and modules and putting them into the poly tunnel fleece - Nigel's outdoor chili, Reine Des Glaces and Jack Ice lettuce, sweet peppers - Orange Bell, Sweet Chocolate, Amanda and California Wonder. In the poly tunnel red salad bowl and Little Gem lettuce is  growing away. Most of my tomato seed is now germinated and some are getting close to being needed to be transplanted to pots.
   The sun has encouraged the daffodils to start to flower and it will not be long before there is a good display. The air temperature has been above 10C which means the bees have been active. I have spotted a large number on the entrance to the hive. It is good to know they have survived the winter.
   Another activity has been to go and collect some bean poles. The electric company came and cleared under the wires but left the wood behind. There are some good bean poles to be had!
  So now the pace quickens as March marches on. I have bought (horror upon horror) some lettuce plants so that I can get some early heads of lettuce. The seed potatoes are chitting away nicely and it will not be long and they will need to be planted. Onward!

Is it time to worry?

   Well here we are into March. Looking back at this time in 2014 I had tomato plants already potted up. This year I do not even have any germinated yet alone in pots. It has not been a cold winter but it has been very wet and it is continuing to be wet and under feet is squelchy to say the least!
   So what has been done this last week? Once more not a lot. I started to prune a plum tree and did some first aid on a wooden sheep feeding trough. More in hope than anything else I have sowed some spring onion, Little Gem lettuce and Golden Acre cabbage seed in the poly tunnel beds. If you do not try you never know! The temperature in the poly tunnel is most definitely warmer than outside.
   I have pulled out my sowing/planting plan of the vegetable garden and I am now looking seriously at trying to do something with the plots where the onion sets and shallots need to go. If I do not do something soon they are going to be late in maturing so I am on the look out for a day or so of fine weather and I will take the plunge. At this rate parsnips will not be sown this year as again time is running out. The seed potatoes are "chitting" well. The day after

Coriander in the poly tunnel

writing the previous sentence I managed to get a few hours out in the garden and weed the shallot plot and plant the shallots. Hooray! I also moved my tree onions into the shallot plot as well. At last something done in the outside garden. I have tried to have a go at the designated onion set plot but the weather conspires against me. Made a start  on the bed and to be honest the soil was really too wet and it then soon after I had started it poured with rain so I gave up in disgust and decided to finish off this blog entry instead.
  

Endive seed germinating

A little more activity

   The weather continues to play its tricks. The ground was just about workable and yes it rained again. Heavy rain which meant once more the soil became waterlogged soil. Hey ho!
    A little work done. I have added leeks (Gras Long d'Ete), aubergines (De Barbentine, Halflange Violette) and Roma VF tomatoes to the sown seed collection in the poly tunnel fleece cloche. Onion and shallot sets have been purchased and I wait for more drier conditions before planting them. I ought to have parsnips in by now but really the ground is so wet the seed would not germinate and parsnip is a poor seed to germinate at the best of times. A row of radish (18 jours race Velox) has been sown in the poly tunnel along side the row that I am now starting to pull. Just a few but hey a few is better than none! I have noticed that the lettuce I sowed on the 30th January is starting to show. Out in the garden the comfrey bed has been tidied up much to the delight of the chickens. I have also weeded the asparagus bed in anticipation! Asparagus does not like to be amongst weeds. I am looking forward to a few drier days!

Is it? Is it not? Will it? Will it not?

   The weather has not really improved. I was just starting to think that I would be able to get onto the garden beds and it rained heavily again and once more there were puddles on the beds. So again I have to wait.

Ditch bank Snowdrops

   In the last week I have managed to get moving with seed sowing in the poly tunnel. Tomato seed is now sown, varieties Galina, Coeur de Bouef, Champeau Giant, Ethel Watkins Best, Gardeners Delight, Millefleur and placed into the poly tunnel fleece cloche along with leeks and two varities of Aubergine. Most of the seed was gathered from my own tomatoes so it will be interesting to see how they do. Along with these I have sown celery and celeriac but I have those in the house to germinate.
   There was as least one day over the last week which was a beautiful sunny day and it gave a hint of the spring to come. The crocuses and snow drops were open and our bees were active so the air temperature must have been over 10C. They were busy collecting pollen from the crocuses and snow drops. I took advantage of this lovely day and tidied up one of my perennial borders. Well, i redefined the edges and pulled/dug up some grass tuffs.

Crocuses in flower

Distinct lack of activity

   I took a look at my garden log for the past week. What do I see? Mostly blank entries. Just shows what the weather is like. Cold, windy, wet and hard frosts. I have been itching to sow more seeds but this year I am hanging on until at least the middle of February for tomatoes, celery and celeriac. One bright spot. My seed potatoes are showing signs of growth and the onion seed is thriving!
   So, what has been done this week? Just a little bit of pruning and the setting up of the poly tunnel fleece cloche and "beep" all else! The weather is looking promising with the 9th and 10th February being sunny and cloud free. Unfortunately I had to move a cord of wood into the wood store today (Tuesday, 10th February) and that has sapped a lot of my motivation to do anything else! Shame on me!
  Without anything much to write about I took the opportunity to look back at the blog that covered this time last year. Guess what? Yes, it had been raining and the ground was saturated. Seems to me that the ground has been like that for months! I had seed potatoes chitting, tomatoes, lettuce, celeriac and cauliflower all germinated. No, I will not change my mind and I am going wait a few more days.

  

Mud, glorious mud!

   What can I say? More rain and the ground is impossible! Looking back over the last week most of my time has been spent doing very little gardening. Still, got some things done like prune the climbing rose (which is climbing along a fence rather than up it), tidied up the poly tunnel a little and sowed some salad endive and red salad bowl lettuce in the the poly tunnel! The poly tunnel has been re-organised in readiness for putting up the poly tunnel fleece.
   Good news! My Sturon and Yellow Rynsburger onion seed that I have had in modules in the house has germinated. I have bought my seed potatoes and they are chitting in seed trays on the dinning room floor. Varieties this year: Desiree, Charlotte and Bintje! Bintje are a Belgium developed potato that was used (not so much today) for making frites, a favourite of the Belgians. 
  Chickens have done well in January having laid some two hundred and eighteen eggs! Yeah! Oh, we had snow showers on the 1st February.