What a Feast!

This may not look like much but it is the first crop of the year. Eaten tonight for dinner. Why do lettuces take so long to grow? I think because I have been told they grow quickly that it feels like forever before they are ready. Lots more waiting to grow. Four radishes between four people isn't exactly a feast but it is hopefully a taste of whats to come...

Springing to Life

Things are starting to spring into life. My climbers have started doing their thing but I am too impatient I want them all over the fence. Climb climb climb! This clematis is an evergreen variety so should add interest all year. It is supposed to fill the air with a beautiful fragrance but I can't smell anything. Oh well it looks nice. The honeysuckle I took from a cutting has now reached the top of the fence which isn't bad but it has taken 2 years to get there. Maybe I will get some flowers from it this year. Planted a wisteria called prolific although in a month it has only grown about an inch, not very prolific so far.

Have managed to run out of compost for my seeds so must have been planting a frenzy. I put my runner bean and peas plants out onto the allotment, probably a bit too early but they were getting big so I thought I'd chance it. I added some of our wormy manure to the holes before I put them in. Lets hope they like it. At least they have had plenty of rain this week. Something has been nibbling my broad bean plants, the evil creature has nibbled round the edges of all the leaves. The terrible beasts. Could this be someone sabotaging the plants perhaps? A certain person who hates broad beans? Or is it an actual bug? Who could have done such a thing? There is a bean hater in our midst and I have my eye on them... There are a few flowers on the plants but they look too small to pinch out the tops yet, might have to do it anyway.

Planted up some baby corn and transferred by tomatoes and chilli's to grow bags. Hope to improve on the huge crop of 3 chilli's that we got last year.

The pumpkin and cucumbers need re potting but I can't until I get some more compost. The poor trapped things are crying out to me. Must get to the shops...

New Life

Welcome to the world baby Elijah! The cherry trees are also in blossom at the back of the house. New beginnings and new life is everywhere.

We have harvested the first lot of compost from the wormery. The lovely stuff is going to grow a fabulous pumpkin for us (if the slugs don't get there first). Here are the little wigglers doing their very best to make some more. After a year of having a wormery my aversion to worms is lessening. Aren't they beautiful? Well maybe not.

Have planted up my peas and beans. They didn't take long to get going. We have also got pumpkin and cucumber seedlings peeping out of the soil.

Everything is starting to grow now, although so are the weeds. Some serious weeding needs to be done at the allotment now. Managed to get down with there with the children a few days ago but didn't manage to do much apart from plant the letters of their names out of cress.

Purple Haze

It was nice to have some sunshine in the garden last week. The lettuces at the allotment are now doing very well under their cloches.

The sunshine brought Flash out of the greenhouse and exploring the garden, he took up his usual position sunbathing on the stones. This means that the weather is certainly hotting up although you wouldn't know it today. April is treating us to some showers.

Lovely purple sprouting broccoli. I was told not to move my broccoli plants to the new plot because they were too big and they wouldn't survive. I am glad that I don't listen to people. We have had our first crop of homegrown broccoli from the plants I moved in winter. It tastes better knowing that I was told not to move it. The people who took over our old plot chopped down all the broccoli before it had time to flower anyway. So I am glad I ignored expert advice and had a go at moving some of our plants.

The greenhouse and the porch are now full of seeds so hopefully some of them will survive and give us some good crops.

Have planted out some asparagus crowns at the allotment. Opted for Gijnlim F1 crowns, a high yielding, all male dutch variety. It is going to be a few years before we get anything from them which gives Paul plenty of time to get used to liking the stuff.

Planted under cover French Bean (Corona d'Oro and Casse Violette), Florence Fennel, Pea (Carouby de Maussane and Markana), Nasturtiums, Sunflower (Giant Single), Broccoli (Red Arrow), Gourd (Jack O'Lantern) and Pumpkin (Mars). Planted direct Coriander and Cumin. The children planted pansies and marigolds on their patch, they put two whole packets of seeds down so hopefully they will be rewarded with some flowers. Mary has also made an insect house out of some old hollow stems, tied them together and hung them from the tree in an attempt to encourage some wildlife to our patch.