Well, Blow me Down!

I'm a bit late posting this, as it relates to last Tuesday, but if I get this out the way, I can post about what was going on at the plot at the weekend without getting all out of order.

Anyway.

After attending a regular meeting some distance away last Tuesday late afternoon, I had to take a detour from my usual route home which meant that I found myself just a couple of miles away from the Hill - and despite the fact that there was rain in the air, I nipped across to drop in and have a look to see if there was any more asparagus on the way.

However, the rain was rather heavier than it had  looked from the cosy side of the windscreen, so after a quick run round the beds with water dripping down my neck, I gave up, and wondered - as I was there anyway - if the Club was open.  There looked to be quite a few cars up in the car park, so I went up to dry off, expecting the usual early evening smattering of regulars.

Well, damn me - I walked in to a wall of sound!

It turns out that there is a live music open mic night at the clubhouse once a month, and the place was swinging.  I heard violin and piano duets, singers, a swing band, a trumpeter and a rock band - some real talent on show - my swift half turned into quite a lot of the evening propping up the bar and
tapping my feet.  

I wish I'd had Chris from the bottom end's phone number on me to get her to come along too - it's far less embarrassing bopping away if there are two of you doing it, after all........

A Red Letter Day!

Between the showers at the weekend, I had a sterling time weeding - mostly the front flower border, and also the raspberry bed.

I should have taken a 'before' pic, as this 'after' pic is unimpressive despite much hard work clearing forget-me-nots, tall broad-bladed grass (where has that sneaked in from?), chickweed and wayward raspberry shoots.

The tulips are lovely - they do well each year despite having a fairly nomadic lifestyle as I inadvertently dig them up and shove 'em back in all through the later months.

I've been away, so it was good to see that the plot - front border notwithstanding - is not all wildly weedy, which I put down to some thorough bed prep in the winter once I had those new dalek composters on the go.

The last photo I put up was of the garlic, looking good - well they've come on very well in the last 3 wks or so, as shown here.  The POTATOES are all showing some shoots, too, also the CHARD and maybe some of the sowings of PARSNIP and BEETROOT.  

Not the faintest sign of the bloody CARROTS though - I'll sow a row from a different packet this weekend, I think, as it could be that seed is a bit on the elderly side.  Or slugs, maybe.

The PEAS and BROAD BEANS are looked good too - they seem to have survived being planted out pretty well, although the sweet peas seem to be sulking a bit.

At home, the KALE and LEEKS were bursting out the pots and asking to be planted out (well, I've yet to get leeks the regulatory 'pencil thickness' prior to planing out, but the grass-like seedlings looked ready to go nonetheless), so I got those done.  I was daydreaming a bit when planting out the kale, and only stopped when I got to twelve, so I might have over-egged the omelette a bit there.  I'll be short of room for other brassicas if I'm not careful.

Speaking of which, at home, I sowed a pinch of CAULIFLOWER, RED CABBAGE, CABBAGE, and BRUSSELS SPROUTS, and some more LETTUCE and LEEKS.

The FRENCH BEANS are all up, with varying levels of vigour; the TOMATO plants that I entrusted to a friend whilst I was away were returned looking very perky, and although there is no sniff of the second sowing of both the SPRING ONION and PEPPER seeds, the courgette are up there too.

Oh - and why was it a Red Letter Day?  Because I cut the first ASPARAGUS spear.  I've been waiting three years for this moment.  

And absolutely delicious it was too.  Here's to very many more!

Getting Going!

Now that Spring is properly with us, it's high time that I got myself to the Hill to do some seed sowing.  But before that fun bit, there is the little matter of finishing off the hateful job of stringing up the wigwams, so armed with more twine from Wilko, and a pocketful of seed packets, I set to.

I hadn't been at the Hill for more that ten minutes when Chris from the bottom came by, and chatting with her improved matters no end - in fact, I'd soon finished the stringing up, and without all the muttering and scowling that would normally accompany the task.

We deserved a pat on the back - so had an interlude up at the clubhouse, then it was back to a little light bed prep, then sowing a second batch of PARSNIP (clare), CARROT (autumn king) and BEETROOT (bolthardy).  Brilliant!

Just to top off a very pleasing session, I also had seed trays of BROAD BEANS (crimson flowered & self saved), SWEETPEAS, PEAS (eric idle) and PETIT POIS (ceresa) to plant out.

Instant allotment - I love it!  It's really impressive - but you'll have to take my word for it as a flat battery meant that I couldn't take any pics after this one of the sprouting garlic.

Back at the ranch, it was time to bring that spruced up mini greenhouse into play.  I had a very enjoyable session sowing trays of DWARF and CLIMBING FRENCH BEANS; COURGETTES (black beauty & jemmer), SQUASH (spaghetti).

Just as well that I remembered not to do the weekly vac & mop of the kitchen floor first, as when I'd finished the my beautiful kitchen did look rather like a potting shed...

A Spoonful of Sugar...

Springlike again on Sunday, and working on the momentum built up from planting out the potatoes, I stuffed the car full of 8' bamboo canes, the can of string and set off to the Hill with a pocket full of seed packets.

On the basis that you should get the 'orrible jobs out the way first and look forward to the nice ones, I got the canes out the car and made up three wigwams.  This is a hateful job - once the canes are firmly pushed in the ground, poking the top end of all six canes into the round holder is tricky in the extreme unless you (a) have seven hands and/or (b) are approx a foot taller than I am. 

I had more success than in previous years, however, as I devised a temporary - if wobbly - bridge across the bed edges to elevate me 6".  Still a tricky one, but doable.

No sooner was that out the way then the next hateful job was to hand - whizzing the string around the wigwams.  What a chore.  This cut short, however, when the string ran out.  

I felt that I deserved the nice job of seed sowing after all that puffing and stretching and faffing about, so I forked and raked over the bed nearest the shed, and sang 'la la la', as I daintily made three seed drills for sowing PARSNIP (clare) with RADISH to mark the row; CARROT (autumn king), displaying optimism over experience; and BEETROOT (bolthardy).

That's enough to put a smile back on your face.  And more so, it being now lunchtime, I hoiked Chris up from down the bottom and had a enjoyed beer with her in the clubhouse, before heading home.

At Long Last!

Spring in now in the air - the temperatures are now finally up there in double figures, and frost does not feature on the forecasts for the first time since about November. Hurrah!

That means that all systems are go, and I had a list of jobs that I wanted to get done this weekend at the Hill, and at home.  First up at home was mending the mini greenhouse - the covers don't last forever, and mine developed a rip in Autumn which has steadily got worse over winter.  The new cover looks very smart, and now I can get the trays of peas and broad beans out and off the kitchen windowsills.

Up off to the Hill yesterday morning, I wanted to make the most of the improved weather and get the potatoes in.

I started by digging over the final part of the potato beds, more weeds for the compost daleks - then emptying more of the hideous compost bins onto this year's potato beds.  The bins seem to be like the magic porridge pot - however much I take out they are still half bloody full.

The less rotted can be charitably described as 'a bit twiggy', but further in, it's better stuff.  It all went on the beds anyway - I'm sure that the potatoes are up to barging their way past some minor obstacles!

I put all the potatoes in using a stick to make an 8-10" hole for each one.  I'm growing Lady Cristl and Winston as first earlies; International Kidney and Kestrel as second earlies; and Picasso and King Edwards as main crops.

I had my eye on the clock because at lunchtime in the clubhouse, Allan R gave a talk on fuchsia growing - he's put this together because one of the categories in the Show in August will be 'best fuchsia from supplied plant', and I'm glad he did - I don't know much about growing pot plants, and my coleus a couple of years ago was - er - a bit of an embarrassment.

I really enjoyed the talk along with a couple of dozen other plotholders, and we all went off with our chosen small plants to cherish and nurture. The sandwiches and beer were welcome too!

Having done the hard digging earlier, and then an hour's sit down, my back told me that I'd done enough at that point - so a quick tidy up, and off home for a soak in the bath, and to make plans for Sunday...

Hmm. Flower Growing.

Although I did not go to the Hill on Sunday - ye gods it's cold out there - I do have the seeds on the windowsill stirring, which means that I need to get the little greenhouse in order so that they can be hoofed out when they are up.  Something for me to sort out over this Easter weekend, I think.

I'm not twiddling my thumbs, though - the Hill committee arranged for one of the plotholders, John H (who I don't know), to give a talk on Tuesday evening about chrysanthemum growing.  Now I've never given any thought to chrysanthemums before, but as the chap has been bothered to put a presentation together, and it was held in the clubhouse which we are all encouraged to support, I could see no good reason not to get along there to drink the excellent beer learn something new.

The talk was 7.30 for 8pm, so about 20 of us assembled beforehand in the bar for a drink to grumble about the weather and to out-compete each other with a sort of inverse brag on how little we had managed to get done.  Think of the Python's Four Yorkshiremen sketch, and you're somewhere near the sentiment.

The hour-long talk was well structured and informative - and from a position of going along to 'make up the numbers', I was soon in there with note taking, questions, a commitment to put aside room to grow chrysanths this year and the fervent hope that I would be lucky enough to have my name come out the hat for some of John H's left over cuttings.

Marvellous - I'm really glad I went!  Thanks to John H and to the committee for organising, and now looking forward to the next 'flowery' talk in a couple of weeks...

Adapting to the Circumstance

I could have a right good rant about the weather.  I could do, but I won't.

Not because it isn't terrible, because it is - bloody cold and with snow is forecast from tonight through to Sunday, BUT because despite it being cold and miserable, I can remember snow at Easter before, and cold weather, and rain, so although it is miserable, it is not unknown.

It's just that when you look at the seed packet and it says 'sow March - May', you want to sow in March, and I have got away with that for the past five years.  Parsnips sown every February; potatoes in late Feb/early March; broad beans planted out in March; and so it goes on.

This year, not a hope.

I do have all my March indoor sowings completed (BROAD BEAN (crimson flowered & self saved); PEA (sugar snap ceresa & harold idle); TOMATO; PEPPER; CELERIAC; LEEK (st vincent), LETTUCE, SPRING ONIONS (apache) and BANANA SHALLOTS all sitting on the window sills.

I also have a tray of sweet peas in - I had to buy a packet from Wilko as I couldn't find my saved ones from last year.  I knew they'd turn up eventually, which they did - after the event (obviously) - I just would have preferred not to have found them through that well-tested method of inadvertently upending the paper bag, thus scattering them far and wide...

The chances of getting my outdoor sowings due to be done in March (beetroot, parsnip, radish and carrot), are slim to none.  I can't fight the weather, so I'll wait until the ground is right, not the seed packet.

Oh - and it's just started to snow.