Inside only

The weather has been so wet and windy this past week that all outside activity has ground to a halt. Even the digging. I'm just glad we got the wind break fabric up in time; it does seem to make a huge difference. The one day that the weather was good we had to deal with an outbreak of red mite so the whole day was spent deep-cleansing the hen house, powdering chicken vents and burning old shavings.

The main excitement this week is that the first potatoes are poking out:

The first tattie plants. Now is that an Epicure or a Dunluce?

The birds have been chomping away at all sorts of things and we've had to net over our peas and land cress, which seemed to be their favourites. Our own birds have been trouble, too:

The downside of really free-range chickens. Our cardboard mulch around the raspberries has been well and truly scratched apart.

Strange problem to have: how to keep a peacock off the salad?

Meanwhile, the tomatoes, squashes and artichokes are doing well in the greenhouse and the conservatory. I've moved almost everything out of the greenhouse but tomatoes; it's now the tomato house.

The tomato house

The artichokes

The conservatory is chock-a-block with plants. I wonder when I'll be able to plant them all out. Other than the glorious Easter weekend, the temperature has been a steady 12C during the day since March. It's just not getting any warmer. I've started the climbing beans off in the conservatory and they are getting bigger rapidly - is 12C max and 7C during the night warm enough to plant them out?

French bean seedlings

Celeriac seedlings

The nettle fertiliser will be ready to use from tomorrow. The nettles have totally disintegrated. And the nettle ale is ready for bottling tomorrow. When last sniffed, it smelled of gooseberries.