The first daffodils are in bloom so I decided that it was time to sow the first seeds: tomatoes, chillies (lightly sanded the seeds as per North by North instructions), sweet peppers, aubergines and leeks. Unfortunately the first aphids of the year have also arrived so I also sowed some marigolds.
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| First daffodils of the year |
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| First sowing on the window sill in the smallest and warmest room |
Visiting friends had given me a fancy new propagator last weekend so it was a good opportunity to try it out. Another sign of spring is that the lemon verbena which had looked absolutely deid has sprung back to life.
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| Lemon verbena coming to life |
Meanwhile in the greenhouse, the overwintering salads are finally starting to grow.
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| Overwintering salads: tatsoi and wild rocket |
My father-in-law gave us a great Christmas gift: a bumper pack of fine Scottish meat from an award-winning butcher in Wemyss Bay. Orkney grass-fed Aberdeen Angus, mmmhhhh. The perfect complement to our own veg.
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| Beef olive with our homegrown sprouts, red cabbage and leeks |
The potatoes are chitting on the window sill in our bedroom. The onion sets are in a cool place awaiting planting. Well, usually it's cool. Sometimes there's a hot cat body on top though.
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| Poppy's trying hard to get the onion sets to sprout |
This afternoon we took delivery of six fruit trees and about 100 hedge plants. There was a brief break in the weather for the delivery, then the hail started, then there was a brief break so that we could pop all the plants into moist compost in the compost bins, then torrential rain, followed by a short weather window before sunset where we managed to plant a quince, a cooking apple (Grenadier) and two cherries (Stella and Sunburst).
Two mirabelles to plant tomorrow and the hedge around the veg garden. But it's all so much easier than last year. We don't have to read up and watch all the youtube videos; it's all a bit more routine. A fun routine.
Thanks you just reminded me to bring up my lemongrass from downstairs perhaps it too will spring to life. How lovely to see daffs out! Only snowdrops braving it here at the moment, mind a couple of weeks will make all the difference - I hope.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see your onion sets are in no danger of thinking winter has arrived with a cat blanket to keep them warm. After my run this morning I went and got my huge tub of calendula seeds and sprinkled them all along the base of the wall out front - if they take I'll have about 150 foot of calendula plants. I casually bedded them in with my trainers...
Two years ago I had a huge crop from our mirabelle tree but last year not a sausage - not sure why the tree looked perfectly healthy and everything else bore fruit.
That sounds great! When do you expect you can plant the tomatoes, etc. in the greenhouse without their getting too leggy in the meantime?
ReplyDeleteMy lemongrass is not showing any signs of life yet, but maybe soon. Mirabelles planted and about 30-odd hedge plants in. We went for something called an edible hedge mix (crab apple, wild pear, hazel, rosa rugosa, blackthorn) and combined it with the coastal hedge mix (hawthorn, sea buckthorn, more roses and blackthorn and some cotton easter). It should look quite lovely and be appreciated by the wildlife. Great idea of have a giant calendula bed. I might do that in my 'tea garden'. We're thinking of filling the rest of the hedge gaps with buddleia cuttings next autumn. Any special tricks you use? Do you put them straight in the ground or in pots in the greenhouse first?
ReplyDeleteLate March/early April should be fine to move the tomatoes into the greenhouse here. Before that, they can already go into the conservatory, which is quite a bit warmer than the greenhouse at night. So, if the weather co-operates, the tomatoes should spend their days in the conservatory as soon as they're up and running. I might have to take them into the house at night for a bit.
ReplyDeleteOh well, more than a month earlier than here - when sowing we count that the transplanting into the greenhouse will happen in mid-May.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, there was still snow in April here, but this is highly unusual. Normally, it's very mild, with only a few days of frost each winter.
ReplyDeleteDaffodils and aphids? Scotland sounds almost tropical . . . ! Love the potato warmer! :-)
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't feel tropical today, I can tell you! But the daffodils don't seem to mind the southerly gale. Poppy's been hatching the onions some more. There's no end to the usefulness of cats in the garden, especially when it comes to eliminating voles. I hope you've made friends with yours at last!
ReplyDeleteActually, our rent-a-cat Scrap has been reunited with his owner in sunny Leicestershire so we are having to manage without him now. It's not quite the same but as he had discovered the bird tables it was probably the right time for him to make a sharp exit! :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, vole control is all very good, but I don't much like the bird control, especially when it's cute little wrens. We had to put up old guttering around the posts on our summerhouse to stop the cats trying to destroy the swallows' nest underneath the rafters. But the swallows at least seemed to be able to defend themselves rather well.
ReplyDeleteWow, daffs out already?! Jealous :)
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