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| Bumblebee hotspot |
The beautiful spring weather has brought out the bumblebees and butterflies. They just love the heather slope and seem to come from miles around to feast on the nectar. So nice to hear their droning again. The only other plants in flower at the moment are gorse and daffodils, but the bumblebees don't seem to be interested in the daffodils at all.
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| Mother and child daffodils |
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| The first of our fancy daffs |
With the higher temperatures we thought it was best to harvest the remainder of the swedes and Jerusalem artichokes (which had already started to sprout). We selected the 27 straightest tubers and immediately replanted them. Guess what we'll be eating in the next few weeks...
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| A fish box full of neeps |
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| And another one of Jerusalem artichokes |
The tomato seedlings are doing well and are enjoying the sunshine in the conservatory during the day and the warmth of my office during the night. No sign of the chillies and peppers yet, but they have been duly sanded so they shouldn't be long.
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| Bring on the polytunnel for this lot |
Another 250-odd hedge plants have been ordered (field maple, alder, willow, elder, populus, beech, cotoneaster, hawthorn, tilia cordata) and are due next Wednesday. A 20-foot polytunnel is coming as well so we'll be very busy!
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| View down to the middle paddock |
I've been making friends with the broadfork (a fork with a bar across and handles either end) - what a fantastic tool and what a fantastic workout. You step on it and move it back and forth and, hey presto, the soil is nicely aerated and loosened.
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| The freshly broadforked middle paddock growing area |
In the veg garden, some things are coming to life.
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| Luscious globe artichoke growth |
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| Broad beans a-coming |
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The hens are all in production again. Yesterday we had a six-egg day. Good work, chucks!
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| Under Soruss' watchful eye |
How lovely your heathers are! You should start beekeeping... Have you got bluebells around your place? Shouldn't they be flowering soon?
ReplyDeleteWhen do you expect to have artichokes at the dinner table?
The first artichokes are forming so hopefully we'll have some to eat in early May. Yes, we were discussing bees and heather honey the other day. It will happen eventually. We only have a few bluebells in our garden, but the hill sides on the way to the beach are carpeted with them. They should flower in May. Now snowdrop season is over here and it's definitely daffodil season. Bluebell season is after that.
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