So here we are then, it’s March, and what a great start to meteorological spring. Cold nights yes, but beautiful clear sunny days. One might almost be tempted to say perfect weather for the time of year. And on these sunny days the lengthening daylight hours are really noticeable, sunrise today was 6.40 and sunset was 5.40. Perfect for a bit of star gazing too – better than last week when the alignment of the planets was at its optimum, but viewing conditions were patchy. Do you realise that it was at this time in 2018 that we were enduring ‘the Beast from the East’? It arrived on February 24th and ran for 10 days – definitely an in like a lion March that year. What you might not know is that the Beast was officially named Anticyclone Hartmut and combined with storm Emma to create some pretty extreme conditions.
Another sign of spring is pancake day which falls on Tuesday this week. As a child I had mixed feelings about the occasion. On the one hand I enjoyed scoffing the lemon and sugar covered pancakes, but I had a real aversion to the fuggy atmosphere that filled the house caused by the frying batter – one that has never really left me, even though these days the extractor fan set on number 2 erases the worst of my boyhood memories. It borders on being a phobia for me, and it’s one that I really ought to face up to…..bring on the pancakes! Oh, I didn’t like the sugar granules adhering to the corners of my mouth either, which meant that I was wasn’t very good with a jam donut either. You are probably forming a picture of that funny little boy.
We walked Nellie this morning down by the river where we saw beautiful dark purple catkins dripping from the Alder trees. In the water meadows the dozens of Canada Geese are pairing up, whilst the solitary pair of Egyptian Geese have always been together. There is a pair of the latter at Moyns Park too. The ones down the meadows are always right on the edge of the large gathering of Canada Geese, as if they want to be part of the gang but don’t quite have the confidence to enter the inner sanctum, though their larger cousins appear to be accepting of their presence. Ashen Hill leads us to our cottage, it rises fairly steeply from the valley floor and the vegetation that lines it (mostly Hazel and Elm) meet in places to form a tunnel effect, which is particularly attractive when the plants are swathed in leaf. Anyway, as we walked back up towards home I stopped in the ‘tunnel’ and listened. Above me emanated the unmistakable hum of honey bees in their hundreds, gathering pollen from the Hazel catkins. Only a couple of hours earlier the temperature was below freezing, but by late morning there was sufficient heat in the sun to encourage them out of their hives, and what a lovely sight and sound it was.
No it’s not finished! I was going to emblazon the blog with a big photo of the completed hedge this week….but I was thwarted by a mechanical failure on Wednesday. The chainsaw packed up, so I had to order a part for it, which should have been delivered by yesterday but it didn’t arrive! Frustrated I am, because there is less than a day’s work to complete the ‘trim’, and with good weather forecast for the coming week I really need to turn my attention to preparing beds for sowing and transplanting. In the low greenhouse the seedlings are all coming on well, though I would rather that there were not such dramatic swings in the temperature. Today in the full sun the thermometer was showing close to 30°, and tonight it is going to be frosty again. I am providing protection from that with a gas heater but the poor little seedlings don’t know whether they are coming or going. If for any reason the heater was to fail they could well be going!
This week in the shop we welcome back purple sprouting broccoli. There will also be spinach again and Brussels sprouts, but I’m giving the spring greens a breather this week – I hope that you enjoyed them. It won’t be long before I can start cutting the chard from the greenhouse, this week should see it come on leaps and bounds. There will be courgettes and cherry tomatoes from Spain, sweet potatoes from Portugal, as well as root veg. Avocados, Blood oranges, regular oranges, Clementines, lemons and Blaze apples are your fruit options.
Every day the pheasants come running when I fill the bird feeder. I scatter some seed for them, so I do realise that I am encouraging them, but the numbers keep growing, to the point where there are 15 or more of them looking for an easy breakfast. Most of them are fairly nervous, but two or three of them are much more bold and and are happy to come pretty close to me – and even hang around outside the potting shed door. Well today one of them took the next step and came inside the shed, but not just inside, it went for a grand tour, walking past me and heading off into the second room where I do the seed sowing before coming back and pecking around my feet. I had a friendly hen pheasant last year that came inside, but only just, I reckon that it will be a job to keep this one out now! I am going have to be severe I think.
Well that’s me done I think, I’m going to go and light the wood burner. I was going to talk about the disgusting debacle in the Oval Office on Friday, but I’m too angry. It’s funny what double standards they have though. It was disrespectful of Zelensky not to wear a suit, but okay for Musk not to, and to wear a baseball cap in the same room. No, I’m not going to talk about it.
Have a great week.
Phil