Okay, so I will get straight to the important business. This week’s orders will be the last for 2, maybe 3 weeks. It is time for me to have my annual break to get on with sowing and growing, timed to coincide with the very worst of the ‘hungry gap’ when so little fresh produce is available. Hopefully by the time I return towards the end of May some new season vegetables will be coming on stream and you will be pleased to have me back. I will also be missing a couple of farmers’ markets too after the one on the 2nd of May. What veg is currently available is getting pretty tired, because much of it has been stored over the winter from last year’s harvest and is really on its last legs. Purple sprouting broccoli has now finished, red cabbage is done, this is the last week of parsnips, onions and potatoes are wanting to sprout, and carrots are not keeping well, so I think I’ve got my timing about right. Apologies for the inconvenience that it causes you, but I hope that you understand why I am doing it.

The weather has been fabulous, but this prolonged period without rain is really a cause for concern, because all of the recently transplanted young vegetable plants are struggling to establish themselves in this mini drought. I am obviously watering them in well at the time of planting, but it’s natural precipitation that they need to thrive. Last week I set out chard, perpetual spinach and cabbages, and tomorrow I have more cabbage and lettuce plug plants to set out. Another factor that hasn’t helped are the overnight frosts – at least 3 of them in the past week. Yesterday morning when I went to load up the van for the market the windscreen was thoroughly iced over, and the thermometer registered -1º. The grass in the parkland at Moyns Park was completely white with frost. Those that rise slightly later in the morning may well have been unaware of just how chilly that it got overnight.

The greenhouse is taking shape now, I have planted tomatoes, cucumbers, padron peppers and sweet peppers so far. I will plant the first two rows of tomatoes in the polytunnel this week (50 plants), because after tonight there are no particularly cold nights forecast. It’s a risk but the plants are beginning to get a bit leggy so they need to go in the soil. Others will join them when space becomes available in the tunnel.

The first goslings hatched early last week. One of the pairs of geese up on the top pond were proudly promenading their 7 offspring, first on the drive and then they did a swim-by on the pond. It’s very impressive just how capable the tiny hatchlings are within hours of emerging. It’s funny how different they are to other birds. Most species hatch featherless virtually blind pathetic little aliens that sit in a nest, mouths gaping open, waiting for food to be deposited in them by exhausted parents. On the other hand ducks, geese, chickens, and game birds have fluffy little offspring that are up and about and raring to go from the moment they emerge from their shells. I wonder how/why the evolutionary paths of the different bird types went in such dissimilar directions? The photo above is of the youngsters on the pond with mother – I had to blow it up so that you could see them, so it’s not very clear.

It could be another big year for wasps. I have never seen as many queens as I have so far this spring. They do a great job at pollinating and predating on aphids, spiders and flies, which they chomp up and feed to their larvae – the adult wasps are only interested in sweet things, which is why they can be a nuisance at picnics or in pub gardens. Of more concern to me is that they can devastate beehives, which was a big problem last summer. A strong aggressive colony of wasps can easily overwhelm a hive of bees to gain access to the sweet liquid gold that lies within. Beekeepers can restrict the entrances to hives to give the bee colony a better chance of defending itself, but very often this is not enough to keep the determined Vepsa at bay. From now on you will see wasps gnawing away at fence posts, wooden gates, garden furniture and shed timber. They are stripping off a layer of wood that they masticate to use as a papier maché like material for constructing their nests – which are things of great beauty and intricacy. There is a lot to admire about wasps.

On Thursday evening I took Nellie for a walk on the footpath that starts on the other side of the road level with the end of my garden. As we approached the path I heard birds singing from the brambles at the side of the road, it was a song that I was not familiar with. I whipped out my phone and opened my Merlin app, which informed me that the little beige birds before me were Greater (or common) Whitethroats. On my return to home I researched the bird and discovered that they are not particularly rare, but I was pleased to have made their acquaintance. I have since seen and heard them up the end of my garden, which is a fairly wild place, and I would love it if they were to nest there. They migrate, like swallows and cuckoos, from sub-Saharan Africa, which is an amazing feat for a bird that is about the size of a Blue Tit.

In the shop this week there is broccoli (calabrese), spring greens, leeks, parsnips, beetroot, onions, carrots, mushrooms, celery, and rhubarb. There are oranges, lemons, avocados and Crimson Crisp apples. Because of the impending hiatus to deliveries lots of things in the shop are going to be limited in terms of availability this week because I don’t want to get left with unsold stock. I hope that I have enough of everything to satisfy demand for it.

Right, I’m outta here. Enjoy another week of dry and pleasant weather.

Phil