This is just a quickie this week. I was in two minds about whether to post anything at all, but I didn’t want you feeling neglected or unloved, nothing could be further from the truth.
So what have I got to tell you? Well the weather has been pretty good for me, the rain early last week was just what the doctor ordered. There was more of it than I was expecting and it was fairly steady, so it soaked in nicely. There was another spell of rain overnight last night, so all is well for the time being. There are no particularly cold nights in the forecast for the next couple of weeks so I took the plunge today and planted tomatoes in the polytunnel. It is a bit of a risk, it’s a couple of weeks sooner than I normally plant them, but with the April sunshine they have grown faster than anticipated and will begin to stress in their pots if I were to leave them much longer. Last week I planted a batch in the greenhouse, but that is lower risk because the glass offers more protection than a thin sheet of plastic.
Back in the polytunnel I have now removed the glass cloches from the courgettes to allow pollination of the flowers. Lots of small fruit are forming, so my gamble may well pay off. Alongside them are lettuces, and you will have seen from what is in the shop that I will be cutting the first of them for this week’s boxes. They won’t be huge, but they are currently in lovely condition so let’s make the most of them. I will soon be pulling up the chard from the greenhouse to make way for more summer crops, but the couple of rows in the tunnel will ensure a continuity of supply.
Down in the orchard many of the trees are full of blossom, so let’s hope that we do stay free of frost. Last week I planted out some more summer cabbages, and tomorrow I will put in some broccoli. The outdoor chard is ready to go in now too.
I saw the first tiny ducklings skittering around on the top pond yesterday, and I expect that some Canada Geese goslings will soon follow. On leaving work today I noticed this pretty little thing growing in the parkland grass close to the drive, it’s Cuckooflower, also known as Lady’s Smock, nice ain’t it? It seems like a good spring for blossom this year, let’s hope that it’s a sign of a season of plenty to come.
We had some new arrivals at home on Saturday, four point of lay hens. We have two brown girls, only one of which is laying at the moment, and two ducks that really only really have comedic value, though they do lay some eggs at this time of the year. Anyway, it seemed a good time to introduce some fresh blood into the flock, and eliminate the need for me to buy eggs from elsewhere when we have two coops and all of the associated paraphernalia sitting there producing very little. On the first day our existing birds were very out of sorts, moaning and groaning and refusing to make eye contact with the newbies. I even had to carry the hens to bed because they refused to even walk past the run that is housing the new girls! By yesterday everything had calmed down and they went about their business as normal. So it’s just waiting for the first eggs to arrive now.
I won’t go on about what’s in the shop, because lots of you have already ordered, but you will have seen that the purple sprouting broccoli has now finished, as have the parsnips. I sold the last of the apple juice at the market on Saturday too, so I’m afraid that’s it until September. Tomatoes are now from the Isle of Wight and are the nice mini plum ones, a mixture of red and yellow at the moment.
Right I’m going to leave it there. Sorry I’m a day late, but all work and no play makes Philip a very dull boy.
Phil