Twin Leeks

Weather:  Sunny spells in the morning with rain and sleet showers in the afternoon. 

Jobs Completed:

Re-potted Aster Milady and Nasturtiums into bigger pots

Planted out the radish seedlings into the salad bed

Planted a row of Maxine potatoes

Sowed 5 courgettes, 12 french beans and 3 butternut squash in greenhouse

Transplanted errant raspberry canes - we have found at least five more that have sprouted in to the vegetable bed on the other side of the path.

Watered and fed strawberries and cabbages with seaweed fertiliser. The strawberries are all showing new leaf growth and some have the odd flower developing.

Removed self-seeded teasels from various beds. Moved self-seeded evening primrose, foxgloves and campion into wildflower hill

Weather: Cold, overcast with rain. Bright spells in late afternoon.

Jobs Completed:

Transplanted some evening primrose and campion and foxgloves on to the wild flower hill that have self seeded around the plot.

Bagged up bramble, nettle and other pernicious weeds to go to the tip.

Weeded round the fruit trees, raspberries, strawberry and garlic bed.

Transplanted a raspberry cane that had come up on the other side of the path back into the raspberry bed.

Edged the vegetable beds with the half moon.

Began creating a frame to support and cage the broadbeans when they are planted.

Planted some tomato seeds - Minibel. They are dwarf cherries that should provide plot snacks in the summer.

Transplanted the mint cuttings into pots and put them in the cold frame.

Cut up compost with machete (our preferred agitant!) and added more green manure and dead rapberry cane.

Cut some purple sprouting broccoli for dinner.

Fed strawberries and spring cabbage with seaweed fertiliser.

Planted more snowdrops in front flowerbed.

Campion

Raspberry Canes Sprouting

Plot Time: 11:00am - 17:30pm

Weather: Rain in the morning but sunny with sparse cloud all day. Very warm in the sun. 

Big news of the day, we have finally sown the seed on our wildflower hill! Over the last couple of weeks, we have been waiting for some rain and have had overnight  enough to damp down the first couple of inches of soil. We have sown a great mix of seed: poppies, nigella, cow parsley, sweet scented stock, hollyhocks, campion, crocosmia, borage, forget-me-nots, foxgloves all from collected seed from last year and two boxes of seed we bought yesterday from a pound shop that contain a mix of 16 or so flowers. The seed has been raked lightly into the soil. We have also transplanted into the wildflower hill, some rogue plants that have popped up in random areas of our plot. These include forget-me-nots, campion, foxgloves and an ox-eye daisy which all self seed happily.

We dug up the rest of the overwintered leeks and weeded and dug over the space that they were in. They’ll go home for tea tonight and the rest will freeze whole for use in soups and stews. We also cut some purple sprouting brocolli to take home too. We have lots of it at the moment.

Jobs Completed:

1. Weeded raspberry bed, flower bed. Removed couch grass, dandelions, knootweed and cleavers.  
2. Prepared seed trays to plant radishes for the show (more on this later)
3. Pricked out Mexican Tree Spinach seedlings into small pots
4. Planted Aster Milady seed into small plugs. Planted Habanero chilli and Birds-eye chilli and cucumber seed in pots with cloches in the greenhouse. Planted red-veined sorrel in a medium sized pot in greenhouse.
5. Turned and cut up top layer of compost.

Jobs to do:

1. Sow parsnip, swede, sweetcorn, radish, rocket, tomatoes and purple sprouting brocolli
2. Prepare beds for potatoes

Mexican Tree Spinach pricked out into small pots

Sweet peas sprouting in greenhouse

Habanero Chilli sown under homemade cloche