We've had some lovely sunny weather over the last few weeks (see
future post - will link in due course) although most days have had a slight chill in the air. As such we've held off doing too much with the vegetable patches - other than digging them over a couple of times.
The soft fruit is coming along nicely though - the raspberry canes are coming up all over the place this year, and the gooseberry, blackcurrant and blueberry bushes are all in flower. The strawberries are looking healthy enough, and should provide a bumper crop in due course.
The only issue is keeping some of the local wildlife out. As you may remember
something had all the blueberries last year, and there are ominous small holes indicating that mice (? or similar) are burrowing in under the base boards. Did some re-fortification works last weekend, tying down the netting in all the places that a squirrel may have found its way in . . .
Made the most of the last of the really sunny weather yesterday to finally get some planting done in the garden - notably starting to populate the two veg plots. Martin got the maincrop potatoes (Maris Piper) planted up in the smaller of the two plots (the one we had sweetcorn, courgettes, and left-over peas in last year).
I cleared out the last of the weeds and old netting from the frame in the main veg plot, and dug in some fertiliser, before planting up my onion seedlings, some of which are beginning to look like spring onions at least!
Finally, this morning, as the rain finally returned, we planted up some peas. Mindful of last year's
poor showing, we're trying a new approach. Using some of the old guttering (which we replaced last year) we've planted up our first row in the garage - once this is through and sufficiently established to ensure that the birds can't do much damage we'll transplant back into the main veg plot. Hopefully this strategy will work!
Got a few more things to plant up still - the tomatoes and peppers and chillies are coming on now, but not ready for planting on yet - and we've got cucumbers and spinach and some salad veggies to plant as well as green beans. In the meantime, at least the potatoes and onions will appreciate a little rain . . .
