Wednesday 6 March 2013

they're off

The potatoes in the greenhouse are poking their shoots above the compost and I have plenty of fleece handy should we get a prolonged cold spell.

Container peas and radishes are also shooting up and the overwintered spring onions are at the stage where they can be pulled for chopping up into sandwiches. Even though I've been growing stuff for donkey's years I still get a thrill from seeing the new season's life emerging.
pea shoots
The first sowings of tomatoes and peppers are now in the heated propagator but I'll hold off with the cucumbers till next month. Past failures have taught me that sowing cukes too early inevitably results in failure.

Almost three weeks of dry, if rather cold weather has allowed me to catch up with many of the jobs held over from last year. The veg. patch is looking pretty good and is ready for its new occupants when conditions are right. I have some shallots and onion sets in the ground but it's still too early for much else.

I had a shredding day and made a start on the pile of prunings that I keep as a winter home for critters. I've no idea what lives in there but we seem to have a healthy population of hedgehogs and frogs round here so if I can help them out it seems reasonable to do so. Ended up with a sack of chipped wood which I'll mix with grass clippings and chicken manure to give me some reasonable compost for next year.With all the scares about contaminated manures it seems sensible to produce as much of your own stuff as possible. 

The geese which overwinter on the marshes here are now gathering in huge flocks before setting off back to their home above the arctic circle. The sight of several thousand large birds all taking to the air at once is really impressive and more than makes up for the fact that our nearest supermarket is fifteen miles away.

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