Drought

The sun we had all week has gone but the weather wasn't as bad as predicted and just as well because I had a lot of planting to get on with. First beans are still quite short despite being covered in flowers, I guess they want a bit of rain.

Second beans have mostly come through now the leaves have been curiously munched around the edges, I seem to remember this happening last year.

After all that sun the strawberries are beginning to flower although the plants again are still rather small.

The rhubarb plants are filling out now but not nearly big enough to start picking. Again I think it must be due to the dry conditions.

After I cut them right back in the autumn the new raspberry canes are popping up everywhere. I hope they do well again this year.

A lone yellow daffodil in flower in the top bed. The white ones are much earlier and have all died out now.

I bought a new greenhouse because the cover on the old one has a lot of holes in it. I'll keep the old one for moving plants into once they've already germinated but it doesn't get so warm with all the holes.

I planted up some cabbages, french beans, patty pan squash and cobnut squash. The idea will be to try and plant a few things up each week so I have a better successive planting this year and avoid too much of a glut.

I put in a row of peas directly into the soil. As soon as they sprout I'll have to cover them otherwise the birds will eat the lot.

And next to the second beans I put in a row of parsnips. They take ages to germinate and don't like it if it's too dry, lets see how they do this year. I also planted my last row of potatoes, only three rows this year.

Showers

A morning visit to the plot, I was hoping the rain would stop but it only seemed to get worse. The new daffodils are out around the plot number sign, I like the yellow and orange contrast against the green. The mild weather has bought the plants on quite well and the weeds too.

Second broad beans are just starting to poke through, not a uniform covering yet. The ground was too wet today to do anything. I could hear the commentary for the head of the Thames races that were taking part this morning.

The rhubarb is also catching up with where it should be by this time of year. I really need to start doing some more planting soon, we do need a bit of rain but it would be more helpful if it rained at night!

In bloom

A host of golden daffodils were waiting for me enjoying the early spring sun. A beautiful day to be on the plot and time to really start work on this years planting.

The rosemary has some small blue flowers on it as well, it's very pretty and I want to put some in the garden at home. I also bought some new flat leaf parsley plants and a peppermint plant to add to the herb collection.

Not to be left out my still very short first broad beans have a few flowers on them. One cold night will finish them off!

The garlic bed is doing well, completely recovered from the snow and freezing weather.

I'm glad to see the rhubarb beginning to grow, it seems to have been rather slow this year compared to last. It looks alien with it's crinkled red leaves pushing through bare soil.

The new daffodils by the sign aren't yet in flower but they will be soon. It's shadier here so I guess that's why they are later.

Although it's really very early I put in my first row of maincrop potatoes. The sandy soil warms up quickly on the plot so rather than leave them sitting in the shed I thought I'd get them underway. From now on it'll be plant something new every week well into the summer.

False spring

The sun was shining and the daffodils at the top of the plot are beginning to open. The trees have buds but we are forecast another period of cold weather and rain next week.

The new daffodils at the bottom of the plot have grown tall but the buds are a few weeks from opening still, they should be fine if the weather changes.

The first beans have recovered well although a few have died. The warm earlier winter made them much taller than this time last year. The second beans haven't poked through yet, it'll probably be another couple of weeks before I see them.

There were a couple of flowers on this plant, far too early! I don't know what it's thinking, the plants is only about 20cm tall.

at last I have the first signs of the rhubarb coming up. A lot slower than on some of the other plots, I don't know why? Perhaps I picked it too late into the autumn last year?

Cabbages are king

These are the last of the second cabbages, difficult to tell the scale from this picture but we ate three of them as a side vegetable today at lunch. I cleared the ground they were on and then dug it over. It was wonderfully warm and sunny for February and I was soon down to shirt sleeves.

The daffodils are getting ready to burst open, it won't be long if the weather stays like this. I sorted out the last of the potatoes, taking home those good enough to eat. The other I will chit for this years crop.

Plot 68 bathed in sunshine. Not much growing except the grass, I'll have to cut soon. 

The hole story

The broad beans have made a slight recovery, in fact a better recovery that I thought they would. The cold wind and frost has damaged them, some of the plants that fell have not stood up again but most are battling on. I'm sure the damage wouldn't have been so bad if the first part of the winter had been so mild.

A closer inspection shows how the fallen stems have rotten but the plants are still growing so we should get beans from them I hope.

 If we don't my back-up plan has been put into action. I dug up my parsnips and prepared the soil for some new beans. Digging is hard work but dibbing the soil and dropping in beans is the fun part. I planted a mix of Masteriece Longpod and Aquadulce  again, lets see how long they take to catch up their sister plants.

Making the zig-zag pattern is very satisfying and will help the plants support themselves when the grow.

I had decided to dig up the remaining parsnips, this years crop had been disappointingly small and with their foliage going down I doubted they would get any bigger. As you can see above most were as small as I thought, not really big enough to bother eating. I think the dry spring last year was to blame, they never really got going until too late.

But as always the garden surprised me. There were about a dozen bigger parsnips as well which I've taken home to eat.

Frozen beans

A flying visit realised my worst fears. The beans which were so lofty only a week ago haven't coped with the sub zero temperatures. They were pretty much all frost damaged and lying limp on the ground. I don't know if they will recover or not? A pity because they were doing so well.

The garlic isn't wasn't badhit but as you see their leaves are floppy too. I suppose the cold weather will at least kill off some of the bugs and pests.

The artichokes have taken a tumble too. They tend to fall with the first frosts so I'm surprised they've last this long really. Still no signs of my rhubarb pushing through yet but that's probably just as well given the weather.