21st February, 2010

I thought the cold weather had ended so I have planted out the broad beans and spring onions. They beans were getting a bit leggy and there have been a couple of nice sunny days which fooled me into thinking spring was here, but this morning I woke to 2-3" of snow.

Here are the broad beans before the snow; I planted 2 double rows (only one double row in picture).



And here are the spring onions.



This is the effect of the snow on the veg cage. I need to buy some more clips to hold the netting in place. The purple sprouting broccoli protected within, is coming along nicely and I hope to have a few meals from the plants despite the pigeon damage.



As well as the broad beans, I sowed leeks and more peas (to replace the failed sowings of November) in the greenhouse. The spinach I sowed is struggling along.



I have also sown aubergines, parsley, basil and celeriac which are indoors on a windowsill. I follow the packet instructions and these require a minimum of 15ºC for germination.



I did try a bit of digging and incorporated some home made compost. The soil is very wet though and I stopped after one trench.



Despite the nasty weather, signs of life are emerging.

The garlic is showing through.



Rhubarb.



Fruiting buds on apple tree. I'm fairly convinced that this is a fruiting bud as it is quite fat and hairy. It's forming on the tip, so I'm having to revise how to prune the apple tree (again!). I've taken off a few branches that are showing signs of damage or disease and then left it pretty much at that for now. I've not pruned those branches that clearly show a fat bud on the tips or spurs.



I was very pleased to receive a large package in the post this week. The greengage tree arrived from Thompson & Morgan. It had a very small root ball which worries me a little, but I went ahead and planted it with plenty of compost in the hole and a nice mulch.



Finally, a picture of some snowdrops that I bought in the green rather than bulbs which are less reliable. They should make a nice show in the front garden border.