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 15ÂșC 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.

4 comments:

The Idiot said...

Plenty of work going on there, if only I could be sure that the snow is over I might do some outside stuff!

Unknown said...

Next week is March when sowing begins in earnest. The weather just has to get better, please.

Mark said...

Definitely feeling more spring like today, so maybe we can get on with some serious planting now! I have left you an award on my blog. I hope you will accept, you are not obliged to pass it on. I just thought I would let you know that I like your blog.

Michelle said...

Everything is finally coming to life!