20th February, 2012

I managed to get out in the garden during half term break. I tidied up the front garden so not a lot of work was done on the veg plots, but then there is not so much to do yet.  Mind you the weather was quite mild and it was nice to be active and outside. The week before was not so good with a deep covering of snow.  Beautiful to wake up to though.

I pruned the apple and pear trees.  The apple tree was hard work using the extended loppers.
The raspberries were cut down and I continued to collect the leaves to make precious leaf mould.

The broad beans were planted out as they were getting quite leggy and flopping over in the greenhouse, so I decided to plant them outside even though the nights are still frosty.

The kestrel seed potatoes (and fertiliser) have arrived and have been set out in egg boxes in the cool conservatory for chitting.

The apples have stored very well. Most of them are pristine like this one.

18th February, 2009

The milder weather has encouraged me to plant out the broad beans, also I was worried that they were getting pot bound and on a sunny day they might dry out in the greenhouse. So here they are in 2 double rows.



That should provide ample beans for this year.

To the right I have planted out some spinach which I sowed last October. Perhaps I should put a cloche over them to bring them on a bit.

The garlic hasn't done much through the winter but hopefully all the action is happening below ground, the individual clove is meant to be splitting I think.



There is still no sign of the second row of garlic I planted.

The rhubarb is emerging although the first shoots have suffered from the cold. This is one of the original crowns I got from my father and it's now the third season, so I should be able to harvest a good few sticks. The other 1 year crowns I bought have not emerged yet.



The weather feels like it is warming up and I'm looking at my seed packets. Perhaps I'll sow some in the next few days. I will also fit the automatic louvre windows to the greenhouse before I fill it up with seed trays. It's a lot different to just a few days ago. These were the blueberries in their pots on the patio under a blanket of snow.



I pruned the apple tree yesterday using the pruners I got for Xmas. They attach to a long pole and I was able to cut back the long branches that I couldn't reach last year. Great tool. I still have apples stored that are holding up well although a little shrivelled, but they are still good to eat.

The autumn fruiting raspberry canes have been cut down to ground level and there are new shoots coming through. The wooden supports for them have rotted at the base so I will have to rig up something more permanent.

2nd February, 2009

Like everyone else I have taken pictures of the garden covered in snow. It's not too bad here in the Midlands, but the snow has been getting steadily heavier this afternoon and now the roads are very slippery. The gritters have not been round here since last night and we are on a bus route, I expect they are busy.

Here is the side bed this morning.



And looking back to the greenhouse and shed.



Working form home today along with many others; the internet is probably under heavy usage.