Well the last time I wrote a regular post was in February and the weather was mild and sunny, today in April it is cold with a little sun but snow and ice! However there were some periods when work could go on and I managed to level out the carrot bed and the new strawberry bed. Both these areas are ready to have their frames erected before sowing and planting.

I have also managed to plant all my early potatoes in bed 6, this year. I am splitting my early and main crop potatoes into two different beds to try to reduce blight. I have weeded and cultivated round the garlic and started to weed the leek beds.

In tunnel 2 the peas, beans are coming on well and I had to thin the beetroot this weekend. The spring onions are through and the onion sets in modules are beginning to grow. The spring cabbage and chard in tunnel 1 are being cropped and the tunnel is clearing so I can dig it and get it ready for the tomatoes and cucumbers later on.

The seeds sown in trays over the past few weeks are nearly ready to be moved up into modules.

Work to do this week

1. Dig manure in on bed 4.
2. Erect frames for strawberries.
3. Erect frame for carrots.
4. Finish weeding leeks – Done

Work done this week

Sunday

1. Rake out carrot bed
2. Weed garlic
3. Weed small leek bed
4. Dig end and side of tunnel 1

Monday

1. Weed more of leek bed
2. Water tunnels
3. Plant potatoes

Tuesday

1. Finish weeding leeks
2. Start digging bed 4 for main crop potatoes

Wednesday

1. Rain!

Thursday

1. Meeting at lunch – nice day
2. Early finish – Rain!

Friday

1. Water tunnels
2. Dig more of bed 4

Crops picked this week

1. Spring cabbage
2. Chard
3. Leeks

This is to bring you up to date on the work since the last posting, almost a month ago.I have taken most of the brassica cage down, there are still a few sprouting broccoli in the frame, and dug the remainder and covered it with manure. The parsnips have been dug up and the bed dug over and manured.

I have dug in the manure on the remainder of bed 6 and on the new strawberry bed next to tunnel 2. The kale and a few cabbages have been removed from bed 5, next to the leeks, and the area dug ready for parsnips when it has warmed up a little. This years carrot bed, on bed 5, has been weeded and dug over and now needs raking out and the frame erecting ready for sowing again when the soil warms up a bit more.

In tunnel 2 I have sown some more carrots, beetroot,spring onions and radish all of them are through and the beet are ready for thinning. In tunnel 1 the spring cabbage is doing well and we are eating it.

I think that paints the current picture and I will now start to do my weekly reports.

This is an interim report on my plot to catch up on what has been going on since the last weekly post.

I have had a delivery of manure and covered the areas already dug with a layer of manure, except for the bed where I will be growing my carrots.

I have cleared the brassica frame of the old sprouts and red cabbage ready to start weeding and digging, the only things left are three or four sprouting brassica plants which will be producing soon.

I have started digging in the manure that I spread on bed 5 before Christmas, the thick layer that I put on is now only a very thin laye. The worms have worked hard and dragged a large quantity of the manure into the soil – the worms look healthy too. The texture of the soil on the beds is changing over the years with all the manure I have reincorporated into it. What was a very sandy soil is now getting heavier and looking more of a loam.

The leeks are standing well and providing good crops, as are the parsnips which will soon start to regrow as the weather warms up. I have pulled the rest of the carrots up in tunnel 1 ready to start digging and manuring for this years crop of tomatoes and cucumbers. The spring cabbage in tunnel 1 is looking good and will soon be use, leaving more empty space.

I have sown carrots in tunnel 2 for an early crop, together with two rows of broad beans and three rows of peas. I have also sown some beetroot and spring onions in the centre bed.

I have started sowing onions, cabbage, cauliflowers and lettuce in trays in tunnel 1 but I think that there are some mice around and they are eating the seeds or the seedlings as soon as they come through. Steps will have to be taken to put an end to this!

What a change a few days make, from dodging the rain to sitting in the sun in shirt sleeves. I have managed to get quite a bit of digging done in the last few days and will soon be finished digging the area cleared of timber. I have also done the first weeding of the season round the garlic!

I hope in the next few days to start sowing in the tunnel with carrots, beet and peas and in some trays with brassicas. I have noticed that many of the shrubs in the flower beds are begining to show colour in the opening buds.

The feel of the sun on you makes the work seem easier and you want to do more until it starts to weaken as the sun starts to set and then you realise that it is only mid February. The tunnels are begining to warm up I saw 28 degrees in one tunnel on Sunday, but lets not get too carried away we could still have some very cold weather yet.

JOBS FOR THE WEEK

1. Finish digging the strip
2. Sow seeds in tunnel
3. Dismantle brassica cage

WORK DONE THIS WEEK

Sunday

1. Water tunnel
2. dig more of strip

Monday

1. Continue digging

Another week gone by with very little work done on the plot due to unforeseen events and the weather, of course. However things are happening at last and it is becoming obvious that the seasons have changed and spring is not very far away.

The hens have started laying again due to the days getting longer, and things are starting to grow. The garlic is now all through and getting taller, the rhubarb gets stronger almost daily and there are signs of new life in the weeds! All the crops over wintering in the tunnel are now begining to look a lot better and will soon be ready.

I have dug over tunnel 2 and started soaking the soil ready for some early crops of beetroot, carrots and peas which I should be sowing in the next 2 weeks. I must now get on and finish digging the remaining areas of soil still to be finished. It is also time to start sowing some other crops in trays for latter.

JOBS FOR THE WEEK

1. Start cleaning seed trays
2. Continue digging
3. Clean tunnel covers.

WORK DONE THIS WEEK

Sunday

1. Water beds in tunnel 2

Monday

1. Short lunch so nothing done

Tuesday

More interuptions to the important work!

Wednesday

1. Water tunnel 2