May Day

I grabbed the hoe today and chopped the weeds between the rows. The radishes are amazing, probably the best I’ve ever grown. It was brilliant using the cloche, it’s brought them on much earlier than normal. The peas are now 8 inches high and have started climbing up the pea sticks I put in last week.  I’ve planted out some Webbs lettuce plants, I had put in some carrot seeds, but there aren’t that many showing, so have decided to put the lettuce amongst them, if the carrots still want to grow they can. Years ago we had some cloches, they don’t have any plastic left, just the wire, they are placed over the lettuces, ready to lay the fleece over tomorrow.

The forecast for the rest of the week is wet and cold, with ground frosts overnight and day temperatures being only very cold, so I need to make sure that all my plants are snuggled up to stop them getting damaged.

The farmshop near Bashley has a brilliant collection of plants at very reasonable prices, I bought a pack of calabrese and another of cauliflower, 2 tomatoes for hanging baskets and a pepper plant. Mine have germinated, but they aren’t advanced as far, so will be producing later in the season.

Pricked out some Little Gem lettuces, also potted up the tomatoes and pepper from today. The Ipomoea also needed pricking out, loads more needs doing, but I need more space first.

Seeds sown today (again in the greenhouse) were celeriac, romanesco cauliflower, purple calabrese, leeks, hispi cabbage and some sweet peas designed for hanging baskets.

So much still to plant. Hubby has brought me back some garden lime and some pelleted chicken manure. I now need to look up about cabbages, I know they need a high lime content to encourage them to grow properly, so definitely need to do some serious research.

Picked the first rhubarb from the garden for Mum and Dad. Still need to sort out the rest of the flower garden, I’m inspired by Geoff Hamilton’s Ornamental Kitchen Garden and Alys Fowler’s Edible Garden, the idea of producing a pretty garden that also produces food is my idea of heaven, I’m going to start to plant the veg amongst the flowers, but need to ensure I label everything properly so that others know what everything is, I know the herbs and veg, but Mum and Dad may not be so sure, so I need to keep it simple to identify everything.

Roast chicken is in the oven with the roast potatoes and parsnips, serving with lashings of spring cabbage and gravy.

If the weather is grotty tomorrow, I will be in the greenhouse or filling the kitchen with the smell of baking. Now what shall I bake this time……………………