As you sow...



Wednesday 21st March 2012



Thursday 22nd March 2012
A surprise frost, a warm day ahead.
I didn't miss the sunrise, it took this long to break through.





Piglet Progress
The piglets have been provided with the luxury of a heat lamp to keep them warm. Today I decided to try them without. In theory the straw and their mum's heat should keep them warm enough, and they should have enough body fat by now to help keep themselves warm.



I'm not sure whether Daisy is happy

about this or not, but the piglets

now cuddle up to mum instead

of huddling under the heat lamp.



Outdoor sowing

The last of the winter crops has been harvested, most of the beds are prepared, and it's time to get the show going! In went the parsnips, with garlic and marigolds as companions. They'll be ready for harvest come next year's frosts. Then turnips, a quick growing crop to use the soil space before the cabbages go in. Next some broad beans, dipped in paraffin to keep the mice off them. They'll need netting before the shoots appear, as those tender tips proved irresistible to something last year. Two varieties of pak choi - I don't particularly enjoy eating anything green, but these I find one of the more palatable. And this year I have a plan to thwart the flea beetles and whitefly that plagued last year's plants.

Finally I dug over the Jerusalem artichoke patch and replanted a dozen of the healthiest looking tubers. Alongside these I put in eight large bulbs which I found tucked in an envelope, already beginning to sprout. I think they're Elephant Garlic. It's unusual for me not to label something, as I know this is what happens - miscellaneous crops.