Spring Unsprung!

The Growing Year Stalls
An extended period of high pressure has resulted in a gloriously sky blue ceiling under which to work almost every day and starry, starry nights. But the high has mostly been positioned so as to drag in a chill airflow from northerly climes.

For the garden it's been a bit of a worry. With the end of April fast approaching, it's been anything but April showers, with just 18% of expected rainfall countrywide and virtually zero here. We did however get a few quite heavy snow flurries earlier in the month. At least we no longer have flooded paddocks and muddy chicken pens! On the flip side we have cracks in the ground, the water butts are empty and all growth is on hold, as is all outdoor sowing.

Frost patterns on the car rooves have been a regular feature this April

We've had a ridiculous number of frosty nights too which is resulting in a traffic jam of young plants building up. The conservatory is filling up. Come mid May there'll be a mad spell of moving plants along the chain and into the veg plot. 

No-Dig Benefits
I am growing a considerable number of perennial flowers and shrubs from seed this year. It's been an experiment in stratification, the process whereby seeds need to go through a period of cold (either naturally outside through winter, or simulated in the fridge). Now that I have pretty much stopped using the rotavator (we had some good times though), I can revert to my original vision of a veg plot filled with flowers and herbs. No-dig makes it far easier to leave plants in situ and work around them. The other benefit of no-dig which I am discovering is how the soil retains its structure and moisture, even during this extended period of dry weather we are experiencing.

Now that lockdown is easing, I've shown several visitors round the veg plot and they've been astonished at the quality of what is essentially a clay soil. No longer the choice between wet and sticky or dry and crusty, turning concrete. We used to have short periods in between these two states when the soil was delightful to work. Now, beneath the surface mulch of compost, straw or even selective weed growth, the soil is like that all the time. It's full of life too as the army of minibeast workers has returned to aerate the soil and turn debris into plant nourishment.

Magic Honey
It's been a busy few weeks with the bees too. Sue has become very knowledgeable, though she wouldn't admit it, and I have started to get more involved and have become her apprentice. When the weather was hot (a distant memory), we seized the opportunity to inspect all the hives. About half are dong really well indeed. One is exceptional, though so full that we need to try and deter them from swarming. The others are building up, but two are very lazy and always have been.

So we decided to amalgamate these two. It is better to have fewer strong hives than more weak ones. We managed to find and mark four queens too which should make life a little easier for future inspections.

All we need now is some warm weather again and a little rain to get things going and the honey will start flowing.

Meanwhile Sue has been selling off all last year's honey cheaply. With lockdown it has been very difficult to sell and there is no point having loads of it sitting around, even if it does last forever. We have also started producing magic honey which tops itself up and sometimes even overflows its jar. This is the creamed honey and what's happened is that the extra aeration has increased the overall moisture levels, allowing the honey to start fermenting. It still tastes absolutely fine but you need to be a bit more careful selling it.

It's also been a perfect excuse for Sue to have a go at making mead. The first batch is ready and has proved very drinkable indeed!

I'm a Fungi Guy

Mushroom dowels

A new experiment this year is dipping my toe into the world of mushroom growing. I'm starting with an easy one which should grow in the veg beds and forest garden quite easily, just needing straw and woodchip to get going, both of which are easily sourced in the countryside. At the moment they are just impregnated wooden dowels sitting in the fridge until the last frost has passed. More on this as it happens.

Amazing Nature

As usual, nature carries on its patterns. The first swallows are back in the stables, a big moment in the year. They were late this year, held up b the switch to northerly winds. Bee flies are very much in evidence again this spring. I love the way they hover with their proboscis poking out in front of them.

Best of all though is a long-tailed tit nest just outside our living room window.  Incredibly they construct it using moss, lichen, feathers and spider cocoons. Without question it's got to be the best nest of any British bird. It's only the second I've ever seen and the first was when I was much younger and one of thee experiences that first led me to being so enthralled by birds.

A Reorganisation
Finally, I have moved the old greenhouse frame from in front of the polytunnel. It's beyond rescue in terms of replacing the polycarbonate panels, but it could certainly be netted.

I am looking to put it to good use and am on the hunt for a new project (as if I haven;t got enough already!)

The space it vacated is to become my tree nursery area. Whenever I find a self-seeded sapling growing where I don't particularly want it, if I can I repot it. I am considering a bit of guerilla planting at some point!

Spring has Sprung

Spring has sprung

This is what happens if you 
sprout an eddoe root.
They'll get a lot bigger.

Wahayyyyyyy! It's the Easter hols.

Not only that, but we've had some gorgeous weather, with temperatures in the polytunnel rising into the 40s when the sun came out.

The polytunnel is already filling up with early crops which will be harvested and out of the way before the main polytunnel crops need the space. Growing in there at the moment are lettuces, rocket, miner's lettuce (claytonia), new potatoes, fennel, carrots and coriander.
In the house there's a burgeoning list of tender plants awaiting reliably warmer conditions to take their place, for these temperatures won't continue and cold nights are sure to make a comeback before we are frost free.

The really big news is that Covid lockdown is partially over. We can now meet in small groups outside. I can't pretend this has had any impact whatsoever on my life this week.

The poultry lockdown is over too. The chickens were overjoyed to get out of their pens and free-range again. They instantly got to pecking at anything green and scratching around in the soil. Egg production rocketed almost instantly, which speaks volumes for the welfare implications of locking chickens up every time bird flu comes around. 

We are finding turkey eggs everywhere too, in the straw stack, in an old disused shed, on the the compost heap... and they're only the ones we've found.

At this time of year, with the first butterflies appearing on warm days, it really does feel as if the smallholding is coming back to life after the winter. There were plenty of small tortoiseshells on the wing this week, spending much of their time on red dead-nettles. I saw my first peacock butterfly of the year and the first lemon-yellow brimstone bouncing through the garden.

On the veg plot I've planted my Second early potatoes - Charlottes, Bonnies and Kestrels. I prefer to go early on the early potatoes even though it takes more effort to protect the leaves from late frosts. The reason for this is because the are the potatoes capable of cropping well before blight usually hits. They are some of the tastiest potatoes too.

Getting ahead of thing, I've spent some time erecting bean poles too. This year I am using all willow coppiced here on the smallholding. To stop it taking root and growing I strip the bark off. Until now I've always let the sheep do this job, but never again. Stripping the bark off was a most satisfying job.

I've been wiling away some time weaving cloches to protect
my perennial kales from the wintertime attention of ducks and turkeys.

I'm still collecting plants for the forest garden. Plants, tubers and bulbs keep arriving in the post and there are a fair few unusual seeds on their way to the farm. This is a long-term project which I am very excited by. Unfortunately there's not a lot to show at the moment.

The food forest is being built up from existing beds, so the asparagus which pops its head up this week will have lots of company as it gets older. 

This annual appearance is one of those events which marks the passing of the seasons. Next up, the swallows arrive.

Meanwhile, next week the cold weather is forecast to be back with us.

Bloomin' Lovely

A quick update.

We've had some spells of windy weather lately but the almond blossom managed to come out at just the right time so hopefully the bees will be getting a good chance to pollinate the flowers. In fact the garden has been full of contented buzzing this week. The willow catkins are alive with bees, the mirabelle plum hedge is in full blossom for the first time since I planted it and the ground is covered with the hue of red dead-nettles.

I have decided to embrace
red dead-nettles

The mirabelle plum hedge is in blossom for the first time

For the first time we have frog spawn in the pond too which is very exciting news.

I planted my onion sets this week and my first early potatoes. There's not much to look at right now but it won't be long before the veg plot is full of crop plants again.

I've been busy in the polytunnel too, preparing poles for all the climbers. As well as tomatoes and cucumber, I want to grow squashes and melons vertically this year. I also have some sweet potato slips coming and a couple of more exotic climbers, groundnut and Madeira vine. It's time for another go at Yardlong beans too now that hopefully (fingers and everything else crossed) the red spider mite is on the retreat. I am using willow poles harvested from the pollard trees.

The big news is that Sue and I are old enough that we have had our first Covid vaccines but it doesn't quite feel like we can relax yet. A rare visit to Peterborough had us aghast at the sheer volume of people. I did manage to find two versions of eddoe in one of my favourite Asian supermarkets. 

Talking of eddoes, the bulbs I showed you last time have now been potted up and are doing really well. The ginger is growing too so the polytunnel should have a tropical feel to it this year.

On a sad note, the cat which appeared on the farm passed away. Sue found it under the straw store and at least made it comfortable for its last few hours..

Our turkey stag has gone into the freezer too. It seems he lost a battle with the young male and was looking very sorry for himself.  He was quite a size and I struggled to even carry him. We will miss him and the new turkey king will have to step up.

It is now the start of my Easter holiday and we have a few days of hot weather forecast. With the  equinox past, it will be a fortnight of hectic seed sowing and veg bed preparation. There'll be plenty to report on in my next post.