We managed to get another two afternoon's work done on the plot last week. Martyn consulted the weather charts and it seemed that we had until the weekend before the very wet weather set in again.
Martyn spent Monday cultivating the small beds that we always plant up first. Fortunately they had dried enough to make this possible.
Whilst he was busy doing that, I started tidying another flower bed.
On Thursday afternoon we set off to the plot with a boot full of things to plant.
Martyn started covering beds with appropriate pieces of weed control fabric and I got on with planting the annuals that had been languishing in the greenhouse. You may remember that circumstances prevented me from sowing the seeds direct in autumn. As it happened they maybe wouldn't have survived the harsh conditions last winter but they certainly were in desperate need of planting out.
I planted nigella, poppies, larkspur and cornflowers.
The plants were hardly brilliant specimens so I am not optimistic that they will thrive, especially as the weather forecasts foretell that they will have to endure some further harsh conditions. This morning - Easter Monday - we woke up to this:
I just hope that the snow doesn't hang around but the annuals just couldn't be left in the greenhouse any longer.
Martyn prepared beds for our trial potatoes and our onion and shallot sets.
Potato planting is on hold until the soil warms up a bit - we have already planted some in potato bags and have more to plant in large pots so we should manage to harvest some earlier than those planted on the plot.
We did, however plant the onions and shallot sets. The two beds were planted up with, Golden Gourmet and Red Sun shallots, and Rumba, Red Karmen, Stuttgarter and Sturon onions.
Last year's onions did really well and we are still using them from storage but unfortunately we didn't manage to plant any autumn varieties so I hope the stored bulbs don't start growing any time soon.
Once sown we placed twigs over the bed to stop any furry or feathered creatures from digging them up.
We felt better at having managed to complete these tasks as we were sure that we were going to fall well behind.
As we were finishing off the rain started but we gathered the vegetables that we needed - a bunch of leeks and a dinky little cabbage.
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I feel I've been racing against the rain all weekend, Sue. I've managed to get quite a bit done though, between showers, but it's always a risk. Do the 'sticks over the bed' work? I've covered my planted beds with old trellis, etc, and have found fox or cat footprints the following morning - and onion sets pulled out by birds. I'll probably put some fleece over those beds today, might work better. Hope your plants survive the snow and that it melts quickly.
ReplyDeleteThe sticks seem to work, Caro. Maybe not 100% but fairly well. WE use the same techniques when sowing seeds direct. The snow has turned to rain no thank goodness. Not that we need even more rain.
DeleteThose sticks wouldn't deter my local cats / foxes! These days I have to install much more substantial protection. There seems no end to the cold and wet conditions this year. The countryside seems completely waterlogged. I'm so glad the soil round my way is sandy - though I may regret it when the next drought arrives.
ReplyDeleteOn our plot there are far more easier places to trample about, Mark. Our grass is waterlogged too. I’ve never seen our lawn as soggy. It’s swings and roundabouts where soil texture is concerned. Clay soil is apparently very fertile. The trouble is if it dries too mush it becomes rock hard.
DeleteYou got a lot accomplished! More snow here this morning.
ReplyDeleteI wonder whether it is too much to hope that today’s snow was the last of the year, tpals
DeleteGood you have managed to get so much done this week.. our onions and potatoes are still languishing inside. We use sticks stuck in the ground at an angle to keep cats off the beds at home, as they can be such pests. Let's hope things dry out soon!
ReplyDeleteI don’t know whether there are many cats on our site, Kathy but there certainly are foxes.
DeleteMore snow! Yikes. It looks like you got a tremendous amount done, it looks great.
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure how long it will be before we manage to get more done, Margaret. It is so wet now.
DeleteYour plot looks very tidy, Sue. We need to get down to our allotment soon and get our potatoes planted. We had snow too this morning, it's been a really dreary Bank Holiday Monday
ReplyDeleteThose are the tidiest parts, Margaret. We haven’t managed the usual renovation projects this ‘out of growing season’ time. WE have never had so much plot free time.
DeleteYou have been busy!
ReplyDeletePoor you, that snow! I am sure not enough to do any harm.My own garden has now quite a lot of leaf scorch apparent after those cold winds two weeks ago. And today an inch and a half of rain. It's not supposed to do that when parts of my garden were already flooded.
It’s just so wet and soggy though, Roger. After the snow we had rain for most of the day too.
DeleteWell done for getting that done. More snow, eurgh! But I must say that palm looks very pretty with the snow topping!
ReplyDeleteYes the snowy palm always look impressive, Belinda.
DeleteIt was great that you got all that work done while you could. And you might be pleasantly surprised by how the annuals do. I imagine they will be happier in the ground. We got rain instead of snow for Easter, another inch of it. I'm thankful I got onions out when I did, because it's a muddy mess out there now.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the wet, dreary weather has been very widespread this year, Dave,
DeleteWell done on making the most of the opportunity. I've only managed a couple of rows of spuds on Sunday - although I pretty much filled up the allium patch earlier in the week. (The snow didn't settle here.)
ReplyDeleteThe only potatoes that we have planted are in bags, Mal.
DeleteSnow?!? Good heavens! I do hope your annuals survive, spring is well behind this year. It's got to warm up soon!xxx
ReplyDeleteI hope so, Dina
DeleteThank you for sharing Sue lovely update blessing to you and Martyn i am behind on my spuds but waiting for seeds to germinate in greenhouse of onions
ReplyDeleteI’m still hoping that we can eventually catch up, Linda
DeleteGood thing you were able to get some work in before the rain - both rain and cold are limiting my efforts around here.
ReplyDeleteIt was , Margaret, now we need some drying weather so we can do more,
DeleteGreat job getting things planted and tilled. Once it warms up and dries out you'll be ready to go. I'll be transplanting seedlings into bigger containers this weekend, we're having a cold wet spring as well.
ReplyDeleteToday has been sunny so hopefully drying may have started, Phuong That’s as long as we don’t have more rain which unfortunately is a distinct possibility
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