7 March 2009 - Chunder

Dear readers, it is a mercy that I am here to tell the tale at all. We have been sabotaged by Chunder (and worse). It has afflicted the two of us most pitifully but thankfully at separate times, otherwise the bathroom situation would have been unbearable. Happily there was a day between the two onslaughts, yesterday, where we got a tolerable amount achieved on the plot.

N continued to dig up the bank for potatoes. It is looking fab, and much better than hitherto. I pulled the dead dry vegetation and used it to make a rudimentary footpath along the side of the dug bank. He appears to be getting better at digging without incurring after-pain which is good.

The carrot bed is now complete and N proudly sowed a row or two of carrots (Amsterdam Forcing) (see above) "under glass" (see right). I plea-bargained for a row of parsnips at the end.

Bed 1 - the last few leeks were dug up. Some came home with us and others have been fashionably "heeled" (where they are stuck into a bit of earth for safe-keeping). In their place, we sowed a small row of Red Baron onions and a few small rows of Ailsa Craig. We also sowed a few spinach plants for fun. The chard, though moth eaten, is still going and perhaps will be rejuvenated by the spring. No sign of life from the shallots.

Bed 2 - the garlic is looking terrific. It has grown very fast. We uncovered the other bit and sowed rows of Napoleon F1, Brunswick (red) and Ailsa Craig onions. This year we have not started any inside.

Bed 4 - the plants purporting to be purple sprouting broccoli are really weird. It does look as though something purple is happening to some of them. I continue to have faith.

Pagoda/seed bed - sowed sweet pea seeds saved from last year around the netting as it was so lovely before. Also sowed Summer Purple Sprouting Broccoli (seriously) and Red Drumhead (cabbage). The earlier broccoli seedlings have appeared, no sign of the leeks yet.

Bed 5 - last January King cabbage harvested and all green manure finally dug in except for the kale bit, and chicken manure pellets scattered to give the soil some zip. In between the kale I sneakily sow some radishes (free from a magazine) and rocket (ditto). This is how we'll beat the credit crunch.

Meantime at home we have had a slight setback with our plastic greenhouse collapsing nearly destroying every single lettuce seedling. But this is as nothing to The Chunder.