So said T S Eliot at the beginning of The Waste Land - though obviously this poem could not have been named after our plot, which is beginning to show definite signs of life and growth. We have been very busy each weekend, putting the finishing touches to beds and making a real move against the weeds that cometh in from the bank at the back. We are confident that the plastic sheets that were going to be recycled will prove an effective deterrent in the Pagoda.One important lesson for you backpain sufferers though - do not dig for hours on end, as we did on the bank, to prepare it for w
ildflower and green manure seeds. Many and severe were the repercussions! We had visitors for the Easter weekend, who were duly admiring of our plot and even lent a hand. We reflected on how different it looked 3 years ago and how much more confident (and yet still prone to disaster) we are. The daffodils made a triumphant - and much later than normal - appearance.We have to start by extolling the virtues of the greenhouse. It makes so much difference to be able to start things off in comfort. Sowing and thinning seeds is easy and what used to be a bit of a chore is now a regular Saturday retreat into a kind of quiet cultivational ecstasy. Things that we have sowed are: green beans (from last year), purple beans, borlotti beans, corn, marigold, dahlias, cucumbers, aubergines, melon (though who knows), many kinds of tomatoes, peppers, peas, mangetout, celery, winter cabbage, petit rosy, red cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, winter squash, pumpkin, butternut squash. Not bad eh?
The salad bed at home is also now looking fab thanks to a great new protective (against the cats) structure and is bursting with parsley, chard, rocket, spinach, lettuce and radish, with some spring onions too. It's so good to go to the plot with the se
edlings and put them in their new home. So far, we have installed cabbage, onions, broccoli and some peas on the plot (the latter may have been too early because of frost as they look a bit peaky).Things that haven't worked so well were the mangetout that we overwintered in the greenhouse. Planted out in early March, it was clearly too soon and the poor little blighters just froze to death (the weather still being rubbish then). Also one lot of the garlic we planted has something very wrong with it - it is yellow and shrivelled in places. We cannot recall whether this was our own garlic from last year, or shop-bought. We hope it will pull itself together.
Otherwise on the plot, the potatoes are now showing, and the overwintering onions are doing
well, though a bit yellow round the edges. This yellowing, like with the garlic, could mean a lack of water, as it has been exceptionally dry. We have had to water.Regular onions, carrots and shallots are beginning to come up, as are the various sets of peas frantically planted to ensure that we get a bumper pea crop this year. Spinach, chard and radishes are also beginning to appear. We have sown two main lots of carrots, with room for more, and some kohl rabi (?) a vegetable we have never encountered hitherto. Parsnips have been sown too in the amazing J-bed (the envy of Jan and Pat).
We picked our first rhubarb last weekend and had a lovely rhubarb custard fool dessert. It is a lovely plant and we hope we can live up to its expectations. I have been looking up rhubarb jam and wine recipes - watch out Hugh F-Whittingstall.The newly planted fruit trees (cherry, plum) are doing well too, and we are heartened to see plenty of apple blossom on our existing apple trees, especially the one that didn't really do much last year. We have put disgustingly sticky bands round each tree to protect them from the ants (remember, the aphid incident of last year). Do not underestimate ants - I peeled a potato today from our store and cut it open to find lots of happy looking fat ants which had spent a whole 6 months inside! They will be here long after us.
It is still not reliably warm enough to put out the beans, corn and squash - it has to be at least 5 degrees at night for a week. Hopefully in a couple of weeks we will be able to do so. What we really need (and I shouldn't be saying this about to go on a camping weekend) is a lot of rain here - but not on our campsite please.
Weather note: warmer than March, not much rain
