Thursday did some sowing in the tunnel - 5 pots of Butternut Squash (hurricane), 4 pots of Jalepeno Peppers, 4 pots of California Wonder peppers, 4 pots of Black Beauty Aubergine. Made a seed bed on east side bed for Greyhound Cabbage, Red Drumhead Cabbage and Bedford Brussels Sprouts.
Friday carried on mowing and tidying. Planted a row of Nicola spuds (having cleared the docks under the carpet cover)
Saturday mowing for a couple of hours towards the quince area.
Sowed 1 row early Nantes Carrots and a row of 12 garlic and 10 Stuttgart Onion sets in plot 4. (after yet more weeding and dock removal)
Visit from Judy and partner from far end of Underlane towards Pipers Pool. Made appreciative noises (they have about 5 acres up there and have been living in social distancing isolation there for 12 years (insecurely and perhaps not entirely legally from a planning point of view). Farmer around them has recently put in 1000 head cattle unit and been polluting the Kensey headwaters with effluent run-off.
Judy says I should paint the tunnel water butt black to stop it getting toxic green algae.
Today spring is here. Sunny day with light easterly wind. Almost down to t-short while mowing, but not quite. Clear blue sky - heard only 3 aeroplanes far overhead during the afternoon - I wonder if the lack of flights will reduce the global dimming and cause yet more problems.
More mowing at the bottom end of orchard. Weeding strawberries - need to give them some fresh compost mulch (and get some straw)
Extended the tunnel seed bed to include Leeks (Mussleburgh) Savoy Cabbage (Vertus), Cauliflower (All Year Round) and Celeriac (Monarch). Made a deeper drill than needed and filled bottome with seed'n'cutting compost then sowed and covers with more see'n'cutting. We shall See...
Wednesday was blustery with cloudy intervals, some sunshine. Wind from the west. Did mowing and raking up in main area
Thursday weeded plots 1 & 4, clearing out docks and dandelions that were coming through in the dug over areas.
Friday spent weeding strawberries. Mowing below tunnel and small bonfire of dock stems and dried grass before a lunchtime shower.
Blossom on the old greengage and damson and Dittisham Ploughmen. Loads of primroses out further back along Underlane.
Put up shelves in shed in front of windows so chitting spuds get some light. Tied in loganberries and removed some deadwood.A bit of pruning of apricots where touching roof, plus hand pollination, first leaves opening. A bit of mowing done. Sunny intervals and showers.
And still it rains, the wind blows - admittedly with occasional sunny gaps this week. Did manage an hour of mowing one day, and some weeding and general tidying. Primroses have struggled out in Underlane after the snowdrops and also the odd lesser celandine. A few buds evident on pears and cherries and quince.
Have planted some garlic cloves in tunnel, and also chilli pepper seeds in potlets
Yet another wet and windy week. Rain just about every day, winds fresh to strong from west to north west. Often cold as well. Ground completely saturated. To wet to dig or mow.
Today simply managed to pot cuttings of cottage broccoli and bamboo that I lifted from public gardens in Teignmouth of Thursday. Aside from that managed a bit of shed tidying earlier in the week.
Overcast, light wind from west. Shed 12.8, 12.8, 9.2 Tunnel 18.5, 18.5, 9
Watered tunnel beds ready for sowing.Started weeding the strawberry bed. Planted a conker from Woodfield.
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