It's been ages... not posted since January; so far this year it's been a slow process but hopefully things are looking up with the weather and it shouldn't take too long to catch up.
So, what's doing well?
I have a fine selection (if a bit slug & snail munched!) of courgette, pumpkin & squash in the greenhouse; some of the larger ones should be ready for planting out soon.
Cucumbers and a couple of watermelon plants are also coming along nicely.
Tomotoes are coming into their own after a very slow start.
There is a very fine tray of various lettuce needing to be planted out...
... a few peppers and a couple of cape gooseberries coming up behind everything else.
The potatoes (for Easter) clearly didn't arrive in time, but they are looking quite healthy; I doubt they will be ready yet, but I might have a bit of a rummage in the sacks to see what's there.
And finally, there are loads of flowers on the strawberries so hopefully that means there will be lots of fruit.
There is still a lot to be done though; haven't sown any peas or beans yet, only have a few brassicas, sweetcorn germination was very poor so need to resow, not sown any leeks, parsnips or turnips either as it's been too cold... I am going to be very busy for the next few weeks!
Very successful germination of cucurbits has taken place in the greenhouse; 3 black beauty
2 tondo di toscana and 2 zucchini
I'm still waiting for the all green bush and gold rush to show. In cucumber news, 4 mini-whites have germinated
Even the outdoor wonder melons have come through; although I've managed to get them to the flower stage before but never got them to fruit... this year we shall see
I am waaaay behind on where I want to be with my sowing schedule, but there was a frost last night and the local council has tweeted that the gritters will be out tonight so I'm still a bit wary about doing too much if the weather is against me. It is difficult though when the sun is shining like it has been most of today.
So, I did a little bit more sowing, and everything is in the greenhouse so fingers crossed.
I opened up my brand new seed packets of baby brassicas: matsuri (broccoli), ruby perfection (cabbage) and fremont (cauliflower). The idea behind these is that they will take up less room than the varieties I have previously grown. I also sowed calabrese, evesham special sprouts and dwarf green curled kale.
Courgettes were also started off today, 12 in all, a mixture of black beauty, gold rush, all green bush, tondo di toscana and zucchini. Now, I am not expecting all 12 to flourish on my plot. I don't have the room to grow that many plants to maturity, plus as much as I love them there is no way this household could cope with the number of courgettes that this many plants would produce. If they do all germinate (which is unlikely) friends and family lookout as you may find homeless plants appearing on your doorsteps.
I finished off today with a couple of butternut squash, a couple of hunter squash and a couple of outdoor wonder melons. I have never managed to produce a single melon and every year I try one variety or another, so I'm hoping that this will be the year for me.
Cucurbits are taking over the greenhouse; I have a newly germinated all green bush courgette and gherkin, both sown on Easter Sunday
3 newly germinated outdoor wonder melons, sown on Easter Saturday. I'm still waiting for the hunter squash to put in an appearance
5 courgettes (3 black beauty, 1 tondo di toscana, 1 gold rush) and 4 cucumbers (2 marketmore, 1 marketer, 1 mini-white) are ready to be potted on
3 yellow scallop squash and 3 jack o'lantern pumpkins are ready to be planted out
I have already planted out an all green bush courgette and 2 slangen longoda cucumbers
