7th April
April is here, and the blocked plants are flying on.
In the greenhouse we have started the cucumbers, climbing beans and a small batch of two hundred and fifty courgettes for the cosy tunnel we are hoping to re sheet this week.
The picture today on the blog and Facebook are of the speed these seeds germinate and grow.
First picture is the compost starting to get pushed up, day two the seed is through day three we have a full plant with two leaves.
Out in the field we will plant the rest of the courgettes (750) and all the squash plants another three thousand.
We won’t start them until the brassicas are out of the wee tunnel they can’t take the frost.
The greenhouse has a heater that comes on when the temperature drops below 5 degrees.
All the Brassicas plants are only about two weeks away from needing taken out of the tunnel to harden off.
Before planting the plants in the field, we take the plants out to a tunnel that has just a bird netting cover.
We usually leave them outside in this tunnel for around two weeks to harden off, this just gets them ready for a life outside in an open field.
The leeks and onions always take a bit longer before they need taken out.
Usually, we have the brassicas planted then the leeks and onions are ready to be taken out.
If you remember back to when I built a shed out of willow trees and pallets for the fleece and a few machines, I had hoped the willow trees I had cut for the posts would grow, giving me a living shed.
They have started to grow, there are fresh new shoots coming out of the main support posts, which hold the side pallet walls and the roof.
It is going to look like a huge shed from lord of the rings, we will need to maintain it and keep it well trimmed, and with being willow trees that will need to be done at least twice a year.
The cosy tunnel is now fully re paired and ready to be re sheeted.
Hopefully, this week weather permitting we will have that done.
It is getting to that time of year when the potatoes and carrots are coming to an end, with the warmer weather the potatoes can start to sprout, so just keep them somewhere cool and dark, it is a long time till the new ones will be ready, we will probably go onto washed carrots soon.
