April 2007 Video Diary

 

This is just a diary of some of the things we have done or noticed if you want to add your information or observations click here 

 

Weekend 29 April

On the plot

• Finished planting potatoes and onions. (Do we really eat so many?)
• Lots of watering to do
• Planted some Early Onwards peas directly in the plot
• Grass paths are growing quickly as are the dandelions so lots of strimming!

In the garden

• Repotted more hostas – some have already been nibbled by slugs – they’ll regret it once we set the nematodes onto them!
• Decided that the stuff growing in our pond is watercress.

In the green house

• Planted French beans - Delinel
• Planted Red and Green Salad Bowl, Webbs Wonderful and Little Gem  lettuce
• Planted basil and chives

Out and About

• Saw my first swallow of the season, it was checking out the eaves around work looking for a suitable place to nest.
• Found out that the plant growing in the hedgerow that I couldn’t identify last week is garlic mustard. Interestingly none is growing in the part that is a designated a roadside nature reserve. Someone chops this verge back every year so it probably doesn’t manage to get established!
• The horse chestnut trees are coming into flower

Weekend 22 April

This weekend was rather cloudy and probably not the best time to take my monthly photos but that's life

On the plot

• Planted out salad leaves, mizuna, golden streaked and red, Komatsuna, mustards, skyrocket,
• Planted out summer cabbage - Puma (under environmesh)
• The carrots are coming up so we covered them with enviromesh to ward off carrot fly – I am not convinced that the other methods work! Maybe your experience is different
• Radish is now up.
• Onions, shallots are now sprouting well
• More watering
• Peas are up
• Planted some more broad beans
• Apple cordons are now in blossom

In the garden

• The bumble bees are searching the ground for a suitable place to nest – some have snoozes on the flowers whilst they take a break from house hunting
• The gunnera is now auditioning for Dr Who. I am sure you can actually watch it grow
• Fish are becoming more demanding of food. – I wish I was 100% sure that the plant growing in our pond is watercress especially as a small pack of it costs 99p at the supermarket and I could have a pond full!
• Our Malus Profusion is living up to its name – at the moment it is a red cloud of blossom providing a great hiding place for birds amongst which are goldfinches that can be permanently heard twittering somewhere just out of sight among the flowers.
• The John Downie crab apple is just coming into flower.
• Many other shrubs are flowering and perennials are starting to pop up ready to run the gauntlet of marauding slugs!
• We are again finding lots of cleanly emptied snail shells, the shells are completely in tact so something is winkling out the occupants – wonder if it could be our resident frog population.

Out and About

• The oil seed rape is painting a blanket of acid yellow over the countryside and causing many people to have sore throats, headache and sniffles. Me among them
• Dandelions provide a more natural carpet of a warmer yellow along grass verges (and unfortunately our grass paths on the plot) accompanied by sprinklings of daisies.
• The first bluebells are out in the hedgerows. I hope that the ones in the verges along my route to work are left to finish flowering this year as for the past two years they have been mown down. The verges are designated as roadside nature reserves so someone seems to have the wrong idea about what this means.
• Other wild flowers are putting on a show in the hedgerow, one of which is greater stitchwort another I can’t quite make out from the car as I drive past but it is growing in abundance.
• Trees are beautiful now – the ornamental cherries look magnificent and others are starting to leaf up providing the special fresh green of spring.
• The hawthorn are beginning to flower – depends on their location as to how far along they are.

 

 

 

Weekend 15 April

On the plot

• We did a lot of tidying up - kept needing to remind ourselves that it was only April and not be tempted to plant things that would suffer if the weather turned cold.
• Planted some cranberry plants in between the blueberries planted last year.
• Also had to do lots of watering as it was really dry.
• Planted some more potatoes, Juliette and Charlotte.
• Strawberries are flowering really well but I suppose a frost will put paid to any berries forming.
• Apple trees are in bud.

In the garden

• More tidying up and digging out plants that have overstayed their welcome.
• Potted up hostas - hope that the slugs don't cause as much damage this year - we are thinking of buying some nematodes to help.
• Took the fleece off the tree fern (no signs of fronds - the fleece may need to go back).
• Uncovered the gunnera which is growing strongly.
• Cut old growth from ferns - lots of new fronds are growing.
• Planted some wild primroses.
• Pear tree is in full flower.

Out and about

• Lovely summer weather very warm and sunny.
• The wild cherry trees are looking good now.
• Unfortunately the rape of our countryside has started - instead of rolling green fields we have fields of acid yellow. Oil seed rape is the only plant that gives me a touch of hay fever. Sore throat, headachy and sneezes. Coming along the motorway from junction 38 you really need sunglasses as the yellow fields dominate the view. This crops has also been blamed for the increase in pests such as pollen beetles and pests that affect brassicas. It is also straying onto the verges and threatening to compete with our wild flowers. I suppose you have guessed that I hate it! If anyone wants to start a petition against it - I'll sign.
• The garden centres were heaving but we had to pay a visit. I got some lovely fritillaries one snakeskin and another white. The snakeskin one has just developed white flowers and snakeskin flowers!

 

Weekend 8th April (Easter Weekend)

On the plot

• Planted various varieties of potatoes - salad varieties as we prefer these. We have chosen, Cherie, Juliette, Belle de Fontenay, Charlotte and Nicola.
• Sowed a couple of rows of Early Onward peas.
• Sowed carrots in drills of compost. We have decided to experiment with some. strange colours such as Yellowstone. Purple Haze, Healthmaster and Ingot. To be on the safe side we have also planted two long rows of Autumn King.
• Sowed radishes and spring onions.
• Continued to clear beds and rotavate them .
• Gooseberries are in flower.
• Blackcurrants are in bud.
• Some flowers on the alpine strawberries and also early 'ordinary' strawberries - Mae (Maybe if the frosts stay off we could have some really early strawberries).
• Cuddled a baby chick! Well as near to cuddling as you can with something so tiny.

In the garden

• More or less a general tidy up time,

In the green house

• Sowed leeks - Oarsman, lettuce - Little Gem, Webbs Wonderful and Green and Red Salad Bowl, kale - Nero di Toscana, parsely - French Plain Leaved, cabbage - Hispi and Picador, cardoons, peas - Alderman and turnip - Aramis.
• Flowers also sown larkspur - Ajacias Sublime Mixed, Salvia - Victoria, Echinacea - Purple Magnus, cornflower - Tall Double Mixed, cosmos - Double Click, Chrysanthemum - Primrose Gem, Centranthus - Ruber Mixed and Ruber Snowcloud, mesembryanthemum - Sparkles Mixed, agastache - Anisata, Zinnia - Scabious Flowered Mixed

Hope that we can find room to grow them all on!

Out and about

• The trees are now beginning to get that fresh green spring look. It's a really beautiful time of the year as the leaf buds 'spring' into growth
• The birds are in full flow now, announcing their territory to all comers.

Weekend April 1st

On the plot

• Plotters are busy digging, the sound of rotavators fills the air!
• We have just planted our first potatoes although many plotters started to do this much sooner
• The new strawberry plants have been planted out.
• New raspberry canes are starting to shoot
• Blueberries bushes are in bud - we only planted the bushes last year so are hoping for more than the half dozen berries that we have had so far.
• The rhubarb is starting to grow quickly - well we are in the middle of the rhubarb triangle so you would expect it to do well. Ours grows like a weed.
• The parsnip seeds have been sown.

In the garden

• Tadpoles are growing and really active now.
• Birds are singing and collecting nesting material. Why do blue tits insist on using the sparrow terrace that we bought a couple of years ago? - They did this last year too. Apparently blue tits do not like to nest near other birds so why nest here when there a several detached boxes in our garden?

Out and about

• The trees are now starting to bloom.
• The forsythia looks beautiful at the moment - what a shame that it doesn't last for very long and then looks nothing special

  The photos below were taken on 22 April which was a rather dull day. In the main, however, April was warm and sunny for much of the time. It was the sort of weather that makes you forget that it is still early in the year and tempts you into putting out tender plants just a little too early. If we don't get a frost then those who couldn't resist the temptation will get away with their early start but don't worry if you haven't got round to planting out yet, there is still plenty of time and things do tend to catch up. It has also been a very dry month - what has happened to the April showers? Maybe waiting until the time of our outdoor meeting on the 29th.

  Tom on plot 55, ably assisted by Sophie, is making a great start on his new plot, as are Alex and Mark. They have made a real difference to what was a neglected area of the site. Things should really start to change on our plots during the coming months so I am looking forward to seeing how our photos show these changes. I am starting to know the plot numbers a little better but still may have made mistakes. Pat and Jazz have decided to help out by numbering their shed. I really think the reason is that they spend so much time on their plot that they are thinking of having their mail delivered here. 

 

This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog