It’s actually May Day, but this post is marking the end of April and we had some welcome rain - very cold rain and hail yesterday - and Froggy has found a friend.
The seedlings and weedlings are happy, finally some salad leaf is appearing.
The wildlife plot has green shoots all over it, but I wonder how much of that is from the seeds we sowed?!
So yesterday, before the hail, we managed to plant the potatoes.
Just Nicola and Kestrel; some in the ground (planted using a bulb planter) and others in potato bags.
While I was doing a plant-swap with Ivan - one of our Rudbeckia plants (self-seeded) for two of his self-seeded Echinacea plants - and planting them by the pond and by the polytunnel, Jamie was busy creating the carrot mesh tunnel. We were just ready to sow when the hail started, so we had to hide for a while. We were watching the magpies.
They were very defensive today; attacking jackdaws and this red kite - I know it’s not a great photo, but they were moving fast and annoyingly the other side of the wires!
Eventually we got the carrots sowed - a row of Eskimo and one of Early Nantes.
Soon after that we went home as it was chilly and too wet to do more. We’re hoping to get a few more seeds sown at the weekend, though the weather is rather hit and miss. Here’s a link to a FREE online event if you’re interested. It’s the author talking about her book regarding mental health and the benefit of gardening.
Aah, look at the plot after rain, so much healthier-looking. And there’s the carrot tunnel at the end of Plot7 next to the beets.
I had to look closely to spot the second froggy, yes i need to go to the opticians. But will wait until i have had my second vaccine. i am still being careful, very careful. Not visited family or friends yet, or had anyone come on over. Pleased to read that you have had you second, though the side effects of sickness are never welcome, i agree thank you to NHS. Anyway, protect the salad seedlings from the slugs who do like coming out to play in the rain, and munching. The online event sounds interesting, i will keep it in mind and may sign up closer to the time.
ReplyDeleteI had to put my reading glasses on to sow salad onions today - first time I’ve had to do that! You’re right, now the rain has come I probably should protect those little lettuces but I do hate slug pellets. Perhaps the frogs will deal with the slugs - I saw 4 in the pond today!
DeleteWe still haven’t had any‘proper’ rain and it feels as though we are heading towards a mini Ice Age. A pair of Magpies have devastated a sire where a variety of birds were nesting in my sister’s garden. The whole episode really upset her.
DeleteStill no rain? We’re getting sunshine and showers with nighttime frosts - very frustrating!
DeleteI’ve read of a lot of magpie devastation this year. Nature is so cruel. The little birds are just so vulnerable.
I cleaned out my wildlife pond yesterday and found around 16 frogs in it, which made me happy. Newts as well. I need a LOT of rain now, to fill it back up. A magpie took some blackbird chicks from our neighbour's garden recently, so they are not flavour of the month. The blackbirds made a huge racket, as you can imagine. Another neighbour gifted me three brilliant potato buckets the other day. I'm wondering if it's too late to start some off now.
ReplyDeleteHello. I literally just read your blog. 16 frogs and newts - excellent! I managed to remove most of the duckweed in an ice sheet, like you. But I need to get rid of the algae - I was leaving it for tadpoles, but they never arrived.
DeleteDefinitely not too late for potato buckets - perfect timing I’d say!