Monday 11 April 2022

Hip Hop Hooray!

Another weekend of cold nights but both days the sky was mostly blue and it was pleasant weather to work in. 

Unusual wildlife spotted on Plot5
Unusual wildlife spotted at Marsh Lane

I managed to finish digging another quarter of Plot7. The digging is ok, but every fork brings up a load of roots - we think they're tree/hedge roots which benefitted from last year's bean trenches. Jamie tidied up after me to remove the lumps and bumps.

That photo makes the earth look awful, but it's not that dry really. Here, this makes it look more like real life. Two quarters dug now.

And I finally planted the three irises from Ivan. They should be happy there with their rhizomes in the sun - hope the slugs steer clear of them; I should clear all that junk behind really but I want to get on with digging and sowing now.

Iris plants

We got up early and walked up the plot both mornings to open the polytunnel door and then sit in the sun for a while before going home and returning for a few hours working in the afternoons.
This is Jamie's photo of our little Robbie. He's feeding his mate now - she's very demanding but sometimes he's too slow and she has to retrieve her own worms. Well, they have to be quick otherwise Mr B (the blackbird, obviously) or the magpies will gobble the lot down too quickly.

Robin - Robbie

 Robbie tried that method but wasn't so successful!

We were sorry to find this broken birds egg - and it seems to be a song thrush. What a great shame that is. We have seen evidence of thrushes in the form of broken snail shells, so they're a most welcome visitor.

Broken egg - song thrush

We've picked, probably the last, of the purple sprouting brocolli as you can see it's beginning to flower now. That one plant has served us well. Hoping to get more than one plant producing for us this year.

Purple Sprouting Brocolli

On the way back home on Sunday morning we popped into the Food Festival being held on the Croft Field, a very pretty area in Hungerford near the church and the canal.

Hungerford Food Festival
There were some nice stalls selling food and plants. We resisted the urge to buy any plants but Jamie wanted some Chilli oil so we came home with this little bundle (but no chilli oil!).

From Hungerford Food Festival
Jamie's planted up our strawberry planter. Three layers with 9 plants. It seems a bit too heavy to hang from the polytunnel frame this year. We really need to clear the strawberry bed where these runners were taken from.

We're expecting some rain this week but the weather is meant to cheer up for Easter's 4-day weekend - hooray! And a 4-day weekend means two 4-day working weeks - hooray! Hooray! Or as the title song by Naughty By Nature - Hip Hop Hooray 😏

4 comments:

  1. Irises seem to be one of the plants that the slugs leave alone. They bulk up quickly so soon you will be giving them away too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh! Thanks, that's good news about the slugs.
      I'm not sure what colour these irises are - they may all be yellow so I'll have to do some swaps for some of the more varied colours that Ivan has grown.

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  2. You were certainly busy by the look of it.
    Is that a tromboncino squash in the first picture?
    Have a good plotting weekend. xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, last year’s longest tromboncino has spent the winter at a junior school and is ending its days on the wildlife plot 😊
      It’s a lovely plotting weekend so far. Have a good one Flighty!

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Belinda