Monday 20th March Officially the first day of Spring but still not much sign of any significant warmth during the day, we have the odd few hours but it is really putting things behind a bit. Having said that I have been busy so all is not lost, this morning I have got three more lots of soaker hose in place. I am determined that this is the year I nail the watering 😂 I rang John as I needed some stop ends for the hose and he couldn’t really get on with his day for various reasons so he came home and connected it all up for me. We tried out one lot which was fine, John went off to do some other jobs and I tried the one in the big tunnel, I got wet 😝 the connectors are all different and one of them just pinged off giving me a soaking 🙄 I have also been sorting out the fruit cage yesterday and today, the top netting has rotted so I got all off, measured up and ordered new. I cut back all the canes from the autumn raspberries as it is now time to do that and checked the summer raspberries. I have lost most of those 😏 the cold weather has killed off a lot and they are one thing that has succumbed also my fig tree and the cherry bush I think. The latter two I will leave for now and see what happens but I don’t hold out much hope. I ordered new summer raspberry canes both the red and yellow varieties oh yes I am not sure my olive has made it either. I have been weeding in the fruit cage and there are a lot of bindweed roots lurking under pots and so everything that comes out of there will be burnt and not go onto the compost heap. I now need to empty all the pots with dead raspberry canes but I want to save the compost providing there is no sign of bindweed 👀 The autumn raspberries are in the ground but the summer ones are all in pots as there is no room to put them into the ground. Hopefully I can get that all sorted before the new canes arrive, I might put some in the ground elsewhere just so that I can hedge my bets each year. This is the time of year to make sure everything is cleared, tidied, weeded, mulched and ready to go because once the growing season starts it gets very busy! More dahlias arrived today, these are a better colour than the others (growers choice) orange and white 🤪 They will probably turn out to be ones I absolutely love but I need a broader colour palette.
It has rained on and off for a large part of the day but only gentle rain in short bursts so not too bad and not cold either so I have worked through it.
It’s just gone 2pm and I am having a quick sit down as Sam will be picking me up in around 45 mins to look after the children while they go to the theatre tonight. At the minute the bus fairs are £2 single to help with living expenses and so they are taking the bus which turns a half hour journey into around 2hrs 😂 Still every little helps as they say 😁 I will be having dinner over at Sam’s so I have got John something from the freezer for him to reheat.
Tuesday: Another grey start to the day with the threat of rain, I guess at least you can call the weather settled 😂
It started of raining but soon cleared up although there were a couple of showers now and then. Shelley came over and we got a relatively big job done in the fruit cage. I have lost most of the summer raspberries (but have some on order) so I needed to empty out all the large pots clean up the compost and refill them ready for the new bare root plants. One of the problems I have in that area is bindweed and it had wrapped itself around the bottom of the tubs so that all needed carefully removing and taking for burning. I think there are around 12 tubs in total, I also disposed of the dead fig and the cherry bush. We had to dash into the big tunnel during one of the showers but we got the job done and finished which is fab. Later on in the day I tested all the soaker hoses I have set up and I have partially set one up in the fruit cage though it needs sorting out and pegging down properly. I also ordered 100m more soaker hose and connectors for the front beds as this (I am hoping) is going to be a big time saving addition to the large areas of garden that take hours to water with a hand held hose. One of the problems is that the beds do not run in straight lines, if they did it would be much simpler 😂
Wednesday: We had a bit of sunshine today 😁 though it was coupled with a ‘stiff breeze’ and when the sun went behind the clouds the breeze was quite cold. Shelley came over again today for a couple of hours to help in the garden, it makes such a difference when you have someone to work with, chivvys you along a bit 😝 We worked on the runner bean area this time and now it is all cleared and ready for planting but that will not be until May. It is also an area heavily infested with bindweed so again everything went to the burning pile and weed membrane re secured. Charlie also walked over with Oscar for a visit and I introduced him to the horses, he took that introduction like he takes everything, unperturbed 😂
I really need to get on with a bit (lot) of seed sowing now, this year I am using coir mixed with vermiculite as a substrate. I have found that the compost quality has deteriorated quite a bit over the last few years and am only using that for potting on. The coir is lighter and the added vermiculite gives more aeration for the roots. Seeds do not need any nutrients until they have produced the first true leaves, they have all they need packed into that little seed case to reach the surface and sprout cotyledon (embryonic leaves) the next two leaves produced are then the true leaves of the plant. Likewise a bulb does not need any nutrients, everything it needs to get to a certain point and only then will need feeding. Coir is a low nutrient substance and so it’s ideal for seed sowing.
Rain in the evening on and off.
Thursday: A tremendous amount of rain in the evening and through the night but a dry start to the day although very windy! I started off early by cutting some pussy willow for this weeks flowers, unfortunately I managed to snip the top of my ring finger while I was at it. Luckily not bad enough to have to get it seen to, our extensive first aid kit had all I needed 😝 After repairing myself I went into the greenhouse to sow broad beans and a few more sweet peas. I had deliveries arriving this morning so was waiting for those when BT turned up to do an annual check on our telegraph pole. They dig round the bottom of it, drill a tiny hole into it, tap it all the way up to the top to check for any rot. It has a good bill of health apart from some minor woodpecker damage 😂 Just as he left the first delivery arrived and I had just dealt with that when the second one arrived. The second one was a bit of a mission, I had bought some old wooden marquee doors from and local company for the workshop. They are the ideal size and perfect for what I want, what I didn’t realise is that I had purchased two sets 🤣 value for money or what but now I have a spare set of marquee doors if anyone wants any. They would make an ideal front to a garden room 😀
A sit down at lunchtime was in order after a frantic hour or so, I have some bouquets to make up this week and also a spring wreath so I will sit and think about those for a while.
I went back outside and cut some foliage and some daffodils, I have flower orders before they even go out tomorrow for Friday Flowers so not sure what if anything will be left to go out 🙄 I need to pop some flowers down to the pub and be back in time for looking after the twinnies. They are growing up fast and are at that fabulous age when conversations are hilarious and entertaining.
In the evening I made up two big bouquets and a couple of Market bunches.
It rained heavily most of the evening and into the night.
Friday: A bright and dry start but I won’t hold my breath as the rain does not look far away. This morning the first job was to make a spring wreath for collection later today and wrap the bouquets for collection as well. I put out the two bunches I had but they were sold by 9.30! The flower side of things has really taken off and at times it can be manic but it’s also fabulous to have that kind of reaction and support from customers. It is only 10.30 but I need a sit down and a coffee, collect my thoughts about the next couple of weeks ahead regarding flowers.
I did a bit in the greenhouse as the weather is changeable 🙄 one minute sunshine, next it’s windy and raining. I pricked out some scabious and purple tansy seedlings, potted on some gypsophila, cornflower and lavender and sowed some craspedia and snow princess marigolds. Most of the orders have been collected this morning, just one left for this evening, and have plenty to do as Mia, Josh and Flo are coming to stay tonight. I need to fling the hoover round, give the spare room a once over and get some shopping at some point but for now I am having a sit down. I seem to be struggling with fatigue again at the minute, there is always something 🙄 I am ok for the morning then take a bit of a dive, rest and then can get back at it in the afternoon.
I managed to get shopping done just after lunch, John came home and we went to get some goodies for the kids later. I was hoping to cook sausages outside but I am not sure that is going to be possible, I think Mother Nature it is convinced it’s already April with the amount of showers we are having at the minute.
Some of the raspberry canes arrived, I have put them in water and will plant up over the weekend. The soaker hose arrived, I said to the postman, I got this in case we get a drought this year, with the weather as it is at the minute the irony was not lost on either of us 😂
The children arrived and the weather didn’t improve so we had to cook indoors which is a shame but maybe another day. I think they enjoyed themselves, eating, bathing, watching a movie and finally sleeping 😝
Saturday: Josh and Mia were up first shortly followed by myself, then John and finally Flo around an hour later. On the breakfast menu was cereal, fresh fruit, pancakes (with every topping) apple juice and chocolate milk 🥰 Once the parents had collected them I went outside to get a bit done, the three beds in the front now all have soaker hose in place. We bought a y shape hose connector and the hose goes round in a loop, I tested it and it’s going to work really well it will be Sod’s Law that we don’t have any dry periods all year now! I also sowed some seeds in the greenhouse, cosmos, celosia for flowers but also runner beans and peas. I planted up most of the sprouted onion sets, around 36 I think which def won’t last us all year so I may plant up a lot more yet I just need to find somewhere for them to go.
Sunday: More rain 🙄 I know we need it to fill the reservoirs after later summer but seriously 😒 what’s more it’s colder with it today which makes it even more unpleasant. My first job in the greenhouse was to start potting up the dahlia tubers to wake them up. The ones in the front beds do not get lifted and I won’t know until they start to sprout or not if they made it through the winter. The others in the back beds did not get lifted in time and so most of those are lost, it has been a bad winter even for stored dahlias with many people losing tubers. The ones I potted up are new tubers in various colours, pink, red, orange and some white, I think there are 20 in total fingers crossed they are all viable. once that was done and as it’s not sunny I decided to tackle the soaker hose in the big tunnel, one side works fine the other side just keeps leaking at the connection point. I have tried various different connectors and this is the third time I have tried to sort it getting soaked each time I try. The rain and cold outside and getting wet inside just about naffed me off to the limit and so I have given up for now, John tried as well but although he achieved less leakage than me it still leaks. Hosepipe connecters and fittings are the pits they never seem to work well for long even when you replace the washers or if you buy the more expensive ones, I imagine the shares are pretty good for investors as the turnover must be huge keep replacing them all the time 😂 It’s Sod’s Law that every other line I have put in and tested works fine but not the one I want to use right now! I will try again tomorrow and see if I can get it working any better 🤷♀️
I spent almost 2 hrs sorting out my plant labels and either putting them into alphabetical order or group order. The flowers shrubs etc are all in alphabetical and the fruit/veg/herbs are all in groups. They are then stored in bags inside a plastic tub. Some of the labels I have had for a good number of years (up to 10) some have become too brittle and I have put those in the bin. I have tried wooden ones but the ink runs in the rain or the pencil disappears and you can’t read them so I use plastic. At the end of the year they are all gathered up if they are no longer being used and thrown into a small plant trough, I then have the task of sorting them all out at this time of year. Some of them can be cleaned off so that I have new blanks but most are written with a sharpie and that does not come off lol. They are used year after year for many years so that is the trade off, when I find something better I will definitely make the change ( I did then order wooden ones as I couldn’t bring myself to order plastic 😝)
frieslandfarm (flowers) 