Signs of life

Hardly worth saying how miserable the weather has been and how it has kept me out of the garden.  I'm sure you all feel the same.  We did grab a couple of hours at the weekend for some tidying up and weeding and generally having a sort out.  


I have planted the dwarf runner beans and dwarf French beans in the legumes square alongside the dwarf peas.  I also rigged up the cat defence which I hope will double up as support for the plants if/when the grow tall enough to grab on to the string.


I am writing this on Tuesday 15th May and we are threatened with a frost tonight!!!!  Sadly they will have to take their chances as I can't cloche them (!) and don't have fleece or anything light enough to throw over the flimsy string and cane construction.  Hey ho... wonder what will be there tomorrow.

Finally there is a glimmer of the first early potatoes.   First might be accurate but early - I think not!  My sister in the Cotswolds is earthing up her spuds.  Envy, envy.


I don't know if you can tell but I've raised the cat defender a few inches above the box to give the spuds some room to grow.  If I just remove it at this stage every cat in the neighbourhood (and that's four regulars in the immediate vicinity) will trot over to try out the newly constructed cat loos.

I've planted a few spare beans and peas in the square foot bed and put in four squares of seeds - salad leaves, radishes and beetroots.     




The back four squares are untouched as yet.  I have two thoughts - one - don't bother as they are a pain to reach when harvesting and/or leave them in case I see some bargain veggie plants - unspecified variety as yet.


We'll see what happens.

My fourth and final veggie square with the rhubarb.  The seedlings at the front are salad leaves, not weeds.  The two big tubs - far too much soil for what is growing in them - have American land cress and parsley.  Not a sign of life from the parsley - which doesn't surprise me as I've never yet managed to grow any from seed, but the good old reliable land cress is on its way.


They are planted in tubs to lift them up for some light otherwise the rhubarb drowns out everything else.


I've got the usual huge holes appearing on the rhubarb leaves which I assume is down to slugs. So much for rhubarb leaves being poisonous.  Not enough, obviously.


I wonder how many of you went to the Malvern Spring Show last week/weekend?   It is certainly one of the best in the year but I'm afraid I gave it a miss  as I probably will with most of the others.  They are lovely to look round if the weather is good but usually awful traffic jams, rotten parking, expensive entry.  I have got to the stage of thinking there's nothing much I want from them any more.  Inspiration for a bog standard back garden falls on stony ground (pun intended), I don't need exciting or particular plants and I am weak for gadgets and gizmos so could do without being tempted.  Basically I think having done the shows for years I have come to a stopping place.  Don't let me deter anyone else, for all the opposite reasons. Enjoy