It's now April and there's much to be done. I've made a start on my allotment, preparing the ground for the onions first as I'll need to transplant them soon. I've done this by manually digging instead of using my rotavator. The ground was quite good to work in that the soil wasn't too hard to dig. It was rich in life with plenty of worms, grubs, spiders and other marvellous creatures! It's always good to see and it is a good sign. Soil without any insect life shows that there's something wrong. Remember: not all insects are going to be out to get your plants. They can be pest predators, soils improvers and help to break down old plant fibres. As for the onions: well, my seeds have germinated but they are tiny in comparison to the sets I'm growing and although I'm experienced in growing both ways, having both methods grown in the same year has definitely made me think much more about it!
Seeds vs sets: The top photo is of my onion seedlings and below it the sets. Both put in at the same time. It seems like more patience will be required for the seedlings at this stage.
As the weather continues to improve, I can't help but feel that I'm falling behind as I've given myself rather a lot to do. Not only do I have what is hundreds of seeds to sow, I have to prep the ground at my allotment and work on my front garden. It can seem very overwhelming and at a glance you may be thinking 'what's the point?' and 'is it really worth it?', while also thinking that maybe gardening is stressful and unforgiving. Having spent Mothers' Day sowing seeds and transferring plants into bigger pots and tidying up, the stress did go away. It has been upsetting as Mrs C, my last chicken had passed away recently. She's now at rest and probably with her old flock somewhere though. I will miss having chickens as I've kept poultry for 15 years, so watch this space as I may be tempted to get more after a break.
The dear, late Mrs C, my last hen. I photographed her here only just back in March.
The tomatoes are now growing very well. I did lose a few to damping off but I suppose that was due to lack of care as I perhaps had too much water in my heated propagators. The tomatoes on my windowsill planters did better and now I'm potting them on to encourage growth. There's two varieties that didn't come to much: Red Pear, which didn't germinate and White Wonder, where only one germinated and is quite slow to grow. Marmande is by far developing better than any of the other varieties.
Transplanting tomatoes to larger pots is an easy task.
The one other plant I got on working with was the strawberry. I bought several online this year at a good price (about £15 for 25 plants). They arrive by post wrapped up in plastic to prevent drying up and I didn't hesitate getting stuck in to give them the best chance of survival. The variety I got was Late Florence. Last year I bought Cambridge Favourite, which produces some good sized fruit.
Is it just garden rubbish or some potential tasty strawberries in this bag?
There was some sign of life in this plant.
Some of the strawberry plants looked almost dead when I removed the packaging but you needn't be so worried. Strawberries have a habit of looking their worst when they are dormant and I'm hoping that after some tender loving care they will provide me with good sweet fruit in the following months! I placed them in 9cm pots with an organic, peat free compost and am keeping them in the polytunnel for now. The Cambridge Favourite that overwintered in the poly has now been moved outdoors into a strawberry pot in a sheltered spot. I'll keep you posted on everything I've done so far.Stress over, till next time!
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