Our chickens were killed by a fox a few days ago. Not really pets but certainly much loved for their funny winsome ways. We’d had them for three years and they were just slowing down the egg laying production and my wife and I were just starting to discuss what to do about the drop in production. Well the dicsussions were cut abrubtly short on monday when a fox got in the run and slaughtered each and everyone of them. We had taken to letting them run free in a part of the garden to get some space, grasss and just to scratch around. Well our kindness killed them ultimately. I can’t begin to say how much I hate foxes; urban or otherwise. They should not be living in the town. They should not be predating on suburban chickens. Above all dimwittedd suburbanites should not be feeding them. They are vermin in the same way that rats are. Nothing we do should intentionally be promoting their reproduction. I would shoot them if I could.
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If you have a greenhouse, cold frame or any sizeable well lit shelter now is a good time to get some additional salad leaves growing. The variety available today is vast with different leaf types, colours as well as flavours etc. One of the reasons I plant a lot of salad leaves is that we eat a lot of salad in the season but more than that; a well planted set of different lettuces can really make the vegetable plot a thing of lush beauty. Our pond is slowly being choked by yellow flag iris. As the mat of tubers enlarges other plants grow between like moss and willow herb. Things are made much worse because a slow leak in the pond allows the other plants to grow. Frankly it has taken me a while to get on top of it. So for the last two years, in early spring I clamber into the muddy gloop and about 6cm of water to tear,hack and generally rip away at the huge pile of plant life that is filling in the pond. Slowly we are making progress but the pond is a very busy place. At this time of year it starts to fill up with newts. Loads of them. Those of you trying to get your schizandra going might welcome another tip. If you do have plant already it’s useful to know they they propogate really easily from shoots that have been partially buried. I have been lax in training the stalks to the wall and those that have trailed on the ground have alll made roots. I just need to work up the courage to dig these new plants up and pot them on. Well March has been fantastic with the prunus type trees bursting into bloom. Already the mirabelle at the bottom of the garden is shedding petals around the chicken pen. It seems to be a little bit ahead of the damson and the greengage so I have no idea how many of the tasty golden yellow fruit we will see this year. I’ve been scrubbing down the glass of the greenhouse so that a bit more light can get through. Time to start sowing the spinach and the beetroot using the guttering method. My broad beans and sweet corn are going into special bean growing containers. Seemed to work very well last year. Just had a tonne of manure dropped on the driveway. Time to trench and fill the vegetable plot for the potatoes. Lots of manure in each trench and then lay your chitted potatoes in trench. Earth up the trench. As your potatoes poke their shoots above the soil keep earthing up. This year I still have some mayan gold left over from last year. They have started sprouting (chitting) well. It would be great if i can get a crop from these. There can’t be anything more satisfying in vegetable growing than being self sustaining. That yearly spring trip to the internet can really cost. We have had a very warm spring and some very wet patches indeed in early summer. Although it is cooler now, this weather (and I think combined with the cold winter) has produced a bumper crop of apples on some of our trees. So much so that the young trees I planted are now bending under the weight of apples on them. I really need to get down the garden this weekend and do some pretty furious thinning. I work very long hours and often away from home. This makes the whole vegetable growing thing at this time of year really challenging. It is even more challenging when the rains simply do not come in Spring. When there is enough rain, all I have to do is sow the seeds and stay on top of the weeds. When we have had such a dry spring as this one everything needs constant watering. My lawn looks like a scrubland yet all the weeds still stay luscious and green. So I still have to weed but also lug cans of water everywhere. The hosepipe makes me feel guilty but I still use it; I can live with the guilt but not with a dead crop. Things are growing fine though but the root crops I have tried like beetroot have just done nothing. Broad beans, salads and potatoes are all good outside. My peppers are still thirsty in the greenhouse but the tap rooted tomatoes are still able to search out water as I have them planted in the soil this time round. Out in the garden over these last few days march has once again been playing tricks on me. So warm has it been that i was tempted to get some tender cucumbers and tomatoes out to the greenhouse. There comes a point when you simply start to run out of room and the pressure to transplant grows. I can now only hope and pray that the weather stays mild enough or i will truly be an april fool. I have kept some plants aside just in case … The sun has been warming up the soil beautifully these last few days. The lettuce, pak choi and broad bean seedlings have been doing beautifully in the greenhouse. Yesterday i put the beans in their outside positions. They were covered with netting and protected by organic slug pellets. I put the pak choi out too but under a cloche. Everything else can stay in the warm for a bit longer. Have you got your tomatoes and cucumbers on the go yet? If not get them planted in a warm sunny spot in the house asap. |
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