The cock is crowing,
The stream is flowing,
The small birds twitter,
The lake doth glitter,
The green field sleeps in the sun;
The oldest and youngest
Are at work with the strongest;
The cattle are grazing,
Their heads never raising;
There are forty feeding like one!
Like an army defeated
The snow hath retreated,
And now doth fare ill
On the top of the bare hill;
The Plowboy is whooping-anon-anon:
There's joy in the mountains;
There's life in the fountains;
Small clouds are sailing,
The rain is over and gone!
So writes William Wordsworth "March".
Well the rain did go at the beginning of the month and the plot started to dry out enough to be able to rotovate the rough dug ground which has now put us in a good position to plant. The couple of days of warm spring like weather had me planning to plant out first early spuds this last weekend however the rapid return to winter changed my mind. I did however put the over wintered cauliflower plants out in a cold frame prior to planting them out in the ground (hopefully next weekend).
This weekend has been nothing but rain making any ground work impossible and the hard frost we had last Thursday has resulted in some pea plant damage in the cold greenhouse. More sown to replace them.
Everything else however continues to do well. Lettuces, radish, carrots, flower seedlings, chives, parsley, fennel, onions and early brassicas. The shallots in trays have put lots of roots down and will be ready to plant out fairly soon. The onion sets that we featured in the last blog have now sprouted. The greenhouse shelves are full and we are having to do a weekly shift around now to accomodate new sowings going in. A trial of dwarf beans in pots in the greenhouse has gone OK - they are still alive as are the early chilli and tomato seedlings which we didn't think would amount to a great deal. Garlic, broad beans, kale and sprouting broccoli is growing away in the ground despite the cold and wet. We continue to dig out and eat last years carrots and still using onions and garlic from store. Last year wasn't such a bad year after all. This time last year it was warm and sunny and we hadn't had any rain for a long time. Here is the apricot blossom last March. There is no sign of any of it yet this year.
Whilst we wait patiently for the weather to get better here are a few gardening themed songs to have a listen to.
1. In a Little Wigan Garden – George Formby
2. Sowing Seeds – The Jesus and Mary Chain
3. Combine Harvester – The Wurzels
4. Hong Kong Garden – Siouxsie and the Banshees
5. Homegrown –Neil Young
6. Roses in the Snow - Nico
7. Strawberries Are Growing in My Garden (and It's Wintertime) - The Dentists
8. From Gardens Where We Feel Secure – Virginia Astley
9. I’m A Lonely Little Petunia In An Onion Patch – Arthur Godfrey
10. Rose Garden – Lynn Anderson
11. The Hanging Garden – The Cure
12. Octopus’s Garden – The Beatles
which one gets your vote for most obscure?
