Plot 30

Photos of seedlings (first sown inside circa February 2020) in the greenhouse, that were saved from 2019 : And some of the others that were planted straight in the ground: And in another separate row: Update, 12 April 2020:     Update 24 April     Update 25 May 2020 

It's probably still a little too cold but I've been itching to get planting for some time. What with the recent floods and weather it's been too wet. Picked up some first early potatoes of the 'Rocket' variety for £2.50 at B&Q .  (There seem to be some pretty good bargains at this time of the year, just before it all starts to kick off) And another bargain in the form of a 2kg bag of 'Pentland Javelin' half price at £2: These were been planted about 1ft apart in a freshly dug row, later dressed with a liberal dose of bone meal and chicken pellets: And here are the sprouting set of 'International Kidney' (aka 'Jersey Royals') saved from last year: So for future reference the potatoes put down in the following order so far (as of 4 April 2020) are: one full row of 'Rocket' first earlies,  one and a half rows of 'Jersey Royal',  one and a half rows of 'Charlotte' second earlies, ...

Some pictures and a video of me obtaining a some Bramley cooking apples using a special invention: a rusty blade attached to a fishing net attached to a plastic broom handle: Somewhat taller than me: In previous years I would harvest apples with the willing cooperation of my significantly lighter and more agile son, climbing into the upper reaches and tossing ripe specimens for me to catch. In his absence (preferring the company of video games these days, alas), I have given this contrivance a try.  It's actually very simple to use, and the apple normally falls in with one quick stab, though in this footage I am trying to hold the pole with one hand and film with the other, and so a couple of attempts were needed:

Some of the pods I saved which I kept in my greenhouse to dry out for a month or so, some of which I will plant straight into the ground in the autumn to over-winter, the rest I will save for next year... Update: see this post for how the Witkiem seedlings are doing in 2020.

Another Wilko cheapie 'Marian': 9 June 2019 Planted inside a rough and ready cage to prevent attack by birds etc: And in another spare bit of plot covered with some mesh: More updates shortly... 31 August 2019 And here are the ones in the cage some months later:

The results of our attempts a planting tulips, eventually deciding on dark / light variants to add some contrast. We chose the following bulbs from Marshalls seeds : National Velvet and Ivy Floradale:

Seeds bought cheaply from Wilko : "Hollow crown" 20 April 2019 I then dig over and water a section of plot, mix in well-rotted bone meal, manure etc and create a narrow trench in which to place the seeds: Updates to follow... 22 May 2019 Parsnip shoots beginning to appear, will need thinning at some point: 31 August 2019