Saturday had some pleasant sunny spells but they didn't do much to lift the temperature as the maximum for the day just crept to 10°C. Overnight into Sunday morning the temperature fell to -1°C the coldest I've recorded in May.
Although it was cold we decided on a visit to the plot. We knew we had some cauliflowers to harvest and we planned on doing some weeding if it wasn’t too cold when we got there.
Back on the 27th March I sowed some green manure Phacelia to be dug back into the soil before the bed is planted up with winter brassicas. So far it’s slow going which I’m putting down to the cold weather. Germination has been a bit patchy or it could just be that I didn't distribute the seed very evenly. In some areas the Phacelia is growing better than others. I’ll leave it and see how it performs when the weather warms up a little.
Our mint has produced a first few sprigs which I couldn’t resist cutting.
I've started a full list of our May harvesting which can be found on our web site here.
We did manage to get some weeding done too so on Sunday I might see if I can run the tiller through the cleared beds as the forecast is for more heavy rain on Monday.
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| Before on the 21st April and after on 5th May |
Our cardoons have certainly put on a growth spurt since the end of April. Obviously they must enjoy the cool wet weather.
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What a gorgeous day today, yet we're stuck indoors decorating! I've never plucked up the courage to sow green manure, I've heard horror tales of never being able to get rid of it. I think it's a case of making sure that it's dug in when it should be. I'm curious, what will you be using the mint for?
ReplyDeleteMint and rhubarb here too (and leeks). It's not as cold but then we had hail this morning and intermittent rain showers in an otherwise glorious day.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine sowing green manure that early in the year. This year's brassica patch has overwintered lettuce, spinach, chervil, sorrel lamb's lettuce. I'm in the process of digging these in in readiness for the brassica seedlings. My early sowings have been very poor. Out of three rows of parsnips I counted one single seedling(!)so resowed today. (I'm sure I saw seedlings before but they disappeared.)
Hi Jo
ReplyDeleteThe mint just got added to some boiled potatoes. Nothing very exciting I know.
Hi Mal
ReplyDeleteI'm using green manure as we've stopped using bought manure after our contamination problems and I just can't produce enough home made compost.
Our parsnips were only sown a couple of weeks ago so I wouldn't expect any signs yet. Our plot neighbours sowed theirs weeks ago and haven't seen even one seedling so they will have to resow.