Tuesday 27 March 2007

Here we go again

I reckon you should have the gist of how I do things by now so I'll try not to repeat myself too much. I'll do an update every couple of weeks or so to let you know how things are going.

I've made a bit of a late start this year on account of being away for much of the winter in Australia. I've not been able to get any manure from Terry either because of his wife having a bone in her leg or something, so I've had to source it from elsewhere. Our site shop does mushroom compost but at a pound a bag it's too pricey for my liking. Luckily I've found a horsey lady out at Kirk Langley who has plenty of good stuff for sale at 50p a bag (and she doesn't mind how big the bags are). So today I've been out there filling up bags and hauling them back to the plot, spreading it over the area where the peas and beans and potatoes will be going and making a start on the digging. Even so it's going to work out quite expensive and time consuming so I might end up leaving some of the plot fallow this year. I'll just have to skip some of the flowers and concentrate on the veg.

Out on the plot I've finished the sprouts but there are plenty of leeks to eat up and the purple-sprouting broccoli should soon be ready; it's a bit behind this year because of the recent cold snap. Most of the broad beans I sowed in the autumn are coming along nicely; I've helped them by putting up some material to protect from cold winds. I've sown a few seeds indoors and am looking forward to another productive season.

Broad beans

Protected from winter winds: