Spring has sprung

Some pleasant sunny weather at last this weekend, little birds flitting about, butterflies fluttering and bees buzzing. Saw the first bat of the year the other night and the swifts are back from Africa. Can't ask for more than that really.

The peas are coming along nicely, I've planted out some more cabbages and sowed the first row of carrots. Taken the first cut of comfrey for fertiliser, kept the seedlings watered in the greenhouse and fretted about frost.

Rather slim pickings from the garden at this time of year but plenty of fresh green growth, much of it edible - salad greens, rocket, hedge garlic - and broccoli. And, erm, broccoli. Good job I like broccoli.

Broccoli

The purple sprouting is over now so we're into the perrenial white. Yum yum.

Cabbages planted out

In the greenhouse

Seedlings coming along:

More butterflies

Green-veined white

Peacock

The rowan tree

My rowan tree was a feeble looking thing when I rescued it about ten years ago from someone's garden where it was struggling in the shade, took it home and planted it behind my shed.

It's looking much happier now.

Sweet cicely

I had a heck of a job growing this. I collected the seed a few years ago from a garden I was working on, left them in a draw and forgot about them, found them again and sowed them in the coldframe the autumn before last. Finally they germinated the following spring, I potted them on and nurtured them - they seemed to reluctant to grow but eventually I got them to a size where they could be planted out. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. I now learn that they will probably spread like wildfire and indeed are looking extremely robust and have been flowering their hearts out for a while now.

It's just as well then that I'm crazy for the smell of them and that they'll go down well with the bees and butterflies and moths. And after all it's these little triumphs that make gardening worthwhile. If it does take over the plot I may have to rethink that.

Out in the country

The rape looks quite pretty at this time of year even though it is lathered in chemicals and will be desicated before it's harvested. You might want to think about that next time you're eating proccessed food.

Getting a bit painterly with the editing:

Quite Van Gogh I thought (it's a drainage ditch):