Growing updates

It feels like we’ve had the longest, wettest Spring ever, but days like today make me forgive the weather everything.

The sky is the bluest of blues. It’s warm, with a gentle breeze, and the birds and insects are busy out there. Thankfully, no midges yet!

I’ve just come in from a few hours in the polycrub potting up seedlings. We’re at that time of year where we go through sacks of compost like it was going out of fashion.

Big Bertha, our orange wheelbarrow, has been working her passage carrying barrow-loads of compost over to the raised beds and the polycrub.

It’s filling up already. Lettuces, beetroot, potatoes, kale, rocket, Brussels sprouts, leeks, spinach, pak choi and herbs.

Some edible flowers too – calendula, borage, nasturtiums and marigolds. Some hollyhocks too, as I found an old packet of seed that needed using up.

The outdoor beds are progressing slowly. It’s been so cold and wet on the Croft that picking days that we’re able to work has been challenging.

The onions, beetroot and carrots are in. There’s just one more bed to weed, dig and replenish with compost, then I’ll be able to plant up the kale, leeks and Brussels sprouts.

The indoor plantings are growing well too.

The tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, chillies and peppers are all keen to be out there, so warmer days need to get here soon!

We may have had snow on the tops only last week but I can feel summer coming on today’s breath of spring air.