Another lovely day, and very productive.
The plum trees are in blossom and there are bees about. The broad beans have started to come up. The green manure (Winter tares / vetch) sown last Autumn at the front of the plot where we are going to plant brassicas and sweetcorn is growing strongly. It will need to be dug in next month.
In the fruit bed, the currants we pruned last month are looking healthy with plenty of new leaves starting to open. The whole fruit bed could do with a good weeding and a mulch when we get time - maybe with cardboard and a layer of compost. Weeded, fed and mulched the Wye Challenger hop that we put in two years ago, and fixed up its hazel wigwam. It has really strong roots now so should do well this year. There are plenty of strawberry plants and runners around the base of the hops.
Planted four rows of shallots (Red Sun and Golden Gourmet) and gave the whole onion bed a top dressing of chicken manure pellets.
Thickly sowed a short but wide drill of mixed red and white salad and pickling onion seed (Paris Silverskin and Lilia) in the raised bed near to where we will be planting carrots next month. They make a good companion plant as the smell from onions deters carrot fly.
Used the heavy Azada to finish making the potato bed and spread chicken manure pellets and a whole bin of our compost on top.
Small clouds of Cabbage Whitefly were seen as we hoed around the brassicas. Marigolds as a companion plant are supposed to repel them so might try that this year.
We harvested leeks, young kale leaves and some sprout tops.
