The wisteria that cascades over the wall is at its most stunning right now and its delicious musky scent hangs heavy in the air. Nearby a perennial stock is in full bloom – fragrant enough to stop me in my tracks. Outside the front door, the lily of the valley is thriving and elsewhere mint, lemon balm, and best of all, lemon verbena release their scent when brushed against, while at the far end of the wall a holboellia is heavy with fragrant flowers. It is all rather overwhelming – but wonderful.
On a less positive note, the badgers are back! In the autumn they kept us awake digging up and munching our tulip bulbs under the bedroom window. Now they have rooted up the broad bean plants, just as they were coming into flower. In the past they haven’t bothered until the beans had set, now they are just being vandals. Well, I expect the explanation is that they are digging for earthworms, but it feels like vandalism to me. I hate having to barricade everything, but if we want crops I think we will have to add an extra layer of fencing to keep them at bay. Especially as our apricot tree will have its first crop this year and I’ve read that it is the thing they love above all else.
Apparently they will scramble up the tree (they are members of the bear family) to break the branches and feast on their ill-gotten gains. The beans have all been re-planted, some temporary barriers are now in place and Monday’s heavy rain might mean that the plants will survive and we will get some beans after all.
The tomato plants are now big enough to be transplanted into their grow bags. I’ve previously tried growing them in the greenhouse border and in large pots, but the most successful method is to use Growpots in conjunction with grow bags. It’s worth shopping around for them as prices vary. Lakeland’s current offer is buy one (pack of 3 – sufficient for 1 growbag) and get a second half price. The Growpots are a bit fiddly to set up, but once you have got the tomatoes in situ, they are easy to manage and will produce really good crops. And they are robust and re-useable – so it’s a once only purchase.
Seed sown in the greenhouse: Basil – thinly scattered on the surface of compost in a 10cm pot, lightly covered with vermiculite, then sealed in plastic bag to await germination, Crystal Lemon and Green Fingers outdoor cucumbers, Avalon Butternut and Honey Bear squash in 7.5cm pots of compost.
Moved to cold frame: French beans, runner beans, onions
Potted on: sunflowers
On the allotment: planted out beetroot plugs, picked asparagus and rhubarb
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