Well I got loads done in the garden this weekend, so I thought that I would put it all together for you in one blog post rather than in two.

Let’s start with Saturday 6th April first!

Two of our chickens Bert and Steve are getting along very well together, and there is now no more arguing, pecking and running away in panic. So the wire I’ve had in the big house and run has been removed, and they are now sleeping together (not in that sense), eating from the same trough and laying eggs in the same place. All is happy with Bert and Steve. Yes they are all girly hens, and yes they have boys names. It’s best not to ask. The other 3 girls are still in the small house, and with the help of the kids we’ve moved their house, which is now next to Bert and Steve, and I’ve given them a slightly smaller run. This means all the chickens can see each other all the time now. They’re been out in the garden all together and seem to be getting along quite well. There are the occasional pecks from Bert, just to remind them she is boss. I now have my second brassica cage back, and it’s all ready for some brassicas to go in very soon.

The patio has been cleaned, using a good old fashioned water hose and some brooms. I had the hose (wasn’t going to trust either of the kids with that) and they had a broom each. As they were sweeping away the mess, Emily discovered that she has a hole in one of her wellies, so we’ll have to get her some more this week. Even at her age (19) she still loves to splash through puddles. To be honest I do as well. If you don’t, you’re boring and weird.

Once all that was done, the kids went inside and I went in the greenhouses to prick out various flower seedlings. They all been growing really well and I pricked out “Cottage Garden Mix”, “Gypsophila”, “Linum”, “Clarkia”, “Cornflower Tall Mixed”, “Poppy Maanzaad”, and the last few Tomatoes. The flowers I did in clumps of about 5 seedlings per pot, as it’s quicker, and they look best growing and flowering in clumps. It’s how they’d naturally grow anyway if left to seed themselves.

Now onto Sunday 7th April!

A slightly later start as it was raining in the morning and was rather foggy, but I managed to get out into the garden in the afternoon which was great. I spent it all in the greenhouses as I had lots of April seeds to sow. I’ve written myself a list of things to do, and it’s an entire A4 sheet of paper! I’m slowly crossing things off, so that’s a good feeling. If you have a list like mine, I find it best to do all the same things together. So anything that needs to be pricked out, do all those first, then any sowing in the greenhouses, do all those, then all the planting out, and then finally all the sowing directly outside. I find it’s more organised and you get it all done quicker as you’re based in the same place and you’re not running back and forth all the time.

So I sowed my Spaghetti Squashes. I love these, they’re so tasty and meaty. I also sowed a few more mixed lettuce seeds (what ever variety you choose they all need to be sown the same way). I also sowed my Sweetcorn “Seville”, (this link is for plants, but I bought my seeds from here, can’t seem to find the seeds for sale), which I love. Some Spanish Cucumbers, which I bought in Spain several years ago and I’ve still got loads left. and finally some Lemon Grass “East India”.

There’s still loads more to do, with sowing various seeds directly outside, planting various things outside, pricking out various seedlings, and I still have more seeds to sow in the greenhouse. I’ve written a very long list and hopefully I’ll be able to get through it all this week. I have Tuesday and Friday off this week, so hopefully that’ll help.

I’ll keep you posted. Hope you’ve been able to have just as much fun in your garden/allotment this weekend as I have. Hope you can spend some time this week playing in there to.