When I woke up this morning I had no idea what day of the week it was. Honestly I seriously didn’t know. I was going through in my head each day of the week trying to figure it out. Where was I working yesterday? What did I do yesterday? Finally my brain caught up and I realised with great delight that it was Sunday. After a cup of tea in bed and a few funny little video’s that Mark saved throughout the week I was back on track.

The weather has warmed up a lot now, I wasn’t a fan of that cold blast that came though on Thursday and Friday, which included snow, sleet, hail and a bitter wind. There was still a chill in the air, but because the sun was now shining it felt much warmer.

The tulips were clearly enjoying the sun and decided to come out and play.

I tidied the pots at the front and gave them a water. They are looking mighty fine at the moment. The daffodils are just about finished, but that means that all the other flowers aren’t that far off. When they flower I’ll take photos and show you, but for the meantime you’ll just have to wait.

I then went into the back garden and sowed a small row of Radish “Logo”, I’ll sow a few more in about a months time and keep going like that until about the end of August. That way I’ll have a constant supply of radish throughout the summer. Radish don’t like getting too hot. If they do they’ll bolt and go very woody inside. So make sure you sow them in a shady spot.

Here’s a video with more information….

I also sowed a row of Parsnips “Gladiator”, just remember that parsnips are in the ground for a very long time (anytime from 9 months to a year) so you need to make sure you plant them where they won’t get in the way.

Here’s a video with more information….

I then went to the 3 square beds I have at the back of the garden and started to give them a bit of a tidy up, not that they were that messy anyway. The first bed on the left has Asparagus in and the spears have just started to break the surface. One spear is ready so I’ll harvest that tomorrow and we’ll have it for dinner, but the others are doing great and won’t be long. Once I’d weeded the bed I then spread a bag of compost on the top and tomorrow will get a bag of farmyard manure to put on top as well. Make sure you water the asparagus well, and if you don’t have well rotted manure then Seaweed Fertiliser will work very well. They are hungry plants and need be bit of food.

The second bed has a Raspberry and a Tayberry in, so I weeded that and the space in front of those I will plant my dwarf french beans, but I won’t sow them until May 1st in the greenhouse and then I’ll plant them out on June 1st when all worry of frost has gone from the south of England. After years and years of trial and error I have found that this works perfectly. So sow your bean seeds (Runner or French) 1 month before you plan to plant them outside. That way they’ll be about 6-8 inches tall which is perfect and haven’t started to twist round each other or a stick. When I sow mine I’ll let you know.

The bed on the right had an Issai Kiwi in. I’ve had mine for about 3 years now and it’s grown really well, but so far has not yet fruited. These can cope with fairly low temperatures and you’ll find that when the leaves come out in early Spring, if you have a frost the leaves they will wilt and go brown, but don’t worry as more green leaves will soon appear. Fingers crossed I will get some fruit this year. The space in front of the Kiwi I have planted my Broad Beans, so hopefully they’ll both play well together and not argue.

Here’s a little more information about planting out Broad Beans…..

Well that was that for today and more next week.

Happy gardening!