Well I just looked at my last post (sound of bugle in background!) and another three months have gone by. Amazing!

So to recap, the Cherry-Plum jam is gorgeous and sadly nearly all gone already, hopefully we can make more next year. The bottling didn't happen, but we've frozen loads instead and they make really good crumbles.

More raised beds are being constructed as this is proving to be the ideal way of working with the heavy loam we have here. One of my earliest raised beds has now been established about four years. This year I grew parsnips in it and for the first time ever had roots that were difficult to dig because of their length. The nature and depth of the top-soil has changed dramatically having had no compaction from foot or wheel and only minimal cultivation over that time. It looks like 'Reduced Dig' could be a workable technique IF and only IF I keep off the land and that means raised beds with paths! It also means that I don't waste compost on ground that isn't growing crops, but that is another story.

Last and definitely not least, today I want to brag about my cloches, which is where this blog started.
Three weeks ago I pricked out some spring cabbage into a newly made bed and covered them with the glass barn cloches. Unfortunately the last plant in each row wasn't covered. However that has proved useful in demonstrating the advantages of protected cropping over unprotected. The cabbages under the cloches have grown on well, whilst those left outside have not really grown at all, and the weather has not been that bad yet! Oh yes, the white powder is a bit of lime, the slugs don't like crossing it and helps protect the plants whilst they are young.
Well hopefully the photo will show the difference between protected (top) and not (bottom).
Thanks for the visit, I'll endeavor to write more often and get some more pics up soon. Richard

Cloches In The Spring

We seem to have gone back into winter again. It so often happens that February brings a false spring, the birds, the trees and I all feel it. Those days that make you sweat with the burden of winter clothing, tempting you to discard the extra pair of socks and sow the seeds of tender plants, when in your heart you know it's too soon for either. Well it's happened again! Last week was beautiful here in Wales, sunny days, drying ground and bird song. Then last night, however, brought a different story. Cold wintry showers, icy rain and a covering of snow by morning. Yet this is seasonal and I always wonder at my inability (or is it an unwillingness) to expect it. Some of my favorite memories are of these early spring days, so precious, when you can get out and feel the earth returning to life after the little death of winter; when we can start to prepare for spring proper and plan for the year ahead. The cloches which I was making in the winter have already been deployed in the garden with an early sowing of carrots, spring onions and radish to get the salad crops going. The lettuce have just germinated in the propagator and will be planted out a little later, when spring proper has arrived. But when is that?

The old sayings come to mind, "ne'er cast a clout 'til may is out" was always a favorite of my grandfather, a clout being an item of clothing (so I'm told) , suggesting that we should be ready for cold weather, even until the end of May. Then of course there is "Blackthorn Winter" and true enough we often get another cold snap when the Blackthorn or Sloe is in blossom which is generally early April with us.

So cloches are good, warming the ground when the sun shines and conserving that warmth when it doesn't. They also allow it to dry out a bit quicker which is a boon for us in the West of Britain, but when it does rain the water soaks into the ground under them as they are not too wide, meaning less watering is needed in the early summer. Now there is something to look forward to!