Snap shot of early summer

Here are a couple of pictures just to show that the allotment is alive and doing fine despite no rain for a long time. Most of the plants can get by with just a splash of stored rain water at sunset. The potatoes plants are full size, but haven't flowered yet. In the background, the courgettes have flowered but are still very small plants. In the flower bed the roses are producing some flowers (although nothing like Gentle Hermione in the garden) and the dahlias are gradually getting going.

There is a 50/50 mix of Hokaido pumpkins and muskat pumpkins, all of which are now big enough to fend off most of the slugs.

And along the fence between the allotment and the orchard, the rambling rose is full of flowers, even though it is only one year old.

Slow worms

This year we have seen several slow worms in the orchard. They particularly liked the transition from brambles to long grass at the edge of the river bank. I hope they stick to slugs, snails and worms and leave the roses alone.

It seems they have no defence against cats. I hope Sturm, Schnee and Pantera leave them in peace.

Post-equinox kick-off

Now that there is some heat in the sun and the soil has started to warm up, the new season is just getting underway in the garden. In the real garden the cowslips and primroses are in full bloom.

Over in the allotment the first planting is done. 200 parsnip seeds are in last year's pumpkin bed and the dahlias are out of their sacks in the shed and in the ground.

Signs of spring

Nearly all the peas have germinated and are growing well. Now they just need some warm weather to help them along.

One of the conkers (horse chesnuts) we planted last autumn has also germinated and so far looks healthy and strong.

The insects are also getting used to the warmer weather. A hardy wasp has started making a nest in the tool cupboard at the side of the shed, and the Maikäfer are in full flight.

Most of the seedlings are also now in bigger pots and will be ready to go into the border soon.

First germination in the allotment and blossom in the orchard

After about three weeks the first green shoots have appeared in the allotment. The parsnips have started coming through in all three rows - not complete germination yet, more like 30%, but a good start.

This evening we also saw the first peas coming through. Still no sign of the dahlias, cann or potatoes. In the orchard the best blossom is on the mirabelle and cherry trees at the moment. You can see our house through the mirabelle tree.

And to bring some balance we only have two sets of pear blossom, one on each tree (Glou Morçeau). Last year we had endless pears, so no cause for complaint.

Actual final end of 2020 harvest

Today I harvested the last of the crops from 2020. The beetroots were terrible (again) - from around 30 relatively healthy plants, we got two or three tangerine sized beets, and the rest were rubbish. I will wait a while befor etrying again ... they never work out. The last two savoy cabbages were more of a success. They survived the hard frost in January and tslugs at the end of 2020, and were still good today. We had them sort of flash fried and served with carraway, duck breast and boiled potatoes.

First planting of the year (and standing stones at equinox)

The equinox has been and gone and the clocks have changed to daylight savings time. These two milestones, together with the sunny waeter today were enough to get me out for the first planting of the year. In the south east bed, next to the two small rose bushes, I have put in six small dahlia tubers and the canna from last year (it over-wintered wrapped up in the shed). I hope the dahlias will make some flowers for cutting - the canna is a 50/50 chance depending on whether it survived the hard frost. In the same bed I have put in three half rows of parsnips. The soil is still pretty stoney but you never know what might work. Next weekend I will put the pumpkin (Atlantic Giant and some tasty variety whose name I have forgotten) and chilli seeds (Apache) into seed trays to germinate indoors.

Perhaps somehow inspired by the recent equinox, we visited the local standing stone site. For completeness, our own stone are here: