Saturday Spring Sunshine

What a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. Once the boring chores were done, I was deposited at the allotment for a few hours.  My neighbours Rosemary and her husband and Tracy were already on their plots working hard. It is amazing how the temperatures have risen as the trees are all smothered in young green buds, the weeds are growing and the birds are singing.

First job of the day, planting a row or young pea plants and then a wigwam of sweetpeas.  It is so lovely to see plants growing on the plot at long last.  The onions all have green shoots and the elephant garlic is really growing thick and strong.  The rhubarb is getting big, ready for it's first pick next weekend and the currants already have flower buds.  Joy!

Next over to plot to and I raked the area I dug last week and created a lovely fine tilth.  I sowed some litle gem lettuce and then put a cloche over, just to help things along.  In open ground I then sowed a row of pingpong ball style carrots, parnsips, red salad bowl lettuce, cylindrical beetroot and radish.  I also sowed long rooted carrots in the two crates that I filled with compost last visit.  Yay, the first seeds are in.

Now it was back to digging and by the time I left I was practically down to the tomato house, very satisfying.

Once home, after prepping dinner and filling the washing machine, I then had an hour in the greenhouse and pricked out a tray of cos lettuce, pixie cabbage, pruple sprouting brocolli and some californian poppies.  They were all moved outside to the cold frame to harden off and make room in the greenhouse as I want to put the tomato plants and squashes up there to toughen up and slow down as they are growing at high speed in the warmth of the conservatory.

Happiness is a greenhouse full of seedlings.