Cuckoos and Cherry Snow

So very happy to hear our first cuckoo, over towards the Owl Yurt. What a herald of true spring.

Though you would never believe how cold it was today ... four layers and a scarf and a teabreak inside the polytunnel. 

We discovered the five baby robins had fledged. We could hear them with their pipping call to be fed, all around, as we drank our welcome cuppa.

My main task of the morning was to get the first bedding in. It is not quite as straight forward as one would imagine. The chosen space has to be weeded, unfortunately for me riddled with ground elder which has to be teased out. Every tiny piece left will produce a new plant. 

The soil has to be broken down. The bed edges have to be cut and tidied. And only then can you plant. Cornflowers and statice.

The old bread basket is perfect protection.

Otherwise its back to the doctored water bottles which are so useful, held in place by two sticks.

The now neat edge makes such a difference.
Finally a good watering and slug pellets.

The plants look a bit scrappy but they will soon perk up as long as all the safe-guarding holds out. 

Steve planted the last potatoes.

The onions are doing well.

Elsewhere around the garden, the cherry blossom was dropping like huge snowflakes. The pond was covered and even the snug had a scattering inside.

My Mum`s lilac is in flower. All of us have a lilac our gardens from her original tree.
 

The pink and mauve theme is carried on with comfrey and self-seeded aquilegia.

 

My final job was to spruce up the sedum troughs using tiny bits and pieces of plants. I might need some more.

Meanwhile in the gnome garden, a foxglove is aiming to swamp everyone and everything but I cannot bring myself to dig it out.

 

Baby Wrens and Toads

 The weather has been wonderful for the second part of the Easter weekend. But at night the temperatures have plummeted. I have been covering up all my seedlings every night using a light fleece. We have held back on planting out potatoes and sweetpeas.

The canes are up and ready.

Mabel will be the guardian of the sweetpea  row this year.

They are ready at home, but I am not taking any chances with my precious plants.

 

Yesterday I completed the shrub bed thank goodness .... not my favourite bed to tidy up, crawling under shrubs and being stabbed by phormiums. 

 

Steve discovered that the eggs had hatched .... the wrens built their nest in a compost sack in the polytunnel. He disturbed it accidently. We hoped they wouldn`t abandon it. They didn`t.

The babies are minute. 

 

I noticed the protective carpet over the dahlias was lifting. I decided to investigate. This is what I found. Has it been there all winter?

 

Alongside, the dahlias were shooting wildly. At home I have potted on a lot of tubers ready for a head start. They are still in the greenhouse.

 

The first yurters were enjoying the farm and garden in the sunshine. I also heard a guitar strumming gently as I worked.

 

Tim and Anne were busy preparing for a change-over, trundling by on the workmax.

 

At home I spent some time potting on the tomatoes. They are colour coded for varieties. Unfortunately I lost one of the naming labels but should be able to deduce which one it is.

 

And I finished this puppy dog which looks like it is weathering a storm.

 

Incidently the craft stall is up and running in the Wool Barn.

 

Hope you all had a lovely Easter.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Buzzing Bees and Easter Crafts

It was a perfect gardening day .... not too hot, cherry blossom in full flower, soil breaking down nicely, birds singing and bees buzzing madly round the cob shed. After observing them for a while, we surmised that the males were chasing the females in a bit of a frenzy, hoping to mate. The females burrow themselves into the cob shed walls every year to lay their eggs .... mostly mason bees.

My first job was to set up some Easter crafts on the trolley in the Wool Barn. Anne and Abby worked hard all morning preparing the whole area for the visitors. It looked lovely by the end of the morning.

 

The next two colourful scarecrows were placed in their summer homes.

 

Even dear old Gandalf came out for an airing. As we moved him I was hoping no mice would run out of his voluminous clothes.

(no photos)

I set to on the long raised bed. In my head I have divided it into thirds and was pleasantly surprised when I managed to tidy and weed two thirds. It if full of foxgloves and feverfew with verbena boniarensis dotted. We don`t have much joy with any veg growing there apart from pumpkins. It doesn`t get enough sun.

The little rabbit wire fences need an overhaul. They are a trip hazard for us.

We had a lovely peaceful teabreak in glorious sunshine with a froth of cherry blossom above our heads.

 

Steve worked on prep for the main veggie beds. The dahlias are still covered.

He has also been working on replacing the fourth compost heap.

 

The newly renovated barrel caravan is back in the fairy garden and I noticed a few new fairies had moved in.

 

And finally I am happy to report that the little apple tree that was devastated by rabbits last year, has sprouted some leaves and blossom.