It was one of those days today where I really needed to sort my head out, & as usual, the best place for that was outside, throwing myself into seasonal veg-growing jobs. I have recently discovered a task-planning method in which only 3 tasks can be added to the list at a time. I was keen to try this, as I am known for the epic nature of my job lists.......& then the equally epic sense of deflation when only 29 of the 50 tasks are actually completed, the list having been unrealistic & self-defeating in the first place. With the 3-tasks only method, you can add as many additional jobs as you like, but there must only be 3 outstanding ones on the list at a time so that it doesn't become overwhelming. So on today's list:
1) Plant cucumbers out.
2) Pot up baby pepper plants.
3) Sow climbing beans
Mission accomplished! Cucumber frame put together using canes & 2 strange lengths of white plastic plumber's pipe (not a clue where that came from - it's one of those strange things that just happen to 'live in the shed'). This cucumber variety is 'Carmen'.....which makes me think it should be grown on a rampart in Seville rather than a corner of the grey chilly East Midlands. To be fair, the greyness had lifted in time for me to pot up the peppers, which I will grow on before transplanting to their final pots. And then onto Task 3 - I punched holes in the base of my stash of wombled 'disposable' coffee cups & sowed my climbing beans:
These are now sitting in a wheelbarrow under a sheet of heavy-duty polythene. The nights are still way too cold here to risk putting tender veg out unprotected. These will be polythened until they germinate, then uncovered in the daytime, until it's finally time to get them planted out at the end of May.
That's the problem with this time of year. If we don't get our veggies started off, many of the more tropical stuff like chillies, aubergines, peppers, tomatoes, etc, won't have a sufficiently long season to produce good crops but the April temperatures are really unstable. This afternoon, my greenhouse was cheeringly warm, but tonight, frost is forecast, & it can nip the edges of soft exposed leaves
So it's currently all about protection for chilly veg here. I'm using bottle cloches on cold days, as they can easily be removed if the sun deigns to make an appearance........
......but at around 5pm (today with Albert Whiskers around my heels mithering for his dinner), I am still popping back out to the greenhouse to add an extra layer of protection.
And another thing about temperatures - my courgettes are being r-e-a-l-l-y slow this year. Again I think this is down to the cold nights. First signs of the soil surface breaking today, so I'll hopefully soon be adding nithering courgette plants to the rest of my chilly veg.
Oh.....& because I achieved all three tasks on my list, I was able to add another three, so I also pricked out some antirrhinums & rudbeckia, and sowed a small trough of wasabi rocket.
Until next time,
Cheers all,
C x
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