The New Season Begins

Today saw the first day that the two of us were able to work in the garden. A combination of the weather, work and other commitments have so far conspired to keep us from doing more than a few hours work. The ground has now dried out enough to enable us to walk on the paths without sinking too far.

Cleaning Up
The fisrt job was to clear up the last of the vegetables and plants left from last year. The flower bed has been cleared and now stands empty - well of everything but weeds. Some of the vegetables remain in the ground for the moment. We still have a small number of leeks and cauliflowers in the ground and they will be used up (in the case of the leeks) or given time to grow to an edible size (for the cauliflowers).

Fruit
Late last year we put in the support posts for the cordons and the soft fruit. The last part of the job was to put gardeners wire between the posts and to support the fruit from the wire. This was finally completed today.

Vegetables
We already have the first crop of broad beans in the ground. These have been in the ground since last year and they are currently about 8 inches tall and have some flower buds on them. With a bit of luck we should be eating these in about May this year.

The leeks have over wintered. Most are on the small side and we will have to see what the flavour is like as we have not tried them yet.

The first of the vegetable seeds to be planted outside have gone in the ground today. The second crop of broad bean and the first peas have been planted ouside today.

The asparagus bed has been weeded - not too many weeds there at the moment. They have also been built up with a little compost.

So How Does The Rest Look?
Most of the fruit trees are looking like they will bud soon or are currently budding. The quince has visibl leaves and look like it is enjoying it's new spot in the garden. Some of the apples are also starting to bud as are the two pears.

The garlic is looking really healthy. The elephant garlic looks to have the odd empty spot but the rest appears to be doing well as you can see:

In fact, it curently looks like we will not be popular with friends and colleagues who do not like garlic.
Mark