Primroses and papillonaceae

Crop updates, acting on plan

It was a sunny day so I spent the whole of it gardening. The snow has finally gone, so it was time to inspect how the different plants were faring.

Gloom on the artichoke patch: most of them have rotted - I was so looking forward to eating artichokes this year. Anyway, it is my fault: I should have been more careful and covered them in autumn.

The strawberries are doing mostly well, except the ones I planted last: they might still be rooting though. The vines have been looking very dead all winter, and they look no better now. Leeks are as happy as they could be: my supply will not run short quickly. And the primroses around the pond that I 'de-clumped' before the snow set in, are doing extremely well.

Inside the greenhouse, the Winter Gem salad I transplanted in pots last week is still alive, although there is no considerable change in appearances. I was pleased to see, though, that the salad mix has sprouted already. I gave a little watering booster and then left it, as I have something major to do outside.

In fact, my bed plan tells me there is not enough space for peas and beans this year, so I need a new bed and the only space to put it in is the lawn at the top of the allotment (the dotted line at the top in my plan).

It is a bit of a shady position but I hope my new neighbour will help by chopping the holly on the boundary: he has only half a plot, at the top, so he doesn't have much of a chance of growing vegs unless he gets more sun himself - I think there's some good motive there.

Anyway, I digged most of the bed and I am going now to do the rest.