Seeds of Spring

The winters seem to finish so suddenly here.  The weather went from a blisteringly cold -16 degrees at its lowest, to within a matter of days climbing to a balmy 24 degrees.  The level of activity in this region seems to rise at the same rate as the thermometer.  The tractors rumble back out of the barns, and every day a new attachment is connected to the back and rounds of spraying begin;  fertilising and protecting the orchards through the vulnerable spring period.  The plum trees are just bursting into life,

And even the small fruit trees we planted in the Autumn are blossoming...

Spring has also meant that the potager garden can start to function.
The greenhouse has become a nursery full of germination trays

And after my first seedling unfurled

They just kept on coming...  and I'm kept busy morning and evening now, moving them in and out of the greenhouse.

Even more gratifying is that all the fruit trees we planted in Autumn survived the harsh winter temperatures and the snow, and the soft fruit bushes have now been relieved of their fleecy blankets and all seem to be showing signs of growth..

The raspberry canes are all coming into leaf, and will need post and wires soon.














The gooseberry bush has beautiful fresh green leaves and is attracting a lot of attention from the ants..

Large leaves have unfurled from the rhubarb crowns,

And the first asparagus spears are poking through the earth.  I can't believe that we can't eat them this year and must wait till 2013 to harvest the first spears, it seems criminal when they look this tasty.

The Blueberry bushes survived even though they only wore the lightest of fleece wraps, and are now covered in plump buds,

And the Kiwi plants, which are known to be less hardy.... are sporting fat new buds and hairy new leaves.

We have also been busy making the potager more functional.
On top of staining all the raised vegetable beds, to protect the old oak floorboards we used to construct them,

We have piped a water butt from the greenhouse roof, which is really useful to fill all the watering cans needed to keep the seedlings happy

And Nick has built me the poshest four bin compost heap possible.  Made from inch thick marine ply, it has front lids that pull down to fill from the top, and then the bottom panels pull up to access the bottom.

We drilled holes through the back and sides to allow the compost to aerate,

And until I have built up sufficient composting waste, I have filled one bin with well rotted manure, another with the remains of the shop bought compost we used in the beds, and the third is filled with all the leaves I collected in the Autumn to rot down into leaf mould.

There is something deeply satisfying about having a place for everything, and everything being in its right place.
I guess when you live in the middle of a major renovation project, its good to have a tiny corner of that plot which you can go to at the end of the day, and know that short of a few invasive weeds, there is a constant sense of calm and order that is hugely therapeutic.