Tomatoes and other crops. Potager 2012

At last we have managed to transplant this years tomato plants exactly 3 weeks later than last year. We always grow plants from seeds and because of the cold start nothing wanted to grow but over the last couple of weeks, despite the rain, the tomatoes have grown sufficiently (just) to be transplanted. The cucumbers and peppers however are a different story, it will be a while before these are ready.

Other crops are also growing with a spurt, the lettuce, also grown from seed, have got to harvesting stage and we will be having one tonight with our meal. The first salad for weeks!! Also, as can be seen, the peas are progressing well as are the potatoes, onions and the first batch of haricot verts. The down side is that the weeds are growing even faster, as weeds do...

The big plus is that the last couple of days of sun (that big yellow thing we haven't seen for ages) has started to ripen our strawberries... Yum Yum...

Things are looking up...

First Potager Update for 2012 - at last!

Like everyone else, we've been waiting a long time to get some planting done in our potager.

Over the last couple of days the weather has been more like the seasonal norm, so planting has begun in earnest..

Today it was the turn of the dwarf peas and the broad beans.. One plus point was that the ground was easy to prepare due to the massive amounts of rainfall we've had recently. So soon two rows of peas and one of broad beans were ready to be covered with soil.

The strawberries are coming along really well....

When we first came to Braye we brought with us a carrier bag full of strawberry runners, from half a dozen plants Colin had back in England. These were supplemented by six plants given us a gift by some guests last year. This year they are due to fruit and we look like getting a good crop. Colin has built an ingenious framework for a netting cage to keep the birds off the strawberries as they ripen...

At the other side of the plot the potatoes are starting to speed up the growing process after a slow start.. and the soft fruit bushes are laden with fruit..

Our salad crops consist of lettuce at the moment. We have some tomatoes, courgettes, cucumbers and peppers - both chilli and sweet - growing from seed, but these will have to put some growth on before they can be planted out.

That's just about it for now but watch for updates - providing we don't get snow next week!

Spot the Difference...

We have been looking back at the photos we took this time last year and it has been something of an eye-opener..

The awful weather we've been having has been well documented. It's on everyone's lips either side of the Channel. But it's effect on our gardens is quite startling.

On May 1st last year, our potager looked like this:

This year the picture is not quite so promising. (Note the sunshine in the photo below. Today has been the first half-decent day for just short of a month!)

And so it goes on...

Our lovely David Austin 'Ispahan' rose on May 1st,  2011...

 and today..

And the Lizard Orchids...

 

Everywhere we look it's the same story...

No doubt nature will catch up in due course, but doesn't it focus the mind somewhat to see what a difference the weather can make and how powerless we are to do anything significant about it?