Because I'm an optimist

Well mainly brown just now I guess. But despite the frosts we've been getting on account of the clear skies, I've been gardening aplenty.

So here are some excruciatingly

dull piccies of the beginning of things.

A flat bed

Overtime this bed will become raised - through a process of adding compost and the upcasts of moles (good stuff mole hills you know). For now, the sides of this non-raised bed provide excellent shelter and in here we have cauliflowers and summer cabbage. The sunny side will soon have the transplanted broad beans. Soddin piccy has bin soddin deleted by soddin google.

Veg bed one

Looking up the way you can't often see: peas, chard, leek, parsnip, spring onion or was it lettuce, chard, pak choi (on the left and very experimental) carrots (on the right) and parsley.

Tatties

Maris piper - cos that's the variety that had almost sold out and I reckoned if everyone else is buying it maybe I should too. All the sheep around here seem to be having their effect. Two rows with a mound in the middle for mounding up as the shoots grow. At the top you can see the cold frame I built. The top would fit, if it was a bit bigger. Soddin piccy has been soddin deleted by soddin google.

Broad beans and lettuce

In the cold

frame - the broad beans are doing rather too well. I'll not plant them out for a couple of weeks to lessen the risk of frost damage.

Jerusalem artichokes

From Lulu, planted a couple of weeks ago and now coming through in a somewhat terrifying fashion.

Blackcurrant

A

new bush no

t expected to fruit until next year. Meanwhile, yesterday I caught Jussi feeding our existing blackcurrant to the goats. "Oh sorry, er,..well I thought...oh...". In the summer - when the blog is filled with tales of starvation - we'll know why now wont we?

Herb garden

In towns and cities, supermarket trolleys can be found in ditches canals and waste ground everywhere. Also known as weegie barbecues, with a little ingenuity they can make quite striking hanging baskets. Our ubiqitous equivalent is the fish box. This one has become a herb garden featuring chervil, chives, thyme, parsley and dill. The seeds were ancient so may not do anything - but tis rather attractive what!