It's getting busy again - hurrah!

[Galina]

It is a magical time of year. Every day something has sprouted and after a sunny day, all the plants have made progress. You can see it. Broadies have germinated, peas are up. The little lettuces are showing their first proper leaves - and Red Sails even shows a bit of colour. Have just taken a few pots into the greenhouse to join the germinating caulis and psb on the bench. On my way the Daubenton kales looked different - yay they are sprouting, so the biggest sideshoots went into the greenhouse too to root.

In the conservatory the peas are sprouting, including the crosses! I had some old pea seeds from 2007 (have renewed the variety these were just left overs) , didn't want to waste them, but didn't want to plant them either and have nothing come up. So in the sprouter they went on the kitchen windowsill and just about every single once came up!

The first tiny tomatoes have come up too and the baby pepper plants are looking bonny too.

Finally the ground is dry enough in some parts of the garden to do a big of digging. Hard work, especially getting all the convulvulus roots out. Its the same every year. But I am making progress.

Turning over compost bins and 'mining black gold' is definitely hard work, but so worth while.

Garlics, shallots and the latest addition goodlife's multiplier leeks are looking good. No garden disasters yet. So happy!

Even the early miniature daffodils are starting to flower and yesterday I saw the first bumblebee of the season.

Wonder how everybody is doing.

[jayb]

I'm a seriously behind, I've not sown anything yet other than my cherry tomatoes for the greenhouse, I think they would have gone in a couple of weeks ago as I can just see the start of the first true leaves. I'm hoping I'll be able to start some more tomatoes and other things for the propagator very soon. I really want to start TPS off, particularly the ones with hope of LB resistance. I tipped out the pots with last years mini tubers in, overall pleased with the results, these should be the hardiest as they have had very little attention last season and have been sitting outside in pots all winter. I'll be potting them up hopefully in the next couple of days.

I've potted up some Oca, Ulluco, Tiger nuts, Apios Americana and a couple of other edible climbers, but I can't remember the names!

The little peach, apricot and nectarine trees in the poly-tunnel are in bloom and visited quite a bit by bumble bees.

[Silverleaf]

I have tomatoes just getting their first or second pair of true leaves in the light box, along with nice little chillies, onions, Welsh onions, and TPS (Desiree especially is growing like crazy). Garlic and shallots are sprouting in one of the raised beds, and my over wintered broad beans look like nice little plants to my inexperienced eye.

I can't wait to get peas started, but I need to wait until my new bed is done. Potatoes can probably go in this week, I think, and probably onion sets and a few other bits and pieces.

I'm worried about my rhubarb though. It's old and rubbish and has never done very much, and I dumped some manure on it last year in the hope it would perk up a bit. No sign of it at all yet, hope I haven't killed it.

[Silverleaf]

Oca is so pretty! Maybe I'll get some next year.

[Galina]

You can't kill rhubarb! Well it is a hard job. A good dose of fertiliser is always a good idea, as well as splitting ancient crowns with two spades back to back cutting down and separating the crown into two halves. Ours is only just starting on some tiny red leaves. No stems yet. Needs at least another two weeks before we can break off the first short stems for a little taste. We just had a few too many night frosts of late. Never really cold, but almost every night a frost will take its toll. Hope you'll soon get plenty. And the peas as well.

I had the first pea casualty. Had a large pot full of Lancashire Lad (old seeds and I have plenty more). They were just a couple of inches tall and I stupidly had them sitting on the greenhouse floor. Voles bit the pea seeds off the plants and at least ten were found lying in the pot, seed eaten off - end of plant. Well there are plenty more in the same pot (which is now at a higher level and I probably will plant asap). Same greenhouse the cuttings of Daubenton were eaten to the ground (but the ones in the other greenhouse haven't been touched). Each of my experimental peas gets its own bottle cloche, although planting them takes forever, but I see no other way. One of my experimental pea plants bent and half broke off - now splinted with a toothpick. The last problem so far this year is that the Redder Elisabeth x Elisabeth cross (one pod with only one seed, cross made at the end of the season) doesn't look like it is germinating. Suddenly it feels more 'real' - after the giddy start to the season which made me write the above, we have returned to the usual trials and tribulations. But- hey-ho - them's the breaks! - it isn't like it hasn't happened before

Good luck to us all

[jayb]

I've potted up some Oca, Ulluco, Tiger nuts, Apios Americana and a couple of other edible climbers, but I can't remember the names!

Just remembered one, Thladiantha dubia. A very pretty climber, lovely flowers.

[Silverleaf]

Let's hope my rhubarb's okay! I've decided to give it lots of manure this year and if I don't see an improvement by next year I'll dig it up and get some new stuff. It's always been pathetic, with tiny thin stems and small leaves nothing like the lush jungle it's supposed to be.

The original owner of my house grew veggies (I have no idea how in this horrible wet clay) so I assume he planted it. The second owner who sold it to us seemed more keen on no-work ugly shrubs so I doubt it was him, and that means the rhubarb's been here well over 30 years. But I hear it lasts forever if you care for it properly.

I grew some oca in I think 2007. I got a few tubers from Real Seeds and they did okay - I had a bad time with fibromyalgia the next year though and the garden got neglected and I can't remember whether I sowed the tubers I saved and forgot about them, or whether I didn't sow them at all. Either way, I'm considering buying some because I never even tasted them.

[jayb]

Oca is so pretty! Maybe I'll get some next year.

I've a few spare I can add in

[jayb]

I'm worried about my rhubarb though. It's old and rubbish and has never done very much, and I dumped some manure on it last year in the hope it would perk up a bit. No sign of it at all yet, hope I haven't killed it.

I dug my rhubarb up a couple of years ago and split it into smaller lots, potted them up in not very large pots. The idea was I was moving the rhubarb bed and I would plant them as soon as the new one was made.But the poor things have stayed in pots ever since, really neglected by me, but finally I'm able to plant them out and I'm so hoping they will do well. Despite the treatment the split crowns were full of life so as Galina suggests splitting the crowns might be the way to go. Either way hope they perk up and do well for you this year.

I got suckered in by claims of longer cropping Rhubarb Poulton's Pride http://www.dtbrownseeds.co.uk/Soft-F...l#.VRud__nF-0s and bought a few earlier on when they had free postage.

[Silverleaf]

I dug the rhubarb out a few years ago and chopped it up, made sure there was at least one bud on each piece and spread then out and replanted. I can't see that it made much difference. Is it possible that it's just too old (or a bad variety)? I love rhubarb so it's annoying not to be able to pick any.

[jayb]

I had the first pea casualty. Had a large pot full of Lancashire Lad (old seeds and I have plenty more). They were just a couple of inches tall and I stupidly had them sitting on the greenhouse floor. Voles bit the pea seeds off the plants and at least ten were found lying in the pot, seed eaten off - end of plant. Well there are plenty more in the same pot (which is now at a higher level and I probably will plant asap). Same greenhouse the cuttings of Daubenton were eaten to the ground (but the ones in the other greenhouse haven't been touched). Each of my experimental peas gets its own bottle cloche, although planting them takes forever, but I see no other way. One of my experimental pea plants bent and half broke off - now splinted with a toothpick. The last problem so far this year is that the Redder Elisabeth x Elisabeth cross (one pod with only one seed, cross made at the end of the season) doesn't look like it is germinating. Suddenly it feels more 'real' - after the giddy start to the season which made me write the above, we have returned to the usual trials and tribulations. But- hey-ho - them's the breaks! - it isn't like it hasn't happened before

Good luck to us all

At times I hate voles, they really do have a habit of targeting the plants you really don't want to loose!!!
Shame the Redder Elisabeth x Elisabeth cross hasn't germinated, is there still time for it?

Yes, happy and successful growing all

[jayb]

I dug the rhubarb out a few years ago and chopped it up, made sure there was at least one bud on each piece and spread then out and replanted. I can't see that it made much difference. Is it possible that it's just too old (or a bad variety)? I love rhubarb so it's annoying not to be able to pick any.

I don't know if they can pick up a virus? But perhaps if you have already split and given loving care, yours should have picked up by now. Fresh stock might be the way forward.

[Silverleaf]

I don't know if they can pick up a virus? But perhaps if you have already split and given loving care, yours should have picked up by now. Fresh stock might be the way forward.

It's getting a year of occasional manure and this is its last chance.

[jayb]

Sometimes a good talking to works wonders!

[Silverleaf]

I'll try that too.