Saturday, 31 March 2012

Strawberries, Hyacinths and More Potatoes

Second Early Potatoes
I planted out my second earlies last week, again 6” deep and 15” apart in all directions. I used variety Vivaldi, a new one on me, which is known as the Weight Watcher’s potato because it is lower in calories than most, and also “the butterless bake” because of its creamy texture.

Hyacinths
I planted a pack of hyacinths in the orchard in the autumn, and they have started flowering this week. So I cut some, well most actually, and made a nice display on the kitchen table. I think I will dig the bulbs up after they have died back, and next year grow them in pots rather than cutting. 8 plants go a lot further in pots than they do in a vase.

Greenhouse Potatoes
The potatoes I have growing in bags and tubs in the greenhouse have started showing, and once they start they really shoot up, an inch or more a day. So I brought a couple of barrowfulls of compost over and poured it in, until the tops were just covered. I have started watering them as well, a canful shared between the 7 containers every other day.

Strawberries
My strawberry bed at the Orchard gave us absolutely nothing last year, largely, I suspect, because I forgot to net them and grateful birds ate them all instead.  This year I have vowed to do better.

I dug out a strip about 15” wide in front of the greenhouse a couple of weeks ago, and this week I transplanted some baby strawberry plants to their new home. These came from runners sent out by their Orchard parents, which I rooted in last summer. I puddled them in, especially necessary in the this unseasonably hot weather, about 15” apart in 2 staggered rows.




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