Here are the two warriors - the survivors of the recent fox attack. The lady on the left was quite traumatised after the attack and would hardly move for a day or so. We didn't expect her to survive. But then after just 2 days, she started behaving normally and laying again, and her feathers are starting to grow back.
This picture shows some beetroot seedlings I put out a few weeks ago. The weather has been so cold that they haven't made much progress. On the right are some leaf beet and ruby chard.
The compost bins made from wooden pallets. The left hand bin is in need of some repair.
The last surviving overwintering brassicas. These late sprouting broccoli have produced several welcome pickings over the last few weeks.
Some brassica seedlings emerging in the seedbed.
Cabbages interplanted with lettuce. The darker-leaved lettuces in the front are Winter Gem and have overwintered from an autumn sowing. The lettuces at the back are All the Year Round and were sown indoors in early spring. In between the rows of lettuces there are, in fact, cabbages. Because of the cold weather they are blue(!) and hard to see at the moment.
The pea bed is doing well. The Meteor First Earlies on the right are growing strongly. There is also a row of Kelvedon Wonder Second Earlies along the left hand fence. I have already started some Hurst Greenshaft off indoors to fill the remaining space on the other side of the rows.
The shallots in the front of this bed are doing well. It is now impossible to see which rows were put out in the autumn, which in the winter, and which in the spring. So it seems to be just a matter of choice. I will wait before I make a final verdict, however, in case there is a difference in the quality of the final bulbs.
The garlic bed, with a rogue raspberry plant guesting front left. I inted to establish a raspberry bed in the autumn, so we are tolerating his presence here for the time being. When the garlic is lifted in a month or so, I will lift the raspberry too and put him in a more suitable place.
These leek-like monsters are in fact Elephant garlic.
This bed contains the overwintering onions growing strongly. However I am worried that many of them are showing signs of bolting.
My first early potatoes are sheltering under a blanket of fleece, as there are still frosts forecast.
These two pictures show my ultra-early potatoes that I am growing in pots. I started them off in the greenhouse, adding compost as they grew, stopping only when I ran out of room in the pots. When I needed the space in inside, I mover them to a light but sheltered spot behind the greenhouse. They are growing strongly now, and I expect them to start flowering soon. If ever a frost is threatened I can just cover them with fleece.
This year I decided to build a bamboo scaffold inside the greenhouse to support the tomato plants as they grow. I have found that single canes are simply not sturdy enough.
The tomato seedlings growing well in the greenhouse. I have a paraffin heater in case a late frost is forecast.
My new strawberry bed.
The field beans are already flowering.
The two broad bean beds. The bed on the left were sown in September and have been full of flowers for a couple of weeks now. The bed on the right contains February sown beans.
I hope to get a lot of broad beans from this bed. Masses of flowers, I just need to wait to see if they all set seed.
Hope your hens have fully recovered from the fox attack. All the veg is looking good both outside & undercover.
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