Green shoots of recovery

My friend Kate, who has recently moved from the south coast to Yorkshire and is establishing a garden at her new home, phoned the other day to say her potatoes are beginning to come through. Trouble is, I had given them to her - and mine were stubbornly not showing.

I was a bit jealous to say the least, and miffed. One day later, however, I was delighted to see my potato plants popping their heads above soil. Perhaps it's being a little closer to Pennine fastness that has caused the day. Susan has pointed out though, and I am well aware, that the next thing could be slugs eating the lot. I'm hoping that vigilance on my part will avoid the need for chemical warfare.

Turning my attention to the kitchen the other day, I made my very first lemon curd, just one jar in case it went wrong. Thanks to a recipe on the internet, however, I think it turned out rather well. Found myself making it while listening to Gardeners' Question Time on the radio.

Many a slip

Digging rather vigorously today, I managed to snap the spade. The wood cracked and it was goodbye to that tool.

We shall have to look for one at a car boot sale. Perhaps I ought to go for something that is titanium reinforced steel. Or we might even go up to £4 if there's anything suitable.

I blame that pesky rose bush that I had carefully preserved, thinking Susan had asked for it to be kept, only to find out later that she didn't want it. I was digging around to get it out when the spade snapped.

Spade or no spade, the rose is gone now.

Oh dear!

I believed that Susan had told me to dig up everything on the new bit of ground I am preparing for the raspberry canes, except for a rose bush. Turns out it was a clematis she wanted to keep. The rose bush could go.

I have failed a test of both my memory and my gardening expertise. I am a bad man.

And another thing

Browsing the Observer's allotment blog just now, I came across this posting about rhubarb trifle and very nice it looks too.

Once again I have been left wondering what has happened to the rhubarb I so optimistically planted last year. Not one part of it has crept above ground. Where the bloody hell is it? Is it a goner?

Springing forward

A couple of days of good weather and I have sprung into action in the garden, rather like an animal emerging after hibernation.

Armed with my new tool, a hoe bought for me in lieu of an Easter egg, I have done some overdue weeding. My trouble, I have found, is that I cannot tell a weed from a plant so it became an experience fraught with anxiety. Was I grubbing up something that should live and be food for me? Also gave the plots a good watering as it doesn't seem to have rained for a long time.

I have also cleared another piece of ground for some raspberry canes given to me. Susan told me it was OK to dig up whatever was there, providing I left a rose bush. I've got rid of the debris and will return to it tomorrow to give the ground another digging.

While I was doing this, I was panting and sweating in the heat, not being a person who takes too kindly to a lot of sun. Daughter Dorothy was listening to my strange sounds and said I was a very unfit person. Not news to me.

When I was young I was always fascinated by Adam the gardener in the Express (yes, we took it in our house, but it's never influenced my grown-up thoughts). He seemed such an ancient man, contentedly digging all his days, no words (or at least speech bubbles) ever coming from his mouth, always alone in his garden.

We've recently acquired an old compendium of his stuff and interesting reading it makes. I've been thinking in the last few days about the french beans and broad beans given to me by my friend Steve. Adam the gardener recommends, in the case of broad beans, soaking the seeds overnight in a mixture of paraffin and red lead. Did people really do that? Is red lead still legal? I think I'll forget Adam the gardener's tips.

More planting

Spent some pleasant time this afternoon getting lettuce seeds in the ground outside, also salad leaves. They fill the last spare spot currently prepared in the garden. I also got some tomatoes under way in the conservatory.

The rain came down not long afterwards, for the first time in ages. Something the garden needed, although it didn't last long.

I'll now have to wait and see if the crops are attacked by cats, birds, snails, rot, mildew and whatever danger lurks out there. I must be prepared to take action if necessary.

My mate Steve says half the pleasure is in the anticipation. Just at the moment my anticipation is with regard to the visit to the doctor tomorrow morning about this hand/arm thing. A surprising number of people seem to have suffered in the past, telling me they had to have a sling or be strapped up. Not looking forward to that prospect.

Break open the bubbly!

Finally! The day has dawned! Don't know if planting purists will say it's too early or too late, but I've got the potatoes in the ground - and onions too! The landmark day deserves an excess of exclamation marks.

Three rows of spuds are nestling in the soil, having been chitting away in the conservatory for approximately the past two months, and I await developments. Two small lines of onion sets are in another patch, shared with the garlic planted late last year. The sets were a present from my friend Kate, on condition I give her some chitting spuds in return. I have enough left over to do that for her.

We'll see what happens over the following couple of months. Susan says there are some people who are born with green fingers and that others never achieve anything, despite the effort they put in. Time will tell.

As I write this, it's a beautiful day which seems more like summer than spring. I've even given the lawn its first cut of the year today, but I would not be surprised if there are a few more frosts. Hope they don't damage my crops.

Currently, I am mulling over what to do with a another piece of ground I have dug out and which had green manure in the shape of phacelia tanacetifolia until I pulled it out a day or two ago. I was thinking of lettuces. And then there are some tomatoes for the greenhouse. And I've got some more seeds sprouting indoors and have started off the mushroom growing kit which daughter Dorothy gave me at Christmas.

Some of these plans, though, may have to go in abeyance because of the state of my hand/arm. It's been getting steadily worse in the last few days and I have finally given in and booked an appointment with the doctor for next Tuesday. Some people are reckoning I'll have to have it strapped up. Oh gawd!