Hang on, we’re not there yet

I did it, I remembered to put the clocks forward by one hour. It has been a nice day here as we race towards April, although The Pulse radio station in Bradford was overdoing it a fair bit by claiming on Facebook that it was the first day of summer.

As a matter of fact, they are wrong. It is not the first day of summer, as others have pointed out on Facebook. In addition - and I don't know if it should be described as irony - we are forecast snow and sleet in our part of the country over the next few days. We've got some way to go before summer.

Making the most of today's good weather, I have turned my attention to our neglected flower borders and made a good start on clearing the dead wood from one of them. It was only just over an hour of work, but I felt I had achieved something. The car boot is full of stuff to take to the tip tomorrow.

I was pleased to notice that my rhubarb has sprung back into life after virtually vanishing over winter. I have two lots, one a crown which Kate gave me and the other which was a seedling I must have bought from somewhere. Both died back over winter almost to the point where you were left wondering if they had ever been there.

When I mentioned my concern over their disappearance, Kate suggested that I cover them with pots in an effort to force them. I'm delighted to say it seems to have done the trick and they are growing. The trouble now is knowing when to uncover them, but I think that I shall leave it for a bit if we are due snow and sleet.

Rhubarb is one of my very favourite things from the garden, its tart taste being much to my liking. The seeds I got from the Royal Horticultural Society included a recipe for rhubarb chutney, something I will definitely try if I get a good crop.

I'm stalled

We're in the first few days of March now and still no progress in the garden. Come on, be honest, no activity at all.

I'm feeling less guilty after reading that the delightful people at Blagger.co.uk have only just started chitting their potatoes. If they can get so far behind, so can I. But I have made a mental resolution to get down to Wilko's fast and buy some spuds. Probably be a main crop this year.

Kate sent me some onion sets today. Will get them in when the ground is less sodden (another excuse).

Hang on a minute

My friend Kate told me not to worry too much about the garden for another month or so, advice which seemed sound when I awoke this morning to a smattering of snow on the ground. We're forecast some more later in the week, although I was amused that today they were predicting sunny intervals. That's the intervals taken care of, but they were silent about the other bits of the day. 

Fighting talk

Spring forward, fall back. It's the phrase everyone quotes to remember whether to put the clocks on one hour or back. Tonight's the night when we put the clocks back, the nights get dark earlier and we inevitably start to have thoughts of Christmas.

It's been a washout of a day today with the weather, but I intend to give the garden a good going over next week after a period of letting it go. Sadly, the spinach beet which Kate  persuaded me to plant out in the space vacated by the French beans is dying back rapidly.

Susan says (again) that I just don't seem to have the growing touch. I intend to prove her wrong.

I've read that some critics say by changing the clocks we adversely affect our body's natural rhythms. It ain't going to happen to me. Up and at 'em.

Brave new world

Beetroot is a food I have never really rated, right from being a young lad. I think I was put off by the colouring of the pickled variety we used to have and the fact that it ran all over the plate. Recently, however, I have come to change my view and have quite liked it on the few occasions I have given it a try.

With that in mind, I have decided to try out the beetroot seeds supplied by the BBC Dig In programme. This morning I planted one line outside in the patch next to the lettuce and spinach and the remainder in two big pots in the conservatory. Borscht here I come.

While having a general tidy around, I ditched the mushroom growing kit that Dorothy gave me for Christmas. I followed the instructions to the letter, but the crop has been most disappointing. Only about five mushrooms in all, I think. Not sure at the moment if I will get another.

Talking of disappointments, I noticed this morning that one of my potato plants has snapped off overnight. The rest seem all right, however. The spare seed potatoes I gave to my friend Kate have begun flowering, she tells me, so mine must be imminent.

Kate has given us some parsley, half of which has gone in the ground outside and other half in pots inside. They look very nice.

The rhubarb is dead, long live the rhubarb!

Surveying a small patch beside the wall, I decided that the rhubarb I planted last year is never going to show its head above ground. Something must have had it or something must have gone seriously wrong below surface, but I feel it should have grown a bit by now.

Luckily, and very gratefully received it is, my friend Kate has given me a rhubarb crown she does not have room for in her new garden and I have now planted this in. Hopefully, this will thrive. While digging the hole I could find no sign of the previously planted rhubarb. Strange.

It also looks as though the lettuce and salad leaves I planted out recently have had it. Nothing has shown through and I reckon it should have done by now. This is the patch of ground where I have seen birds pecking away. Will have to rethink this part of the garden and decide what to do with it.

Am I dispirited? No. Winning some and losing some is all part and parcel of gardening.

One thing I am delighted about is that the mushrooms I have been cultivating have grown well and are coming through. We shall be having some tonight in a stew. Good stuff!

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.

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!

Santa's been to town

As each year passes, it must be harder and harder to buy Christmas presents for me. This year has been slightly different with my newly acquired interest in the vegetable patch (scandalously neglected over the past few weeks with the coming of winter).

Dorothy had the brilliant idea of getting me a seed sprouter, complete with alfalfa, lentils and chick peas. She also presented me with the biggest size present of this Christmas - a mushroom growing kit. They're white cap mushrooms and I shall start them off them either today or tomorrow, together with the seed sprouter.

My friend Kate bought me a seed roll, which is just as it says - a roll with seeds, flowers in this case. Apparently, I just unroll it, put in the ground, cover it with a bit of soil and go away again. It'll be great to see it.

I walked in the woods with the dog on Christmas Day, stalking at a discrete distance another man with his dog. The bloke was on the mobile phone almost the whole time. What did he get out of the joys of nature?

Talking of Christmas Day gives me the opportunity to mention my beloved parsley. We had it in stuffing balls for our dinner. Made all the difference.