Spring is finally here
Spring is definitely in the air as temperatures rise, buds unfurl and fruit tree blossom starts to appear on some of the peaches, apricots and almonds. Nature can be cruel though, as warm days can be followed by cold, frosty nights that damage the flowers. Cover them up with fleece when cold snaps are forecast or you will have no fruit this year.
Due to the lack of flying -pollinators, such as bees, at this time of year, we hand pollinate the flowers to encourage a bumper crop. We do this during the warmest part of the day by transferring pollen from one flower to another by stroking them with a rabbit’s tail or a soft brush. We have been doing this on the strawberry flowers in the Model Fruit greenhouse. This should be done each warm day during the flowering period. Also on warm days ensure that strawberries grown under cloches are ventilated by lifting up their sides.
In the veg garden we are continuing our direct sowing of carrots, parsnips and broad beans. We have started to plant out early and second early potatoes in the ground. Varieties that we like here include 'Swift', 'Lady Christl' and 'Accord' but my favourite early is the tiny 'Mimi' which is a wonderful red potato with delicious flavour.