It feels like Spring

Posted by Rosie

Now I KNOW we are still in mid winter and everyone seems to be saying that we are in for another cold spell in February but today felt just a little bit like Spring. Admittedly there was quite a hard frost overnight (back to breaking the ice in the sheep's water bucket) but as the day progressed the sun came out and it felt gorgeous. The temperature in the polytunnel reached a balmy 17 degrees and there seemed to be lots of plants everywhere poking a tentative shoot above the soil level. The rhubarb is starting to grow so I have put a pot over one to try and force some early shoots. Tomorrow I plan to move another crown into the polytunnel to try and get some even earlier shoots (I have been too long without rhubarb crumble). I also spotted these very small snowdrops near the house and when walking the dogs I saw a white dead nettle, 2 daisies, one dandelion and a celandine all in flower.


And there is success to report the drier/propagator experiment. The early lettuces and spring cabbages are starting to germinate. They will have to go in the polytunnel tomorrow so I have some horticultural fleece ready if cold weather is forecast. I needed to do a bit of jiggling to get the temperature right, namely putting in the lower wattage bulb and raising the shelves to attain a temperature between 13 and 18 degrees. With a higher wattage bulb though, I can get 25 degrees, perfect for tomatoes which I plan to start pretty soon. I also got a decent amount of mud under my finger nails today - initially weeding the polytunnel but as the frost cleared I dug section of the vegetable patch ... whilst trying very hard NOT to look and see how much more I have to do!!