Thursday 2 April 2015

In like a lion and out like a lamb

Posted by Rosie

Well March is supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb but this year in Normandy, it came in like a lamb and went out like a lion.  The first week in March was gorgeous and I got really excited that we would have an early spring but then it kind of went downhill from there, first with frosts and then howling gales to close the month.  All this has meant that things are really not galloping forwards in the veg garden in a way I would like them to .... my turnips have just germinated but are sitting there shivering and refusing to grow, my parsnips haven't germinated at all and the broad beans I transplanted last week are sulking.  I have cabbages, cauliflowers and broccoli that I bought at the market 10 days ago still in their pots not out in the garden and a polytunnel beginning to get rather full of plants that I want to get outside but can't as the soil is still too cold.  And I have yet to sow the squashes that were the subject of my Sunday photo.

HOWEVER, spring is here and so I took myself off for a walk, camera in hand, just to remind myself of this fact.  This is what I found:

Primulas
Japanese Rose leaves budding
White violets
Violets

And in the polytunnel:

Rocket gone to flower
Seedlings waiting for warmer weather

And look what I've found in the pond ....

Frog spawn

Spring is here, she is just being a bot shy about revealing her warmer weather!  How are things progressing in your garden?  Did you survive the storms?  I'm off to see what other gardeners have to say on Annie's How Does Your Garden Grow linky.  Why don't you head over and have a look too.

Simple Wanderlust

Finally, an apology, as I was really poor at getting round to commenting on last week's HDYGG - changes are happening on one of our main gite listing sites which we are not happy with and could greatly affect our business.  I have spent a bucket-load of time on that, including the design of a survey to gather a bit of much needed information.   If you go on self catering holidays could you possibly click on the link here to the survey and answer the 17 quick multi choice questions on how you book a self catering holiday.   Many many thanks.

16 comments :

  1. Yes come on spring and your warm weather we are waiting!

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  2. i hope your april will be filled with sunshine and garden magic :)

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    1. Thank you - I've just looked at the weather forecast and it's lookng much more positive ...

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  3. I'm not sure Dubai is actually that seasonal, but it is nice to be back in the northern hemisphere where Easter is in Spring and Halloween in autumn, it always felt a bit odd decorating the table at the wrong time of year. I've decided I'm going to try and see if I can create a garden in the desert in the sand pits we have and I'll link up with HDYGG, thanks for pointing me in a new direction

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    1. Good luck with your gardening efforts ... I can imagine creating a garden in Dubai will be challenging but I am sure you'll do wonderfully. Look forward to reading about how you get on.

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  4. Sorry to hear about the gite listing changes - I've just done the survey :) I hope it sorts itself out, I imagine it must be very frustrating and worrying.
    Hows MiceGate now? Kitty is loving the flowers in this post Rosie, she insists on looking at your blog if she catches sight of the gite photo at the top of your sidebar!
    Let's hope April is kinder weather wise - I need sunshine!
    Thank you for joining in again lovely x

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    1. Thank you - yes, it is very worrying because everything is being stacked against the small owner like us. Many holiday makers want the type of holiday we offer yet the way the advertising sites are going means that we will be pushed to the bottom of the listings getting fewer viewings and so less bookings. But we do have pans afoot to fight back ... watch this space!

      As for mice, well we seem to have things under control in the polytunnel so the flippin' creatures have moved into the house and stolen some of my seed potatoes. Grrrrrrr.

      And please tell Kitty we'd love to see her (and all of you) here again soon and that the piglets are growing so fat now.

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  5. Yes the weather has been a tad disappointing and frustrating. I've been holding off on sowing some seeds and the allotment has been neglected. Hopefully it will be ok over the weekend and I can get some planting done.

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    1. Seed sowing looks like it'll be on my list for this week ...

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  6. The weather has been very frustrating here too with horrendous winds putting pay to many of our plans. I hope the weather warms up for you so you can get your produce out of the poly tunnel and into the soil. I love turnips and parsnips, I imagine ones you have grown yourself taste so much better than shop bought #hdygg

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  7. It's hard to be patient when we've had a little taste of proper Spring isn't it? I think April is going to be a month of full greenhouses!

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    1. And I also think it is going to be a very busy month!

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  8. It has been a funny ol' start to Spring, but I remain optimistic. Hope the listings site plays fair to you

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  9. Wow! Look at all those seedlings though ...You're ready :-) ...Now COME ON sun!

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