The April Showers of May

As everyone knows, we have just had an unusual April

Here we had eighteen nights with frost and 18.4 mm of rain, 13.4 of which fell in three days

Last year’s April

we had one night of frost and 31.6 mm of rain.

Now that May is here we are getting all the April showers that didn’t happen

So at last things feel a little more normal and growth is accelerating.

Now that the ducks have moved out of the orchard we are trying to encourage a native and introduced meadow mix. Earlier this year we planted a load of bulbs that should have gone in during the Autumn. These tulips are making up for lost time

The Jack-by-the-hedge has been spreading

and the Orange Tips are seeking it out

Lady’s-smock is starting to pop up all over the place

The small tunnel has been full for a while

We are trying to be more organised with our sowing this year

and today we started the seventh succession batch of lettuce. This lot is still in the packed greenhouse

while this lot are being harvested

The first lot of peas are in the tunnel too

The big tunnel is starting to get sorted

First tomatoes are in position. We are growing eight varieties this year

After an abysmal crop last year, due to lack of sun, we are hoping for better things.

Cherries are already forming in that tunnel

Here are some more splashes of May colour