Welcome to
the last few days in April. Here in the
NE of England it continues to be changeable weather, raining again as I type this,
and the nights are low, single digits. I’m
longing for long, warm, “lazy” days as I’m sure the plants are too and I know
the animals will be just as grateful for drier ground. I’m trying not to panic that things aren’t as
far on as my mind sometimes thinks they should be. I know that’s a common worry for gardeners
when you see other people’s updates.
There’s plenty of time yet for a lot of things, some seeds shouldn’t even
be sown for my climate at this point in the year.
April showers bring May flowers though I don’t remember so much rain and cold in April recently, however I tend to forget. Around here, the farmer next door has had his cows out to pasture for a couple of weeks now.
We normally time the horses going out around the same time, however not this year. Our horses haven't been in the field at all over winter as we rest the land. They do get out as you know, only on the hard standing outside the barn otherwise they would break a leg or ruin the land. It's too slippery for them and us, so we're monitoring it daily, fingers and toes crossed that the rain lets up after this weekend, which the forecast does imply.
We're
also consistently seeing low night time temperatures which will continue in to
next week, although now quite as low as the last few nights (0-2c), they'll be
around 3 or 4c for a while yet. That's not warm enough for the plants to
grow strongly and I'm waiting in anticipation for those warmer days.
I'll
plan on planting out the brassicas that are in the cold frame, though I do need
to protect them from cats as they keep using my veg beds as a toilet and I'm
not impressed. I'll double up the protection so it's a butterfly
protector too, saves me having to change it when that season comes round.
Let’s see what it has in store for us! I hope it’s a good one for you.
We are a week or two ahead of you here along the south coast, I'm giving in and planting out.
ReplyDeleteOoooh best of luck! I'm trying hard to hand fire on the tomatoes but I too gave in on some things!
DeleteI was going to plant out some of my brassica this weekend but as the weathers not good maybe I will wait another week or so.
ReplyDeleteI managed to get a bed planted which I'm pleased about - plenty more to do so I hope the weather is kind to both of us!
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