Outside of work, I managed a quick trip to The Shack to feed 3 ravenous boys and check up on the planting - so good to get a breath of fresh air and see how things are coming on, even if we also got well and truly rained on! First stop was my gladioli experiment which is coming on nicely. You should be able to see the progression.
We checked over the vegetable plots - 38 out 48 seed potatoes are now up, broad beans are filling out nicely, the cabbages are getting fatter, and John's experimental seeds are coming up - lots of carrots and beetroot. We took the weed suppressant mat off the sweetcorn bed as the shoots should appear soon and I don't want them held back by matting. It is wet enough for the bed to not be appealing to cats either (famous last words!?).
Checking round the Orchard, the false acacia is coming into flower - about the only time that there is any real value to these trees as they grow like weeds and sucker off and away and have nasty thorns. However the flowers are pretty and provide the wherewithal for good honey.
This time last year I bored for France with slightly out of focus pictures of bee orchids, but for the moment they are still hidden. This spring has been vile, and they are delayed, but I did find one starting to think about flowering. Clearly it won't be doing so for a week or so yet!
If the bee orchids are being shy, then while late, my favourite irises are starting to come good. Given the appalling conditions, I hadn't expected to see them quite yet, but here they are!
And on that happy note, I think it is time to close down the computer for the day and find a drink and dinner!
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