And it could very well be pollen! Actually at the start of the week, when it was still cold and a bit frosty, there was also a certain amount of air pollution around too. But the skies were bright, and while the air was cold, the blue skies and sunshine brought a certain lightness to the heart. There was a robin singing his heart out in the top of the fig tree (really must bring that down a few meters before the end of March) and snowdrops glistened at the foot of the quince tree.
Guess what this is? No, not a dead hedgehog, nor a damp air filter from a lawnmower, nor an exotic mushroom! It is the seed head from an artichoke that got frosted. We've left them thus far as the wildlife people say they are interesting to garden birds. I'm not convinced - the only garden bird that gets interested is Bridie the Freeloading Bantam, and each time she tries a nibble, she wanders off with a really disgusted look on her beak.
Now the weather has changed - we are still plagued by high pressure keeping any real attempt at rain at bay, but it is warmer and the air at altitude is more humid. There are hints of interesting sunsets, and the warmth is bringing on the spring flowers, including increasing numbers of orchid rosettes. Today we spotted our first cowslip flowers, while the row of daffodil style flowers are starting to show promising flower buds which are likely to be open by next weekend.
Apart from broad beans, I know from bitter experience not to get the seed packets out yet awhile, but my mate Loïc at the market at la Flèche sells really good planting shallots, and I can never resist. So today we pulled up the Brussel sprout plants - John will be munching his way through the few that we grew, while the chickens will get the rest - and I hoed and turned the soil lightly so that it was no longer solid clay. I also picked out loads of bits of old masonry, which will do as crocks at the bottom of a toilet cistern I plan to sow carrots in next month. I then carefully planted as many as I could in the space freed up - 14! The other 10 will need to find a home elsewhere. The trouble is I was greedy and picked out the biggest, fattest bulbs I could find, and when planting them, they told me they needed lots of space. The rest of the bed will have red and yellow onions in, which take up less space, and won't be planted for a good month yet.
The broad beans are coming on nicely, while the cauliflowers are being munched by caterpillars. The leeks will be eaten in the coming weeks and there is a bit of turning to do after which I may well replant the pea towers.
No images from the trail camera this week. I will be moving it during the week, as today I got some fine footage of marauding hunters, so a lot of things will be hiding or will have moved on. I am ambivalent about the hunters, as boar are far too numerous, but the way the hunters waltz through our land with dogs off the leash, when we have three resident cats, hacks me off too. Next week, I hope to have as yet unseen photos and footage for you - but given there are 1,400 unreviewed files on the SD card, it could take a while and be a bit time consuming, and there are other priorities at the moment in our lives.
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