The strawberries are coming

With our recent good fortune of the beautiful sunny days these last few weeks, followed by some nice showers over the last couple of days, I wanted to get down to the plot and see how the seeds were coming along and get on top of any weeds.

I was amazed to see 2 red strawberries, as you can see below and as a result dug out the netting I used last year and have now covered the strawberry patch, otherwise those birds will enjoy all of that tasty fruit. This took a little while in the wind, but got there in the end and with a little weeding, this is looking great. I hope we get a bumper crop this year.



In addition, I cut down some more of the grass on the paths edging the plot and will continue this next week, to get it looking respectable.

Other than that, I weeded around the peas and dwarf beans that have shot up in this last week, earthed up the Earlies and planted the last of my Mains. I was going to plant some other veg, but ran out of time, so will try that next week.



All in all, the effort I put in over the last few weeks has paid off and we are looking good, ready for the season. After a quick tidy of the shed, I then set off home to watch the Grand Prix. Excellent stuff.

Early May and it's looking good....

As you can see from the photo above, I've really succeeded in catching up on the plot over the last couple of weeks and we are starting to make headway for this years growing season.

To summarise, having dug all the plot and spread 6 bags of manure over some of it, I planted the Early Pots and have now done most of the Mains too. Weeded and mulched the strawberries and raspberries and planted out over 12 new strawberry plants from the shoots to extend the strawberry patch. Cleared the grass and weeds from the shed and area outside, as well as some of the path, put down weed cover and used the shredded wood to cover the ground, so with luck this will keep the weeds and grass down a bit. On the growing front, I put in peas, dwarf beans and carrots and the kids came with me on Sunday to plant some of their plants and seeds in the raised bed, so with luck this will be full of colour over the summer.

Here's the raised bed with some netting and wire to try and stop the birds getting their beaks on the seeds.


Lots and lots of strawberry flowers and new fruits starting to grow. Once all the flowers have gone, I'll cover them with the netting and wait for those lovely red fruits to show themselves.


Ricky stayed up, even in all the wind, so we pushed him down a bit more. You can see the rows of potatoes behind him and the Earlies, which I had to start earthing up are behind him to the left. (his right)

Finally, here are my two helpers, happy to be out and about on their bikes, racing each other down the tracks.....luckily no accidents.
Next step is a little more planting, cut down the grass paths, stain the shed and sort the guttering out, all before I (hopefully) get some gifts from my Dad.

Happy Growing.