Lovely weather for frogs...

I nipped down to cut the grass on the paths on Sunday evening and saw this little fella hiding in a clump just before he got familiar with the shears.
Hopefully he is enjoying the weather and having his supper - I found 47 snails when I finished digging out the compost bin. I need something to tip the balance back in my favour!

Gardening conundrum number 1 (of many)

Why is it that the things I want to grow (like carrots) don't, but the things I don't want to grow (like Jerusalem artichoke)do?

I spent over an hour weeding last years Jerusalem artichoke bed and found a carrier bag full I'd missed. Luckily the plot neighbours wanted to give them a try - so I am the spreader of goodwill. I'm sure I will still have lots of artichokes this year too - I can't seem to get rid of the blighters (but I didn't tell them that).

Preaching to the converted

"Can I try a bit of your rhubarb Mummy?" said OS today as I was tucking into a bowlful for pudding.
"No" says I, "you don't like it, it would be a waste".
"Can I try a bit?" says YS. "No, I'm afraid not, I don't want it wasted it's just too good to waste".
"Please?"
"Well if you are sure you won't waste it you could have a little bit..."
Two screwed up faces and silence and then a smile from OS.
"Actually it's really nice!"
YS screwed up his face some more, "Can I try some tommorrow - I might like it then?"

OK you can't win them all...

Knowing your onions

I seem to have gone overboard with the allium family this year (amongst other things...) but they all seem to be growing well. I'm already starting to think along the lines of second crops as I'm rapidly running out of room but I guess the onions will be here until at least midsummer, when they will become roasted onion tart with salad eaten under the tree close to where they are currently growing. The food miles will be 1.7 and that will include taking them home to cook. Of course others will be cooked on site when we crank up the BBQ they wont even register on the food mileometer. I've made myself hungry now...

Pole dancing

I expect to get some new visitors to the blog this week!

We(I)put up the bean poles in anticipation - not that I've planted any beans yet you understand. I persuaded OH to come and help me. OS is still digging out the compost YS is still digging up the asparagus (I could lose my sense of humour over this)and OH followed their lead and did his own thing (tidying my shed). So I did them on my own. It was a bit fiddly and involved some new moves that I don't normally associate with gardening, but still... They are not bad, even though I do say so myself. I can almost taste the beans already.

In case you were wondering, the green stuff in the background is work in progress, otherwise known as weeds. Ah well, a girl can't do it all on her own.

Rhubarb

We picked a kilo of rhubarb today, I had some for pudding it was delicious. I will disguise some for the boys as the think they don't like it. They will. Rhubarb and custard cake anyone?

The exponential growth of seeds

How is it that you start off with just a few innocuous seed packets, and end up needing to move house? The tomatoes are a case in point. One packet sown in two pots transplanted today into twenty pots...

I'm counting the weeks until we are safe from frost.