What I did on the sunny April weekend

Scented daffodils I picked today

It's been so warm (up to 20 degrees, apparently) and sunny this weekend, that I was very lucky to have two full days to play with. It's been very productive (I even got the beginning of a tan - if only face and hands...), and quite varied (I even squeezed a trip to the garden centre!).

At home I'm still mostly sowing things in pots. It's been so warm that I'm having to open the plastic greenhouse during the day, I've already lost a tray of beautiful sprouting broccoli seedlings that got cooked in the overheated greenhouse (the problem with the plastic ones is that they don't have vents at the top, so you either roll up the door fully... or end up with boiled seedlings). I also sowed things directly in the beds at the back, but I suspect the slugs are eating the seedlings, although it may well be that I'm too impatient. Perhaps carrots are not the crop for me, and I'm doomed to only grow rocket, and perhaps radishes, which sprout in a week... And I also picked the scented daffodils of the picture - they're a variety called 'Winston Churchill' and they make the whole room smell (mental note: I should plant more this autumn!).

The allotment is also coming along. It was peas and broad beans day. They're going in the third bed, behind the onions, and they're going to share their home with some french beans (that get planted next month) so I have to be careful to not fill up the space yet. I have dedicated about a third to peas, which produce a lot for the space they take, and I also sowed a row of broad beans, which are not as space-efficient but Nick really likes them. In the end I did move the compost bin that was at the back of the plot (I put it next to the communal bins), and I extended the flower bed so I could plant some lavender that I propagated last year. I'm quite proud: every plant I've planted in that bed I've propagated myself, from cuttings or seed (but the comfrey I'm going to buy as a plant, I think).

Los narcisos de la foto los recogi del jardin hoy, y huelen de maravilla! Huele toda la habitacion, en otoño voy a plantar mas, alegran la casa. El fin de semana ha hecho un tiempo increible aqui, calor (20 grados, que en Londres es veraniego) y sol, y por suerte he tenido tiempo de hacer muchas cosas. En el jardin, aparte de cortar los narcisos, he seguido sembrando en macetas y bandejas. Con este calor tengo que abrir el invernadero de plastico todas las mañas para que no se me cuezan las semillas (ya perdi una bandeja de brecol, que habia germinado y se cocio), y cerrarlo por la noche para que no se enfrie demasiado. Es el problema que tienen estos invernaderos, que no tienen ventanas arriba para ventilar.


En la huerta tambien ha habido progreso. En la tercera jardinera he empezado a sembrar guisantes y habas. Un tercio lo sembre con guisantes, y de habas he puesto una hilera (del lado corto). Quiero poner judias el mes que viene (aun es demasiado pronto, en este clima), asi que tengo que tener cuidado de no llenar todo el espacio ahora! Y el caldero negro del compost que tenia al fondo al final lo he movido a donde estan los bidones comunales, lo cual me ha permitido extender el espacio de las flores. Plante unas  plantitas de lavanda que tenia de esquejes del año pasado. En ese rincon, todas las plantas que he puesto las he criado yo, o bien de semilla (digitalis, alhelies, lunaria) o de esquejes, estoy toda orgullosa :-).