Thursday 10 February 2011

Seedlings

It looks as though about three-quarters of the cauliflowers we sowed have come up (which is good), but only one of the sweetpeas (which is bad), and so far none of the strawberries (which is worse!). Hopefully they're just tardy, and will yet appear, but it's also entirely credible that the seeds were no longer viable. Nonetheless, I might sow some more, in the hope of getting a few plants.

Otherwise, the bulbs are growing apace, and the mornings are discernibly brightening, both of which are encouraging. The first of our onion sets (the Autumn Gold Improved) arrived a few days ago, so they're ready to go out as soon as it's a bit warmer, and not likely to frost.

At long last, the boiler replacement is complete. It was operational a couple of days after starting (that is, mid January), but the replacement flue was delayed, and was only fitted yesterday. It's a lot thinner than the old one, which is good; I haven't seen the roof-top vent in the light, yet. Apparently, though, the pointing on the roof ridge is in poor shape, so that will need to be added to my list of summer jobs.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Ian,
    We went to a friends farm in the country to buy some pork and their daffodils weren't up yet either. Too cold here this winter. I'm sure they will return. My friend told me that deer ate nearly 1000 strawberry plants to the ground last year, all the way to the plastic, but they came back enough to supply the three families connected with the farm and still had some to sell too. Deer and rabbits are a major issue here. (Beatrix Potter had it right!)
    Paula

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  2. I shall keep my fingers crossed that my daffs come up soon, then!

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