Rain

It rained a bit, over the weekend, and that's continued today. The wind's also picked up, which—combined with the rain, I think—meant that the rectangular vegetable bed's fleece cover had half blown off the frame this morning. It was still attached on the eyes/nails on the path-side, but in being lifted off had started to tear quite badly at the corners. So, I removed it completely. This evening, the other covers were also tearing, and because it's damp, I can't really make any repairs (tape won't stick to wet fleece)—so they've all come in.

It's a couple of weeks earlier than we were planning to take the covers down—we can get frosts until the end of May. However, we probably won't put them back on this spring, as the weather's been quite warm, and is looking set to stay that way. If a frost does threaten, the runner beans will need covering, and—if it's severe—the celeriac and beetroot, but otherwise I think the soil's now warmed enough not to need the covers.

They've been a rather mixed success, the fleece cages. They've taken a lot of time to put in, and maintain. On the other hand, I think they've helped get things going, and—without a greenhouse—we would have struggled to grow enough plants on to fill the beds in May/June. The wood/wire construction will be useful, in the long run, for netting (especially brassicas and beans) and for fixing the irrigation system's water jets, so that's certainly no waste. I'm not sure, though, whether we'll continue using the fleece once we have a greenhouse.

Once I'd collected the covers, I spent a while weeding the onions, which are doing well, but were accompanied by rather too many nettles, goosegrass, and clover. It's looking much better now.