Spring Equinox: enjoying three seasons in one day!

Last week saw the arrival of the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. The UK enjoyed an unseasonably warm day, including Wales’ warmest spring equinox on record, as the early impacts of the coming climate chaos continue to make themselves felt.

Naturally, here at The Secret Acre, we took the opportunity for a summer BBQ. Our earliest on record, after none at all in last year’s continuously unseasonable cold and wet.

We ended up enjoying three seasons in one day! A summer BBQ on the warmest spring equinox, having dug up the last of the winter leaks, to char on the BBQ coals, and eat with an excellent romesco sauce.

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White Dog, Blue Bells, Slow Start

Despite our usual New Year optimism for the gardening year ahead, an unexpected combination of care duties, hospital treatment and Covid, meant that we are having a very slow start to our spring at The Secret Acre.

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Nursey Times, Lockdown Hair, and Pallet Man Rides Again

We’re currently busy with the annual planting out now that the risk of frost has passed.

There was some unusually late frost here last week that had us dashing out for several nights to fleece the young potatoes. The first time we’ve ever had to do this, as climate change driven weather extremes continue to build. Continue reading

Seeds of Life

The arrival of spring once again heralds the start of another year of seed sowing here at The Secret Acre.

As always at this time of the year, I like to remind people of this little favourite video clip that perfectly explains nature!

And for this year, here (below) is a second little clip of our first tray of new 2020 seeds.  Continue reading

Planting Out

The strange feeling of ‘veg bed competence’ we had at the start of May has somehow survived through to end of the month.

Surely it can’t last!

The greenhouse seedlings (pictured left) rapidly turned into a veritable garden nursery vision of plug plants demanding to be planted out against the risks of any late frosts. Continue reading