Thanks to the mid-spring Easter sunshine, it almost feels like we are on track with our planting plans this year.
Already Emma’s seeds in the greenhouse are shooting up.
Thanks to the mid-spring Easter sunshine, it almost feels like we are on track with our planting plans this year.
Already Emma’s seeds in the greenhouse are shooting up.
In previous years, last Friday would have seen me out on the veg patch planting our chitted seed potatoes.
The ‘Good Friday Potatoes’. I read it in a book way back and the idea stuck.
Apparently, Easter potato planting is a very English thing. The Irish prefer to use St Patricks day. Continue reading
Thoughts may be turning to Spring and the new growing season ahead, but the Winter veg bed is still providing the last of its produce.
Including this year, Salsify, a Victorian staple now out of fashion. This vegetable even featured in the Victorian classic Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management! Continue reading
The New Year barely seems to have got underway, before the occasionally feel of a Spring like day arrives, and the veg growers cycle begins again.
For us at The Secret Acre that usually means the chitting potatoes gets underway, the rotated veg bed plan is drawn up and the new seed order arrives. Continue reading
Has The Secret Acre gone to rack and ruin since our last blog 5 months ago?
In short, no.
What has gone to ruin, we’ve realised, was our resolve to only work part-time since moving to the smallholding. Both our hours have slowly crept up again over the last two years, almost without noticing. Continue reading
We made the rookie mistake of going on holiday in May.
So after congratulating ourselves for getting off to a good start in April, we came back to a mad frenzy of overdue planting jobs at the end of the month to try and catch up all over again. Continue reading
And then there were three. I’m still not quite sure how it’s happened. We had always envisaged space for three veg beds. But after the great effort made by an army of friends to get the first one going, I’d assumed numbers two and three would have to wait a while yet. Continue reading
The signs of Spring are breaking out everywhere, and our over-wintering veg patch is no exception.
Just as we feared all hope for the late summer plantings of Broccoli and Cauliflower might be fading, the lengthening days worked their magic. Continue reading
Spring might officially still be a while off, but the first stirrings of new hope ahead are already in the gardener’s heart.
There’s the new, rotated veg patch plan to draw up, and seeds to be sorted and ordered. Continue reading
“A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself” – May Sarton.
Personally I like to think my life so far has fortunately been a series of triumphs set against a few disasters. But the jury is definitely still out when it comes to our new veg beds!
Certainly in this first year, there have been more triumphs than losses, which is nice. But this is probably mostly because we are still easily pleased! Continue reading