Pruning Autumn Raspberries

The weather has been beautiful up here in the South Lakes. It hasn't rained for at least 2 whole weeks (the first extended run of dry weather since 2011) and on a couple of days it has been quite warm - according  to my car we hit the heady heights of 12C on one day last week. I have a deadline to meet at the moment so am a little busy, however I have managed to squeeze in a couple of quick trips to the plot. 

After watering the seeds I have been sowing over the last couple of weeks, the first job on my list was to prune the, very prickly, autumn raspberries...

Before...

After!

The Royal Horticultural Society recommends cutting Autumn raspberries down to the ground in February, well I just managed it, pruning mine on the 28th. As you can see it looks a lot tidier. As well as cutting them back I also put a layer of compost on the top. I was pleased to see lots of new canes poking out of the ground (below). These plants didn't bear much fruit last year, I am hoping they will be a little more generous this year.

While pruning I was pretty amazed to see a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterfly fluttering around the plot. 

Green Shoots - New Canes Appearing on the Autumn Raspberries

Has Spring Sprung?

No Matter How Long the Winter, Spring is Sure to Follow by Alyssa Nassner

I thought that Spring had sprung last Tuesday. After a frosty start the sun came out and the birds were tweeting away. I went for a long walk and the air had started to smell of Spring, and we even heard a woodpecker in the woods. What's more, in the afternoon it was so warm that I was able to sit outdoors without a coat for the first time this year! Unfortunately it all went a bit downhill after that, with a couple of hard frosts, an Arctic wind, and snow showers over the weekend. It's at about this point of the year that I get a little bit desperate for some sunshine. On the plus side, it is now nearly light when my alarm goes off at 6:50 am, and the increasing light has woken me up on a couple of mornings - this is a yearly breakthrough for me as I really struggle to drag myself out of bed when it is still dark.

I blogged about the illustration above by Alyssa Nassner (Small Talk Studio) last year. I think its lovely and just looking at it cheers me up and reminds me that Spring really isn't too far away (22 days to be precise). Sadly, this print is no longer available to buy :(

The primula's have been out for a couple of weeks now. I particularly like the colours of this one. This week  I have lots of work to do, however I am hoping to get time to prune the autumn raspberries and keep an eye on the seeds that I sowed the other week. 

Asparagus Update

So far, so good. It appears that my asparagus gamble is paying off. Yesterday I decided to take a look inside the cloches I had placed on top of the asparagus crowns that I planted earlier on in the month, and I was pleasantly surprised to find spears poking through the soil in 2 of the 3 cloches. Anyway, off the cloches came, and I lovingly buried the spears under some more soil, which I think is what you are supposed to do. Then I replaced the cloches in an attempt to protect my baby asparagus from the horribly cold weather we have been having.

A quick look in the greenhouse revealed nothing much. All the lupin (Lupinus perennis) seeds we had planted  a week or so ago appear to have germinated and were proudly poking through the soil. Unfortunately there is no signs of life in anything else I sowed last week. I have a feeling that my sowings of aubergine, chill, and sweet pepper are not going to be successful. They are covered and insulated, but they are not in a heated propagator (I don't have one). I think the temperature in the greenhouse by day is warm enough but it is still getting very cold in there at night. I will give it another week or so and if there are no signs of life then I will have to rethink my plans. 

Finally, I planted a row of radishes (Sparkler). It may well be a little early, but I NEEDED to plant something!

Sowing Seeds

I finally got my aubergine seeds sown. Well, 3 of them anyway - there isn't going to be enough space in the greenhouse for anymore sadly. This is a shame as the seeds above are from a packet of mixed aubergine, so it will be interesting to see what appears (hopefully). 

As you can see the daytime temperature in the greenhouse is quite impressive. Oh, how I wish that it was as warm outside. All the time!

I got a bit carried away and planted some California sweet pepper, Hungarian Hot Wax chilli, Cayenne chilli, dahlia, sweet William, and mesembryanthemum (Livingstone daisy). My Dad sowed some broad beans (Bunyard's Exhibition) and peas (Meteor). Now, like an expectant parent, I am excitedly anticipating their arrival.

Arrival of the Seed Potatoes

The seed potatoes I ordered arrived on Saturday. They look okay. A couple are on the small side, but hey ho. They are now destined for chitting. These are Belana, one of the three varieties of first earlies that we are growing this year....

Below are the Shetland Black. At first glance these appear not to have the vivid purple-black colour I was expecting from the picture on the website, however if you look very closely you can see that they are quite dark underneath the covering of soil . Hopefully I will be in for a pleasant surprise when I dig them up.

Finally, here are my maincrop potatoes for this year. These are Sarpo Mira. I only bought these because of their blight-resisting properties. Some people seem to like them, some don't. I've never tasted them, so I'll find out which camp I'm in later on this year.

Snowdrops, Daffodils, and an Orange Ladybird

No allotment visit for me so far this week as a) it's half-term, and b) the weather up until today (when I am stuck at home awaiting a delivery) has been somewhat snowy. On Monday I took the children on a lovely local walk around Conishead Priory. We went with the intention of finding some snowdrops, which we did!

All of the snowdrops we spotted were of the same variety, which I believe is Galanthus nivalis 'Flore Pleno', or more commonly, the double snowdrop. However, I am not certain, as these have yellow markings which is quite rare according to the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. We also spotted lots of daffodils, which were close to flowering. I would guess that the spring-like temperatures forecast for the next few days may help them along.

I also spotted this little fella hibernating in the knot of a tree. He is an orange ladybird (Halyzia 16-guttata). This species of ladybird used to be quite rare and was considered to be an indicator of ancient woodland until 1987. However it has now become quite established across Britain.  I have to admit that I had never seen one before.

Below left is Conishead Priory. A beautiful building built in the gothic revival style. Conishead has a really interesting history dating back to the twelfth century. Since 1976 it has been home to the Manjushri Kadampa Buddhist community. In the late 1990's they built Kadampa World Peace Temple (below right) in the grounds of the priory. 

Yesterday it snowed a lot. I took my eldest boy sledging. It was very beautiful, but by mid-afternoon had turned to a very unpleasant slush! Roll on Spring :)

Asparagus Gamble

In the spring of 2011 I bought 10 crowns of asparagus (if I remember rightly Connover's Colossal) from a well-known mail order company. They went into a weed-free and well-prepared bed and I was very much looking forward to eating lots of asparagus in a couple of years. Unfortunately, only six of the plants produced any growth in 2011. Anyway, we left them to get on with their business, hoping that they may do a little better in 2012. Come mid-April last year I visited my asparagus bed on a daily basis, peering closely at the ground hoping to see a beautiful green spear poking its head through the soil. Eventually, a couple did. In total just 3 plants produced some growth this time, throwing up just 1 or 2 spears each. I was a bit fed up.

I went shopping last week and paid a visit to Wilkinson's. They were selling asparagus crowns for £2.30 - much cheaper than the ones I bought by mail order. What's more, I could actually see that they were alive, as you can see below.

So, I decided to buy a packet, and much against the advice of everyone I spoke to, I have planted them. I know it's too early, and yes the frost will probably get them. But I thought it was worth a shot. I don't have too much to lose, and if they still have some healthy looking crowns in store come mid-March I will probably buy some more then. Anyway, in the ground they have gone. 

I have used a cloche to try and warm the soil around the crowns up a little and protect them from frost. If you look closely you can see the spears sticking out. After planting I read that this growth should be covered so now each is covered with soil. Will my gamble pay off? My Dad is pretty convinced that they are all going to die. I am trying to be hopeful!