Nestlings, seedlings, potatoes, a little bit of veg left

 

Blackbird nest by the kitchen window (they hatched last week), March 2025

Our own Cheeky blackbird and her mate seem to have gone to the happy hunting ground--not seen her or him at all this year;  but we have a new pair with new nestlings right up against our house under our grape arbor;  it's a bit of an exposed place actually, so I hope the cheepies are ok in there;  our garden itself is great for birds--lots of safe perching places, lots of bugs and worms; and while we do have neighborhood cats, they don't visit our garden very often as it's hard to get in and out now (they used to slip through our gate until we put up a piece of wire).

In other news: some of my snap peas--sown last month in small pots--are finally sprouting up!  Actually it didn't take that long, especially compared to last year;  it's been a much warmer spring this time around.  I'm still out of pots and am down to one tray, but it doesn't matter as I can't use it anyway--I don't have anywhere to put it!  Every flat, elevated space is taken on my patio and I don't want to put them on the ground in case of rampaging chickens/ducks/five year olds.  When the snap peas get transplanted out, their pots will immediately go to French beans, squash and sweetcorn.  I need them to get growing!

But the weather has been cooperating so far, like I said.  It's been unseasonably sunny, dry and warmish, though still getting close to freezing at night so not quite ready to put anything tender out;  my tomato seedlings get day trips out, but come back in for night.  However, it does mean the soil is warm enough for direct sowing.  At the allotment the (pre-sprouted) direct sown broad beans are growing well and now released from their mesh cover;  and I've direct sown one bed each of parsnips and turnips, each with a mesh cover to protect from slugs/bugs/birds/etc.  If the parsnips come up (didn't get any last year) I'll take the cover off when they are a few inches tall but the turnips will probably have to stay covered until harvest.

Also trying no-dig potatoes this spring, after not growing any for a couple years now.  I bought a 2.5 kg bag of Charlotte seed potatoes, cleared a space on a thickly sheet mulched bed, and placed chitted potatoes onto the wet cardboard, well spaced.  Then I covered them with composted manure and piled the whole bed high with uncomposted stable bedding (mainly straw with a little bit of manure).  Haven't seen any sign of growth yet but it's still early;  when I see any green poking out I'll keep topping it up with more stable bedding.

I'm now picking purple sprouting broccoli at the allotment, as well as rhubarb once or twice a week.  At home there are a few self-sown salad greens to be had:  mizuna, lambs lettuce, chicory, chard.  Fresh veg is a bit slim right now, but we still have a little preserved veg from last year:  one last squash (I cooked the second to last one the previous week), a few pickled beets, pickled gherkins, a big jar of kimchi (partly homegrown), a bag of frozen tomatoes;  I also have a couple jars of dehydrated veg from 2023 too.  My little lettuces and spring onions are up and growing so I hope to be eating those next month, when the rest of the veg runs out.