In this post I have inserted a number of photos so that you can see progress on the plot, including that of the Bramley apples which in a recent post I showed the delicate blossom of this fruit tree. Don’t be fooled by the jollity of the photos mind, it really is time to get serious – I spent most of Tuesday planting out the Kale seedlings in a new bed, thinning out the brassicas and doing some temporary planting. We have to wait for the potatoes to yield their crop and in so doing release a bit more of the cultivated land in which to plant out properly our burdgeoning nursery.  A couple of rows of spinach have been pulled to give more room as quite simply they weren’t being used fast enough. So last night I spent the evening processing the spinach into bags which are now stored in the freezer. First attempt at freezing spinach, having checked it out on the internet. So simple, so handy.

By looking at the ground beyond which we are working, the above picture gives some idea as to what the plot looked like prior to cultivation. The weeds from the field below look as if they have reclaimed the roller – time for the scythe to come out. It’s only when I see an image like that do I appreciate all the work that has gone into making the plot what it is today. The next picture not only highlights that the beetroot needs thinning, but reveals that we are not the only ones enjoying the radishes, the markings of a slug clearly visible on the radish in the foreground.

As for the strawberries, they are still coming on one strawberry at a time, The Sage finally getting a taste for himself last week. While the forecast is a lot better we have caught a new vermin attacking the strawberries, despite the covering of chicken wire to act as a deterrent. The vermin is brown and white, has a sweet tooth, has worked out how to thrust his nose under the base of the wire and lift the whole covering up, leading to easy access of the fruit. The Hound really can be a real rogue at times, albeit loveable.

The courgette and the cucumber plants are recovering well, having not been sufficiently hardened off before facing the Irish weather, and are somewhat behind schedule. The Sage still worries about his potatoes with my latest assignment being to see if I can get a “blight forecast”.  As for the Bramley blossom, in less than a month the flowers have given way to budding fruit, so the apple pies will be all go later in the year.

And now to the really serious stuff. Not only have I caught The Sage with a bottle of tomato liquid food (which he claims is well out of date) but he has erected a special glass encasing in order to cosset his tomato plant and deprive me of €5. So that is it, the gloves are off, the tomato challenge has just got serious. Time for retaliation. In the picture below the new tomato hot house structure can be seen behind the rhubarb plants which have flourished so well that we have resorted to giving away its offerings.

In the lower picture you will note two tomato plants and I can assure you I am having to keep my eyes firmly on The Sage as I am well aware that the ‘competition’ tomato is the one on the right. So there is much to do up in the vegetable plot, apart from taking in the Spotted Flycatchers, and as the title states, it really is time to get serious.

MM